How to white balance the right way?

I am new to digital slr photography. I used auto white balance till recently and decided to switch to custom white balance using grey card and shooting in RAW.
I bought the below grey card from ebay.
http://cgi.ebay.com …em5885119d76#ht​_500wt_928

I have few questions regarding the usage of the cards.
1. what are the black and white cards used for which I got in the set?
2. I thought that on grey card R=G=B, but different areas of the grey card have different RGB values. Is this normal? How do I know which one to pick?
3. The colors I achieve by using the grey card see to be a bit warmer. What is the right way to do white balance with grey card?
4. If I adjust the exposure in PP later in my final shot, will this effect my white balance as well?

I try to take a grey card shot in the same lighting and same camera settings as my actual shot. I later use this grey card shot as reference to set white balance on all my shots in the same lighting. Once this is done, I adjust the exposure and other settings on the image if needed. Am I following the right sequence of step or missing something?

One more question I have related to White balance is about using Expose to the right technique. If I am using this technique, how do I take the white balance shot? Is it with the +EV or with the correct exposure?

SAPSTAR wrote in post #10319600
I try to take a grey card shot in the same lighting and same camera settings as my actual shot. I later use this grey card shot as reference to set white balance on all my shots in the same lighting. Once this is done, I adjust the exposure and other settings on the image if needed. Am I following the right sequence of step or missing something?

Sounds right, except I would not use AWB. I would use one of the constant WB modes b/c when you fill the frame with your gray card, it might actually throw off the camera's AWB function. So best to either set it to a constant K value or use one of the WB modes that is closest to what you are shooting. Doesn't really matter what you pick though as long as it will keep a constant color temperature.

nicksan wrote in post #10319632
Sounds right, except I would not use AWB. I would use one of the constant WB modes b/c when you fill the frame with your gray card, it might actually throw off the camera's AWB function. So best to either set it to a constant K value or use one of the WB modes that is closest to what you are shooting. Doesn't really matter what you pick though as long as it will keep a constant color temperature.

Right I was using AWB in the shots. But I wasn't filling my frame with the grey card. Does this make a difference?

SAPSTAR wrote in post #10319781
Right I was using AWB in the shots. But I wasn't filling my frame with the grey card. Does this make a difference?

It might. When I am using the gray card in the manner you described, I always set my WB to one of the constant modes to eliminate this possibility.

Wow you are making your life difficult.
Why did you give up on auto white balance?
That is all I ever use....sometimes a minor tweak is required...not very often.
Most white balance issues can be corrected by increasing the exposure, underexposed photos are notorious for what appear to be white balance issues but are really underexposure issues.

Shockey wrote in post #10319857
Wow you are making your life difficult.
Why did you give up on auto white balance?
That is all I ever use....sometimes a minor tweak is required...not very often.
Most white balance issues can be corrected by increasing the exposure, underexposed photos are notorious for what appear to be white balance issues but are really underexposure issues.

I understand what you are saying. sometimes with AWB, I had issues where I couldn't really tell if the white balance is right or wrong as I am a newbie... Using the grey card, I am atleast expecting to have a close reference.