Crysania Loc: Syracuse, NY

I do one of two things.

1. I use an expodisc and use the custom white balance feature. Basically I put the expodisc on my lens, shoot in the direction the light is coming from, then use that picture as a "grey card" to set the white balance (some cameras like my Sony that I used to have you just hit a button in the custom white balance and it evaluated it and picked the white balance, so it depends on the camera). It's been really good at getting me darned close to what I want, if not right on.

2. If it's something where I'm going to be indoors shooting in the same light all day, I go in with my laptop and its color calibrated screen. I eyeball the white balance and shoot a few that are a few clicks off of each other. I pull the card and look at the photos on my computer to decide the correct white balance. I did that this weekend for a three-day shoot in light that never changed. I locked in my settings on day 1 and never changed them. Now I have usable jpgs right out of the camera.

Tomfl101 Loc: Mount Airy, MD

The color checkers I have tried never give me WB that I still don't have to tweak anyway, so why bother with them. I just eyeball the WB while adjusting Kelvin and tint as needed. In situations with mixed lighting I most often use auto WB and tweak in post. Proper color will always be subjective. Some like it warm, some like it cold. Go with what you like for any particular scene.

srg

Thanks for posting the link to this excellent article. So well explained.

MJPerini

If people want to wing it on white balance it is not the end of the world, and modern cameras often get you close.
Personal pictures are just that, and if they are happy with the result, there is no problem.
We all do that from time to time.
If you do work for others, a higher standard than guessing at what you remember is probably a good Idea.
This is especially true because it is generally as easy as the OP placing a card in the scene to get a base white balance.
For your church pictures, at a minimum , before or after services while the lights are still on make an exposure of your card in each lighting area, make notes, then you know.
It is not really true that any white fabric or surface will give a good reading. Many fabrics & paints use optical brighteners with a strong UV component. There are many truly neutral white and gray cards that can work, and they are easy to keep in your bag. The Calibrate/X-Rite little color checker works well.
If you do use a gray card, be aware that Gray cards made for film were not neutral- and were meant for exposure only. In color science there is a whole scale for neutral Grays called the Musnell Gray scale.
But also, not all photographs NEED to be color accurate because Pleasing Color is sometimes more important.
We all make photographs where we want color to recreate how we felt in the moment.
BUT.....
Some work needs to be color accurate, and in those cases it should be.
When I did Product photography, I always provided the client with one test photo with (the original Macbeth Color Checker) the target included. Because they could use that with the printer who printed boxes or anyone else in the chain. My Wife & Daughter shoot Weddings and the clients are very particular about the color of the Brides maids dresses . Architectural Photography is another, getting skin tone just right in portraits, another Being able to match color is just part of the job in those cases. Pros scout locations and do test shots ALL the time.
So there is never one right way to do Photography, but some pictures need to be objectively accurate.
How accurate is up to you (and the client if there is one).
There is one last issue, and that is consistency of look in a group of pictures that will be displayed or published together. The only way to do that and make it repeatable, is to have some form of reference.
I hope this helps a bit

Crysania Loc: Syracuse, NY

Yup all good points there.

I do sports event photography. I need to have a quick turn around to put these photos up on my website for sale. I basically want to be able to put up the SOOC JPGs (I shoot RAW + JPG). I don't have time to post-process all the photos. So my goal is to get the white balance where I like it in camera. Then it's just a matter of culling out photos. It's a lot less work for me.

imagextrordinair Loc: Halden, Norway

Good tip...

Download a similar photo that appeals to you from google images. Import it to photoshop and adjust your white balance with "color balance" for an easy and similar adjustment. Works especially well for professional portraiture facial skin tones.

CamB Loc: Juneau, Alaska

Not mentioned yet...when shooting a show on a stage, there is no white balance. The lighting director throws in color and luminance at whim to satisfy her creative desires. It comes down to shooting for the highlights and figuring out the white balance later. One thing that is pretty consistent is that reds and blues almost always over saturate. Often (actually most of the time) if you are having trouble figuring out the best white balance, you can desaturate the reds and blues a little, sometimes a lot, and many other colors, and the best exposure, will fall into place. This is not for a football game or a bride, but this is standard operating procedure for me to make a "show" reproduce in my photo files the way my eye perceived it.
...Cam

WDCash Loc: Milford, Delaware, USA

Great reply, Thanks

Hal Masover Loc: Iowa and Florida

flyboy61 Loc: The Great American Desert