cony25 wrote:
So how can I get this right on the spot? and not in post-production?
Also any recommendations for post productions? getting the tones right?
Please help!
My recommendation is called "read the fine manual." Look up white balance. Learn how to perform a custom, or manual, or preset white balance. They're all different names that different camera manufacturers use for the same concept — you use a white balance and exposure target as a reference — for the camera to first read and set normal exposure, then to base a white balance off the neutral target.
Go to B&H's website, or that of your favorite online photo retailer, and look up "white balance aids" or "white balance targets".
The simplest and cheapest is a Delta 1 Gray Card. Do NOT use a Kodak Gray Card, because they are slightly green.
The target I use most is the Photovision One Shot Digital Calibration Target.
Another interesting white balance tool is the ExpoDisc. Then there is the WhiBal, and about 70 other variations on the same tool theme...
Find one or three that make sense to you, buy them, learn how to use them, and then make the best JPEGs of your life. Most of the targets work as a "click balance" reference for eye-droppering the white balance in a raw file, too.
The key you need to learn is that not all light sources have the same spectral response, and our eyes tend to automatically find white to compensate. But cameras have really stupid automatic white balance circuits. The farther away from daylight you get, the less accurate the AWB circuit is.
Some light sources cannot be white balanced, no matter what you do. These tend to be metal halide gas discharge lamps, such as mercury vapor or sodium vapor. Other light sources can be white balanced for some, but not all colors. In these cases, the lights produce DISCONTINUOUS spectra. They do not generate all colors between infrared and ultraviolet. They have enormous spikes at certain frequencies, while big sections of the rainbow are completely missing. That's when you need to reach for auxiliary lighting instruments...