Manually setup white balance when using flash

shakilearl

shakilearl

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Shakil
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Hi there,

I was wondering if it is possible to manually setup white balance when I am using a flash. I can do that easily using a constant light but when try with flash, it says "no good".

I am using nikon D800e and the white balance setup is d1.

Please let me know if my question is not clear.
 
Why do you want to set the white balance manually when using a flash? Is there some reason why you don't want to set the white balance on the camera to 'flash'?
 
Because sometimes it looks like the white background I use is actually not looking white, it looks kind of red. I mostly use auto white balance setup. Any advise?
 
Are you using a light tent? Is there any red near that the flash is likely to bounce off? Do you have any other light sources that could be bleeding into the scene? Even if you're wearing a red top, this could have an effect!

You're best bet is to get a grey card and use that. Although this won't counteract if you have two or more light sources at different colour temperatures.

Using raw would give you more adjustability for tweaking white balance in PP, but you should really be getting it right IN camera.
 
I *still* don't understand why you don't just set the white balance on the camera to 'flash'.

But if you insist on doing it manually, the procedure is the same regardless of the lighting. Take a photo of a neutral grey or white card illuminated by your chosen light source, and use that photo to set the white balance. If that's not working for you, then I think you need to describe *exactly* what you're doing, step by step, so we can see where it's going wrong.
 
You can set it manually if you want to, and the previous posters have explained how to do this, but setting the WB to flash in the camera should do it. Shooting raw also gives you the flexibility to adjust it in post processing, if you're not quite satisfied with it. You can batch process all the images if the lighting is the same.
 
Often when if it says "No Good" it is because there is not enough light for the camera to "decide" on a WB setting.
 
Last edited:
shakilearl said:
Because sometimes it looks like the white background I use is actually not looking white, it looks kind of red. I mostly use auto white balance setup. Any advise?
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At a guess, I'd wager it's exposure issues causing that more then wb. Are you lighting the subject and the background from one light?
 
If your lighting a subject and a background from one light the yep, the bg will be underexposed. That's the main issue
 
shakilearl said:
Yes, that's what I am doing at the moment. Do I need to change it?
Click to expand...

The easiest way for anyone to diagnose an issue is if you can upload an image. Someone can then look and diagnose your problems without you having to describe them, especially as you seem fairly new to this as what you might think is the issue, might just actually be a symptom of an underlying problem.

HTH.
 
george g said:
The easiest way for anyone to diagnose an issue is if you can upload an image. Someone can then look and diagnose your problems without you having to describe them, especially as you seem fairly new to this as what you might think is the issue, might just actually be a symptom of an underlying problem.
Click to expand...
Absolutely. Well put.
 
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