Do you ever use a custom white balance?

[paigew]

If you photograph the landscape in the morning or evening, will custom white balance eliminates the golden cast? I prefer to adjust the color temperature in pp.

no creating a custom white balance will ensure you get that accurate golden color vs getting an image far too cool (which is what auto wb generally will do)

 

[Derrel]

If you want to capture weird or off-color lighting, try shooting at the factory preset setting for DAYLIGHT, which some camera makers call "Fine" white balance. Fuji calls it "Fine". It preserves pink or golden hues on sunrises and sunsets because it keeps the WB set for "noon" daylight. You can also set thw WB manually to the desired Kelvin setting. Keep in mind: Nikon cameras made since the D2x and after, all have an encrypted white balance which ONLY Nikon software can actually read: Adobe's products, Capture One, Apple's products, and so on, ad nauseum, can NOT read the actual WB setting a Nikon made after the D2x writes to the .NEFs, so be aware that "AUTO" WB decoding in software is often 400,500,up to 700 degrees off in, say, Lightroom. Or even more!

 

[Mirrorless Journey]

I do it more and more. I usually shoot RAW + JPG and sometimes share the jpg on the spot on social media (I love WiFi connections from camera to tablet/phone). I shoot more video too so can't rely on post-process to get the correct white balance for that. I want to do more hybrid photo/video shoot so you need custom white balance to have consistency for the final product.

Doing Custom White Balance is really easy and fast on the Panasonic cameras. I always bring with me a white/grey card and it's a question of second to do it.

 

[Derrel]

I like to go outside about two hours before dark, and take a custom WB in open shade, off of a white towel. Set and save that. Try it in YOUR favorite shooting area, especially if you shoot in say...a park...or a cul-de-sac..or a big back yard....just SEE what it does on your photos. I first did this when I lived right next to a small hilltop of about 400 acres of green, Douglas fir trees, where the sun disappeared behind the hill about 4 hours before normal sunset anywhere else within 20 miles. This is a type of local area white balancing. I would re-set this about every two weeks or so.

When I used to use the 70-200 VR and the 80-400 VR lenses all the time, I would also take a custom WB shot off of white clouds in the sky. Zoom in to maximum telephoto, throw the clouds wayyy out of focus, and shoot that as a custom WB. Works surprisingly well to balance to the light coming from the sky.

Later in the day, I sometimes just start at 6,500 Kelvin, then go to 6,800, then 7,200 then 7,500 as the day fades.

I like a white towel or white washcloth as my WB target, easy to CARRY!!! If you take a Custom WB off of a pale blue oxford cloth dress shirt, you get a deliciously warm color effect, especially with the Fuji cameras.

 

[shefjr]

Since Vautrin and Sparky claimed it was so easy, I took the time to figure out how to set my WB on my D800. I must say they were right. It really is simple (10 seconds max) and although I may not set a custom WB all the time, I will be using it much more often. So thanks Vautrin and Ken for throwing the challenge out. Challenge was accepted, been shooting like that for the past two days, and conquered it.

 

[JH Foto]

I always shoot RAW so no point

 

[bribrius]

yes. not often but have on occasions so I could see it accurately before post..

 

[480sparky]

I always shoot RAW so no point

So do I, but it's a waste of time having to change a whole days' worth of images just because you didn't want to take 10 seconds to get it right in camera before starting to shoot.

 

[shefjr]

I always shoot RAW so no point

I used to think like that as well right up until everyone here convinced me otherwise. It really is quick and easy to do. 10 seconds now can save quite a bit of time later.

 

[imagemaker46]

Nope, never have.

 

[frommrstomommy]

I always use Kelvin? I dunno. I find it easier to do that than to always rely on remembering to photograph my gray card. Sometimes I'll pull the gray card out but its way easier for me to just use Kelvin? I'm pretty comfortable with my LCD vs what I get on my monitor so I can get it pretty darn close in camera usually now!