WB when shooting portraits.

[K.ErickPhotography]

Im shooting outdoor portraits. I dont have a white balance card to shoot at for setting custom WB. I've heard you can shoot at the sky and set it to that. Ive also hear you can shoot the persons cheek, is this correct. How do you set the appropriate custom WB without using a gray card?? Thanks

[OsmosisStudios]

Generally outdoors you'd shoot at the grass. Ive never heard the cheek one: thats usually for metering using spot metering.

[K.ErickPhotography]

What if theirs no grass and I was shooting in the city?? Do I shoot what ever has a good fill of light on it??

[OsmosisStudios]

Trial and error? Get a grey card!

[Benji]

Grey cards are really expensive and extremely difficult to use. Just do what all the internet "pros" do and set everything on the camera on automatic, slap a speedlight on the hot shoe and then fix everything later in Photoshop.

The alternative of course is to spend the $8.00 on a grey card, hand it to the subject a few seconds before you make the capture, fill the viewfinder with nothing but grey, take your meter reading, set the camera on manual with the suggested camera settings you just obtained from the grey card, shoot the card, then using the exact same readings make the capture of the subject. perfect white balance and perfect exposure. Gosh that was hard.

Benji

[PhotoPhix]

Originally Posted by K.ErickPhotography

Im shooting outdoor portraits. I dont have a white balance card to shoot at for setting custom WB. I've heard you can shoot at the sky and set it to that. Ive also hear you can shoot the persons cheek, is this correct. How do you set the appropriate custom WB without using a gray card?? Thanks

Shoot in RAW as you can adjust the WB there.


Armando

[mitchcook]

Originally Posted by Benji

Gosh that was hard.

Benji there is no need for this attitude?

[SusanH1970]

Originally Posted by mitchcook

Benji there is no need for this attitude?

Well, like Benji the dog from that old movie, he barks. A lot. Gets really old and tiresome after awhile.

I will add that a grey card is immensely useful, however. I just find no need to be a snot about it.

[Benji]

One doesn't have to look very far to get totally erroneous information about just about anything photographic, like the two posts above about obtaining correct white balance from the subject's cheek or the grass they are standing on. Why give information that is completely and totally useless to someone who is looking for factual ways to solve a problem? I'm hoping by presenting actual ways of solving problems I can be of some assistance, but some people it seems prefer to believe these internet "pros" who have owned a Canon Rebel for three weeks instead.

If I come across as being a snot so be it, at least I know what I am talking about unlike several others here and elsewhere.

Benji

[SusanH1970]

Yep, pretty much the answer I expected.