Gray card/white sheet WB question

[JayClark79]

I have a question regaurding setting a custom white balance with a white piece of paper when your using an external flash..

Do you have the flash fire when you are taking the test picture of the white piece of paper?

OR

Since im shooting in raw does it not matter and i should just set it to auto WB and correct in PP?

 

[UUilliam]

Since you shoot raw it dsoesnt matter however for reference..

white paper isnt really white...

you need TRUE white to set white balance

 

[JayClark79]

ok how would it be done if i had an actual gray card?

 

[SpeedTrap]

You would want the flash to fire when setting the WB, and an 18% Grey card will work fine for it.

 

[lbridges]

Careful. Not all "gray cards" are designed for WB use. The original use was as an exposure aid. You need to make sure whatever you use for WB is spectrally neutral.