WB in Studio

[Don]

The manual with my E1 says leave the WB on auto when shooting with flash, but it seems that it fluctuates from shot to shot.

What do any of you use with your respective cameras? I'm using a cheap Britek main, fill, and one background strobe.

Thanks for any help.

[srwatters]

I shoot my GMB color checker card now for each lighting set up. The bottom row has white to black with known values. Works great for setting WB.

[Hogleg 44]

PM Bill Huber If he doesn't respond to this thread. He is the E1 Pro here!

[Bill Huber]

GMB color checker card is a great way to get the WB right on, but they cost a lot and need to be taken care of and stored in place with no light or you will get a color shift after awhile.

The E1 does a really good job of auto WB, the problem is that if you have mixed light then the main light that is hitting the little WB window will be what it sets itself to.

What I have done in the past, is to take some raw shots with the mixed light that I will be shooting in. Look at the temp in the converter and see where it is setting, with the FL-50 flash it inside it will be generally at 5050.
Now with the converter get the WB set where you want it, and check the temp again.
Lets say it was, after you got to the point you wanted, 5830. There is no setting for manual WB of 5830 on the camera. So you set the camera as close to that number as you can. In this case it would be 6000. That is a little warmer then you like or need.
Now go and set the WB for 6000 to a little cooler, about a +3, in the menus. Take some test shots and see how they come out, if they are just what you want then set a custom setting for that and you are all set for the same light conditions again.
I have done this with my flood lights were I was shooting with bright fluorescent lights overhead that I could not turn off. I still needed the flash for a little fill but the floods were my main light.
By doing this it makes no different what light hits the window, all shot will be at the WB setting.

I hope this is understandable and helps.

[jeffkohn]

The WhiBal is relatively affordable and seems to work well for WB (doesn't replace the other uses of a ColorChecker chart though).

http://www.whibal.com/products/whibal/index.html

[Don]

I appreciate the info, guys.

Bill, I printed the reply and will work with it again tonight. The mixed light source made sense, because portraits were where I was seeing problems, but when I shot my bike and wasn't worrying about anything but completely lighting the subject, those pics looked pretty good.

Thanks again!

[Diggie]

Originally Posted by jeffkohn

The WhiBal is relatively affordable and seems to work well for WB (doesn't replace the other uses of a ColorChecker chart though).

http://www.whibal.com/products/whibal/index.html

Do you have any of the WhiBal products? I was looking at going that route as they seem very durable, not as expensive as a GMB Color Chart or Expodiscs. If so do you shoot RAW or JPEG? and if RAW what do you use to pp with?

[jeffkohn]

Do you have any of the WhiBal products? I was looking at going that route as they seem very durable, not as expensive as a GMB Color Chart or Expodiscs. If so do you shoot RAW or JPEG? and if RAW what do you use to pp with?

I have the smaller "pocket-size" WhiBal. It's definitely more durable than your typical gray card, and small enough that it's easy to take with you. I shoot RAW and use Photoshop for conversion and post-processing. The WhiBal works great to give you a neutral starting point for WB, though sometimes depending on what my goal with the image is I may tweak from there (for instance you wouldn't want to neutralize the warmth of a sunset by setting a completely neutral WB). My only problem with the WhiBal is that I'm not always good about remembering to use it when out in the field. :)

Despite what the WhiBal makers claim on their website, I do NOT think this would be the best way to go for shooting JPEG, you're going to be much better off using a Custom WB to get it right in-camera than using the eye-dropper in Levels/Curves after the fact in post-processing.

[Diggie]

cool jeff - thanks for the reply - yea if i used it, it would only be for RAW...if i shoot jpg is just snapshot stuff that i really won't do much pp to anyway if any.

[Clint_Smith]

Originally Posted by srwatters

I shoot my GMB color checker card now for each lighting set up. The bottom row has white to black with known values. Works great for setting WB.

got tired of mixing channels myself and my GMB checker will be here monday

[wyatt]

Something else to consider. I too have a cheap set of strobes. I can definately see a power drop on back to back shots, mainly if I shoot as fast as the light can recycyle (indicator light comes on and it will fire again). So...color temp is will vary also. You might do some test shots of the same subject, back to back shots quickly, and some waiting several seconds (10?) in between.
Also, I thought the auto white balance (not specific to any brand/camera) is seeing light reflected off of the subject and might vary considerably between shots of the same lighting set-up and say, the same subject at a different angle, more likely different color clothing.
That sound about right ??

Wyatt

[Diggie]

strobes are something I haven't had the fortune to play with yet - but shouldn't they be at the same color temp no matter what their output be? The temp of the light should remain constant but the intesinty of it will vary...am i missing something?