need some help here with what went wrong.

ashjamesgav wrote in post #6682455
Okay, great, I will check them out. White works just as well as the 18% gray, yes?

It has for me, yes, but do not disregard Bill's post above.

bill boehme wrote in post #6682839
Formerly, I was a strong advocate of using only a white card, such as a GretagMacBeth White Balance card or even a plain white sheet of paper (not the bright white type of inkjet paper). I have since changed my mind after doing a number of experiments using a range of neutral gray references. The results showed that a gray card, as long as it is a good one without any color bias, works just about as well as the white balance card. I actually prefer using an Xrite Color Checker (same as Munsel and GretagMacBeth Color Checker) which has six neutral patches from white to black. I usually use the second or third lightest patch for white balancing. I have found some cheap 18% gray cards that are not the least bit neutral. While they would be satisfactory for setting exposure, they are not very good for setting white balance.

I'll look into the ones that you mentioned, thanks for taking the time to explain.

ashjamesgav wrote in post #6681677
An 18% gray card? Is that actually physically a card? If so, where can I get one?

I would like to make a couple of addendum's to this convo...

-If- you are looking to go pro as a studio photographer, then yes...a proper gray card is the way to go. Gray cards have been the standard for both film and digital because they provide consistent results.

That said, since you said this particular project was more for "fun", there are a great many alternatives to a gray card. I mention this because finding a camera shop that actually carries gray cards isn't as easy as it used to be. You used to be able to go to any decent camera retailer and pick them up but now a days just finding an actual "camera store" can be daunting...most of your locally owned, professional camera stores have been replaced with the big e-tronics super stores such as Best Buy and Circuit City.

If you're just "playing around" for now you can get really good results with a plane white piece of paper...even ordinary copy paper will work well. Another great option to a gray card is what's called a "white balance cap" such as the Expo Disk (just do a Google on that term...you'll get the idea soon enough). I've even used the el' cheapo generic white caps off Ebay that can be had for only a couple of bucks and they do a very good job for what they are.

Another even cheaper option just to play around with is to go to a local paint store and ask for a card sample of a paint that is 18% gray (or close). These samples are usually free...I've actually used sample paint cards from Home Depot that have worked splendidly and you really can't beat the price!

As has already been stated, you can read your owners manual for how to set custom white balances, but basically it's as easy as shooting a picture with the paper, gray card, white balance cap on under the given lighting situation, then going into the camera's menu to use that image for your white balance...pretty straight forward with most DSLR's.

Also, as always it pays to shoot in RAW so that if something is off (even if you use a card or a cap) you can always fix it with ease later. This is one of the truly lovely things about RAW...your white balance isn't set in stone the way it is with jpeg.

Now there is another thing I would like to add here subjectively...

White balance in and of itself can be a little subjective. Camera's see things "as they are", but very often that's not the way the human eye sees things. In the case of studio portraits such as you have attempted here (nice shot of a cute kid btw), you usually do want your whites to be neutral, but also don't be afraid to experiment. "Warming up the image" a bit by pushing the image a little towards the red can often add a very nice feel to the image. "Creativity" often makes the difference between a truly great shot and your ordinary, average "portrait studio" images which are quite often very generic because every subject is shot the exact same way. Remember that just because that's the way the "pro's" do things doesn't mean that's the way -you- have to...there's a lot of so-called pros who simply aren't worth their weight in salt.

Alrighty, just my $.02 worth,
Jim

Walczak Photo wrote in post #6687103
I would like to make a couple of addendum's to this convo...

-If- you are looking to go pro as a studio photographer, then yes...a proper gray card is the way to go. Gray cards have been the standard for both film and digital because they provide consistent results.

That said, since you said this particular project was more for "fun", there are a great many alternatives to a gray card. I mention this because finding a camera shop that actually carries gray cards isn't as easy as it used to be. You used to be able to go to any decent camera retailer and pick them up but now a days just finding an actual "camera store" can be daunting...most of your locally owned, professional camera stores have been replaced with the big e-tronics super stores such as Best Buy and Circuit City.

If you're just "playing around" for now you can get really good results with a plane white piece of paper...even ordinary copy paper will work well. Another great option to a gray card is what's called a "white balance cap" such as the Expo Disk (just do a Google on that term...you'll get the idea soon enough). I've even used the el' cheapo generic white caps off Ebay that can be had for only a couple of bucks and they do a very good job for what they are.

Another even cheaper option just to play around with is to go to a local paint store and ask for a card sample of a paint that is 18% gray (or close). These samples are usually free...I've actually used sample paint cards from Home Depot that have worked splendidly and you really can't beat the price!

As has already been stated, you can read your owners manual for how to set custom white balances, but basically it's as easy as shooting a picture with the paper, gray card, white balance cap on under the given lighting situation, then going into the camera's menu to use that image for your white balance...pretty straight forward with most DSLR's.

Also, as always it pays to shoot in RAW so that if something is off (even if you use a card or a cap) you can always fix it with ease later. This is one of the truly lovely things about RAW...your white balance isn't set in stone the way it is with jpeg.

Now there is another thing I would like to add here subjectively...

White balance in and of itself can be a little subjective. Camera's see things "as they are", but very often that's not the way the human eye sees things. In the case of studio portraits such as you have attempted here (nice shot of a cute kid btw), you usually do want your whites to be neutral, but also don't be afraid to experiment. "Warming up the image" a bit by pushing the image a little towards the red can often add a very nice feel to the image. "Creativity" often makes the difference between a truly great shot and your ordinary, average "portrait studio" images which are quite often very generic because every subject is shot the exact same way. Remember that just because that's the way the "pro's" do things doesn't mean that's the way -you- have to...there's a lot of so-called pros who simply aren't worth their weight in salt.

Alrighty, just my $.02 worth,
Jim

This was very helpful. I have NO idea where a camera store is anywhere near me, I had to buy mine from Circuit City, and of course, their options as far as accessories go are very limited, so I will check out all of the things you mentioned above and experiment. Thanks a bunch!