How do you set / shoot white balance ?

So basically I noticed that the way I use to shoot for white balance is no good when shooting in multiply rooms, with multiply lighting situations. I use to shoot a close up of a the gray card, then set that in camera. So later in the day when I moved to a different room, I shot a picture with the grey card in the back round, this seems like an easier thing to do an setup.

My questions is, what should I be shooting in though if I don't set that grey card in my camera, does it not really matter because I'll be changing it when editing the pictures ? I understand how to use it, but more curious what you guys are doing for average every day situations.

Any tips, or suggestions I'm open to. I'm also using DPP to edit photos and relized everything I click on click white balance and before I use the eye dropper, it seems to already set the picture to the correct white balance. I'm gonna read the instructions on how to use that, but figured if anyone wanted to comment on that.

And please forgive the noob questions, still learning and want to learn more to get better.

I shoot in Auto and correct the RAW image in post.

Waiting to adjust WB after shooting RAW may be a mistake in some situations. Curtis N found that a blown red channel is a problem:
How NOT to expose to the right

Whenever I use my WhiBal card, I will set the in-camera WB to something constant (ie not AWB). Doesn't matter which one. Just pick one. I shoot a reference shot and if the lighting changes, I'll shoot another reference shot for that. Then I will batch correct in post.

PhotosGuy wrote in post #9797217
Waiting to adjust WB after shooting RAW may be a mistake in some situations. Curtis N found that a blown red channel is a problem:
How NOT to expose to the right

Very true.

Funny how things have come along though...RGB histograms are much more common now and more of us can easily spot hot red channels...back in '05 (when that thread was started), they obviously weren't as common!

The Click WB is "sticky". It is remembered until you change it using the eyedropper, even if DPP has been closed. And as soon as you activate the eyedropper the old setting is applied , so if the previous time was in lighting fairly similar to the current shot, the old WB might look pretty good.

If you use a grey (NOT white) reference card, it can be placed in the scene for a test shot without worrying about blowing out anything. I do that all the time, using the same exposure settings that I use for the whole series of images.

I shoot in RAW mode and use an "eyedropper" tool to sample the grey card in the test shot during the RAW conversion process. I might tweak the colors a little bit manually to suit my taste for the image. Then, I transfer the resulting color temperature and tint numbers to the rest of the images in the series in a single batch conversion procedure. This process is extremely effective for the results and very efficient relative to the time spent for white balance correction.

SkipD wrote in post #9798973
If you use a grey (NOT white) reference card, it can be placed in the scene for a test shot without worrying about blowing out anything. I do that all the time, using the same exposure settings that I use for the whole series of images.

I shoot in RAW mode and use an "eyedropper" tool to sample the grey card in the test shot during the RAW conversion process. I might tweak the colors a little bit manually to suit my taste for the image. Then, I transfer the resulting color temperature and tint numbers to the rest of the images in the series in a single batch conversion procedure. This process is extremely effective for the results and very efficient relative to the time spent for white balance correction.

This makes the most sense to me now, after shooting multi rooms/lighting. During shooting though what do you set the white balance to on the camera ?

90blackcrx wrote in post #9801402
This makes the most sense to me now, after shooting multi rooms/lighting. During shooting though what do you set the white balance to on the camera ?

Because I shoot in RAW mode, it really makes no difference what the white balance setting on the camera is. However, I always make my best guess as to what the lighting type is and set the camera's white balance setting for that because I actually shoot in "RAW Plus Large JPG" and I would like the .JPG files to look reasonably good to use a proofs.

90blackcrx wrote in post #9801402
This makes the most sense to me now, after shooting multi rooms/lighting. During shooting though what do you set the white balance to on the camera ?

As already eluded to, it really doesn't matter since you have a reference shot of the gray card you can use to correct the entire series.

That said, I would set it to anything other than AWB. The idea is to keep a constant color temperature throughout the series. I would set it to something that is the closest to the type of lighting. Think about it. If you are in AWB and take a reference shot of the gray card, having the gray card in the frame may actually affect AWB. So once you take the card away, you might get slightly different AWB settings. The ideal is to have the same WB settings between your reference shot and the rest of the shots under the same lighting conditions.

I tend to folow SkipD's method.

I carry a gray card around with me (need a new one - any recommendations?), and drop it in frame for a test shot when the light changes. I leave my camera in AWB, unless I'm studio shooting, when I switch to Flash (only because I tend to show the models the shoots, and it helps if it looks 1/2 decent on the LCD)

When I download the pics, I use the white balance dropper in Aperture to pick up the gray card, then copy that across the batch. If I miss a shot with the gray card, I will look for something white, or close to white (the whites of an eye can work) and use that as a *start* to correct the WB.

If you have time to shoot a grey card on the day (just prior to your shoot as lighting might change), then do it.

Otherwise, shoot RAW, expose properly, correct the WB and you are good to go.

If its a fairly fast moving scenario, I know what I would do.

Take a look at the link in my signature. Some find it helpful, others don't. There are a lot of WB tools on the market. Pick one that best suits you.

How much does a grey card cost?

Pigelin wrote in post #9815044
How much does a grey card cost?

How much do you have?

They can be very cheap (I have a $5 piece of board version), or expensive, collapsable fabric closer to $100)