Correct exposure/WB on session.Do u use grey cards.expo discs etc?

[rusteam]

Hello,

i been watching a lot of videos related to outdoor photosesiions and a lot of pro before they start to take actual pictures they use some kind of grey card or expo disk or similar stuff to adjust camera WB and exposure, so you dont have to do it manually.

Is it really helpfull? Do you guys use any of this? And if yes which method you will suggest and which related item i need to purchase. I'm confused, because i know do a lot of mistakes with exposures so the i need to spend a lot of time to correct in post.

thank you!

[RichardTaylor]

I do very little formal (posed?) shooting and most of my shooting is with available (no flash) lighting

I always shoot RAW and adjust the white balance if needed when PPing.
As far as the exposure goes I am just using the camera's metering system, usually in evaluative (Canon terminology) metering and dialing in exposure compensation if I feel it is needed.
I usually check the histogram (but not chimp) and will use manual exposure if shooting conditions dictate (using the metering indication/histogram as a guide).
Most of the time I will be using shutter or aperture priority.

What sort of mistakes are you making with your exposure?
Too dark or light?
Or white balance is off?
Or focus is off?

[rusteam]

Originally Posted by RichardTaylor

I do very little formal (posed?) shooting and most of my shooting is with available (no flash) lighting

I always shoot RAW and adjust the white balance if needed when PPing.
As far as the exposure goes I am just using the camera's metering system, usually in evaluative (Canon terminology) metering and dialing in exposure compensation if I feel it is needed.
I usually check the histogram (but not chimp) and will use manual exposure if shooting conditions dictate (using the metering indication/histogram as a guide).
Most of the time I will be using shutter or aperture priority.

What sort of mistakes are you making with your exposure?
Too dark or light?
Or white balance is off?
Or focus is off?

White balance i think is not perfect as i never use auto WB i always use Kelvin and its always (outdoor) on the same number, as im not shue how to change that according to weather etc. Its around 5500 -5800
So i think my WB is not quite correct..

[GreggObst]

What camera body are you shooting with ? There should be settings for "Daylight/Direct Sun", "Cloudy", etc.

[SusanH1970]

I use a Digital Grey Kard and set CWB in-camera most of the time. If I'm feeling lazy I'll throw it on auto WB and just adjust the WB in ACR (I always shoot RAW).

[OsmosisStudios]

My hands automatically go to the WB sliders in ACR when I process my RAW files. So I shoot in auto and play later.

[i speak in math]

Originally Posted by rusteam

Hello,

i been watching a lot of videos related to outdoor photosesiions and a lot of pro before they start to take actual pictures they use some kind of grey card or expo disk or similar stuff to adjust camera WB and exposure, so you dont have to do it manually.

Is it really helpfull? Do you guys use any of this? And if yes which method you will suggest and which related item i need to purchase. I'm confused, because i know do a lot of mistakes with exposures so the i need to spend a lot of time to correct in post.

thank you!

I'd have to say that a grey (WB) card is necessary for any serious work. You can't adjust the white balance perfectly in PP software unless you have a neutral reference colored object in the scene.

Additionally, when we have models in, we might take more than 1000 shots in a day. You do not want to have to manually adjust the white balance in all of those. Its much easier to set your WB before the shoot, and then not worry about it later.

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by i speak in math

Additionally, when we have models in, we might take more than 1000 shots in a day. You do not want to have to manually adjust the white balance in all of those. Its much easier to set your WB before the shoot, and then not worry about it later.

Batches my good man, batches. In ACR, you can select which images get which edits. In the studio, I'll select all my images, apply basic stuff (WB, exposure, etc) to the bunch and then edit individually from there.

[ChrisAdval]

Originally Posted by rusteam

Hello,

i been watching a lot of videos related to outdoor photosesiions and a lot of pro before they start to take actual pictures they use some kind of grey card or expo disk or similar stuff to adjust camera WB and exposure, so you dont have to do it manually.

Is it really helpfull? Do you guys use any of this? And if yes which method you will suggest and which related item i need to purchase. I'm confused, because i know do a lot of mistakes with exposures so the i need to spend a lot of time to correct in post.

thank you!

I don't use custom white balance outdoors because the lighting changes too much for me and the messes with the white balance, so I just keep it on shade, cloudy or sunny white balance modes when shooting outdoors. As for indoors I do use custom white balance with my X-Rite ColorChecker Passport.

If I need to fix the white balance in post its extremely easy in post if you shoot in RAW, and I use Lightroom 3 to fix colors or maybe even enhance them. So I don't stress as much as I started out a year or so ago.

[Doug Sundseth]

If I'm shooting indoors, I know the colors of my lights so I just use a standard preset.

If I'm shooting outdoors, I'm looking for a nice effect, not a precise white balance. Then I'll shoot in RAW (with auto WB for preview) and adjust in post to get the effect I'm looking for.

If I were shooting fashion or products outdoors (or indoors with significant ambient contribution) and needed to get precise colors, I would use a color balance card, because the light color can change so rapidly or be so hard to get right.