Gray card and DSLR

[jubilee]

I used to use a gray card all the time when I was doing black and white film photography, but obviously only for exposure. Now as a brand new newbie in the digital world I am seeing things about using the same card for white balance... I am intrigued. I am already haunted by the weird yellow tints that can show up if I am in trees or grass areas so if this can be a simple fix and use a tool I already have and feel good about using, that would be awesome.
Can anyone give some advice? Is this actually a helfpul/effective tool?
I haven't quite figured out the whole white balance settings idea so the "Idiots guide to white balance" would be great. I am literally going to post this and then dig through a dusty box to find my card.

 

[Trever1t]

Are you shooting jpg? White balance can be set with a grey card using the camera's custom white balance option or can be set using the camera's standard settings or even by Kelvin - all this depending on your camera.

The reflected color you get when shooting in very green areas is not a white balance issue and is a bit more tricky to correct, in post.

 

[Ysarex]

Here's a recent thread that may help: White Balance

Joe

 

[jubilee]

Aww thanks-- I missed that thread a few weeks ago and it's very helpful. Everyday I realize more of what I have to learn, but at the same time I realize that I've really never done color photography before except for events... I guess I've honestly not thought much about white balance and odd colors of reflected light for a long time. Back to basics! thanks for your the help!

 

[fmw]

As an element of advice, I think the best approach is to set the white balance of the raw file in the photo editing software. You can get it just the way you want before converting the image to some other format.

 

[ronlane]

Using a gray card is good, but this is even better to make a color profile for your camera. I love having this to process my images. (Shoot raw + take an image of the passport and let the computer do it's work)

Heck, even if you shot jpeg and use the passport to set the custom wb, it will help too.