Can someone please explain how to use a white balance card to me?

[Gina9942]

I see everywhere to use coffee filters and white paper and all sorts of things to balance white in photos. I am not sure what to do once you have said object. Do you meter off of it, if so how do you do that? How do you meter off of something, then tell the camera to do it. I guess I am so used to editing white balance in PS that i never really bothered to learn how to meter off of a subject or coffee filter for that matter. I have a Nikon D80 if that helps make explaining it any easier.

TIA

[LoveDSLR]

Originally Posted by Gina9942

I see everywhere to use coffee filters and white paper and all sorts of things to balance white in photos. I am not sure what to do once you have said object. Do you meter off of it, if so how do you do that? How do you meter off of something, then tell the camera to do it. I guess I am so used to editing white balance in PS that i never really bothered to learn how to meter off of a subject or coffee filter for that matter. I have a Nikon D80 if that helps make explaining it any easier.

TIA

D80 manual: page 60.

[Gina9942]

I have read the manual, I just want it explained in laymen terms. When you go to spot meter, what do you do. I understand how to do it from my camera, just not sure how it works exactly. If you were at a photoshoot, you have your nifty coffee filter white balancer, or you had the lens cap with the white balancer in the middle what would your first step be. I am not understanding how it works.

[LoveDSLR]

1) put on the WB lens cap
2) Press the WB button and rotate the main command dial until PRE is display in the control panel (manual step 2)
3) Release the WB button briefy and then press the button until displays start to flash (Manual step 3)
4) Aim the camera to the light source and press the shutter-release button all the way down.
5) Manual step 5.

Make sure you reset WB back to auto or one of the preset afterward.

[Gina9942]

thanks. you are so helpful.

[inkista]

OTOH, if you're using something like a whibal, the process is:

1. Set to shoot in RAW.
2. Shoot your shots.
3. Shoot one more shot, with the whibal in the frame where your subject is/was.
4. In post-processing, choose the whibal as your white balance point (think eyedroppers).
5. Use the white balance from step #4 on the shots you took in #2.

[kencaleno]

To set custom White balance: (Nikon)

Select a neutral coloured object to set your white balance
It’s best to avoid using a white target. The camera prefers grey.( Print yourself a grey card: In photoshop- File> New
Click on background square in toolbox
select: red 127; green 127; blue 127 from color chart- Print)


In white balance menu select "Custom"> "Preset"
select "measure"
Press shutter release halfway to return to shooting mode
press wb button until a blinking "Pre" appears in control panel and viewfinder
frame reference (grey card) so it fills the frame
and press shutter release all the way down (Camera won't take picture)
If camera was able to register a value for white balance "Good" will flash in control panel and GD will flash in viewfinder
If lighting is too dark or bright "no g d" will flash in viewfinder and control panel


If you use white in direct sunlight you'll always get a "No Gd" response from the camera because the Matrix meter is rendering it white instead of grey. Thus the trick is to select the centre-weighted meter when using a white reference in bright light and you'll get "Good" from a camera. Remember to set back to Matrix metering as soon as you're done.

[nicoledana]

WB for me is so irritating. I cant understand it for the life of me. I also shoot with a D80 and I always use the WB preset of the "White card" that is stored in the camera.

I went to Philadelphia to shoot the water fountains at night. All of the photos were coming out yellow/orange. Here I changed the WB to Auto and they came out more natural but with a blue tint. This is a never ending battle for me. I just dont understand it and it makes me angry that I cant understand this.

Is it really that difficult or am I dumb?

[LoveDSLR]

Originally Posted by nicoledana

This is a never ending battle for me. I just dont understand it and it makes me angry that I cant understand this.

You can study the different ways to set White Balance or use an accessory. There are DIY ones such as coffee filter or commercial ones such as ExpoDisc.

Search the DPS threads on DIY methods and I'll describe the lazy person's method of using ExpoDisc ExpoImaging - ExpoDisc here.

ExpoDisc is like a lens cap that you snap onto the lens to set the WB before shooting. Use the method just I describe to Gina9942 and you should have the proper WB (indoor and outdoor).

Other accessories include:
Gray/white/WB card
WhiBal and Datacolor Spyder Cube (for pp)
Lastolite EzyBalance
Three colors color meter

[kencaleno]

Originally Posted by nicoledana

WB for me is so irritating. I cant understand it for the life of me. I also shoot with a D80 and I always use the WB preset of the "White card" that is stored in the camera.

I went to Philadelphia to shoot the water fountains at night. All of the photos were coming out yellow/orange. Here I changed the WB to Auto and they came out more natural but with a blue tint. This is a never ending battle for me. I just dont understand it and it makes me angry that I cant understand this.

Is it really that difficult or am I dumb?

For night shots you need to use tungsten white balance.

This may help you understand white balance better:

White balance

Where, with film you either shot print film in daylight or with flash indoors, and with slide film, you used daylight or tungsten film, or used compensating filters with these. White balance is Digital’s version-you select a white balance based on the condition of the light you are using, so the camera’s meter allows for white to photograph as white
Auto white balance does a reasonable job most of the time, but it cannot cope in some situations-especially when subject is in deep shadow. You need to know when to use the white balance settings for all situations, and this table will help you understand: ( degrees Kelvin is a means of determining colour temperature)

Sunrise/sunset 2400-3000 Kelvin……………………Use Auto white balance
Tungsten lighting (domestic) 3200Kelvin....................Use auto white balance
Studio Tungsten-3500 Kelvin ……………………Use tungsten/Incandescent white balance
Fluorescent lighting 4000 Kelvin …………… Use fluorescent White balance
Early morning/afternoon sun 4000 Kelvin…….Use auto white balance/ --fluorescent white balance
(Magenta filter) to counter greenish cast on skin from foliage if under trees or on really green grass
Noon sun/Sun overhead…5000-6500 Kelvin…………………….use Cloudy White balance
Flash photography in daylight 5500 Kelvin ………………………Use Flash White balance
Deep shade………………….6500 Kelvin…………………………Use cloudy/shade white balance
Shade in daylight 7500 Kelvin ………………………………......Use shade white balance
Heavy overcast, very dark shade 8000 to 10000 Kelvin………Use shade white balance plus 81a-85c glass filter

Regards, Ken