white balance???

I just don't seem to get the concept of white balance, sorta. Let me describe a couple of instances and maybe someone can help.
1: I'm in San Diego and had to shoot some shots showing what is going on with the fires. I needed to show the bizarre colors of the sky. I do not need to correct it, just capture it. I did it, just not quite sure how I did it.
2: A colorful sunset...just want to get the colors right. What do ya think. What would a color meter do? That would correct it right?
thanks Bill

Just type "white balance tutorial" in google.com and you'll find some useful info. For example:

http://www.worldatwar.​org …/whitebalance/i​ndex.mhtml

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorial​s/dig-exp.shtml

Sometimes you want to correct for the color of the ambient light, effectively modifying the scene to appear as if there was a more neutral light source. Sometimes you want to capture the color of the ambient light, and present the scene as you saw it.

White balance is important when the color of the ambient light takes away from the aesthetics of the shot, e.g. a portrait taken in yellow incandescent lighting or greenish flourescent lighting. The photography police don't enforce white balance, it's a tool you use when you want to.
-harry

I now use custom white balance where I previously used the tungsten and flourescent settings with much better results. I still use the flash setting with the 420EX regardless of the type or amount of ambient light.

Can you and should you set a custom white balance with the flash?

When in doubt, shoot RAW with auto white balance, and handle the conversion later. When I'm out in the field, I simply don't have the time to measure color temps and set custom white balance points.