R.G. Loc: Scotland

Or Auto only partly corrected it. Our brains process everything that we see, and colour casts are neutralised quite aggressively sometimes, so it's easy to under-estimate just how coloured the ambient light is.

hassighedgehog Loc: Corona, CA

The answer mentioning spot metering is the clue. I usually use spot for most shots when I want to get a picture with a large view of the sky. Auto white balance was looking at the whole image and taking the sky's. This underexposed the buildings. Usually you can see the difference with the viewfinder or the monitor.

toxdoc42

this experience sure sold me on it. I use it frequently now, whenever I start a shoot in unusual circumstances, lighting.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

See above... He did not spot meter *the scene.* He spot metered through an ExpoDisc. It's a diffuser... https://www.expodisc.com

I have never seen an AWB exposure of anything taken with a dSLR look accurate. The farther away from daylight, the less accurate it is.

If you want "commercial grade" accurate color, the ULTIMATE is the ColorChecker Passport system from X-RITE.

If you want reasonably accurate results, the Expodisc, the One Shot Digital Calibration Target (and the Lastolite knockoffs), and Delta-1 Gray Cards are all decent custom white balance tools.

The One Shot Digital Calibration Target is my favorite because it has three reference stripes, all neutral. Dark charcoal gray, middle gray, and slightly off white are included. You can play around with all the menu settings and get the tonal range you want in a JPEG (within limitations of the camera menus' ranges) by evaluating the histogram. And it is quite useful for raw capture, as well.

DanielB Loc: San Diego, Ca

Every camera manufacturer has it’s own auto white balance algorithms built into its cameras processor. They can vary drastically from camera to camera. For instance a Fujifilm is more likely to be more saturated than a Canon’s built in auto white balance profile.
The best way to properly set your white balance, at least for me, is shoot in RAW. I also carry a Color Checker Passport and an Expo-disc with me and batch fix in post If needed.
Also note that expo-disc come in warm, neutral & cool versions and that’s why I prefer the Passport and adjust in post.