to white balance or not

[gpc1]

Morning all,

Do any of you take and use a whibal or other grey card. I was talking to a mate and he has some cracking shots that he took using a P&S. What he always does though is set the white balance. His method is to find something in the frame that is definitely white, calibrate the white bal then take a the shot.

Correct me if im wrong but I thought you set the white balance using an 18% grey card?

An example would be he has a shot from skiing. He used the snow to set the white balance and I have to say that the coloues are superb.
ive always used auto!
i know you can use the palm of your hand once you have compensated fro the diff to the grey card so I may try this in future.

Any thoughts/ideas.

Rgds
Greg

 

[pxl8]

You're confusing white balance and exposure here.

The palm trick is for getting the exposure right when shooting manual and traditionally so was a grey card.

White balance can be set from anything that should be neutral in colour so pure white or grey will do equally well although be careful when using a white that it's not over exposed or you could get a false reading.

Setting the WB from the palm of your hand will lead to all kinds of horrible results so not something I'd advise.

 

[gpc1]

Thanks Pxl 8

Your right, thinking about it i was getting the two confused. I was reading understanding exposure re the grey card and palm thing!

Can anyone give me a couple of scenarios of how they have set white bal and its improved picture results. And also where they have used a grey card. Im interested to see peoples thoughts and experience with this.

my understanding then is that for each scene firstly set the white balance using a neutral not blown colour. Could be someones white jacket or snow providing its not overly bright/blown. Basically something you know 'should' be white in the picture.

but isnt a whibal card an 18% grey card thats used for getting the correct white balance?




Rgds
Greg