Color checker card or White card?

[wparsonsgisnet]

I am heading off to buy a Macbeth Color Checker, but it occurs to me that I could be using my own white card for this purpose, for example a scrap of Ilford Museum Board (I have lots of these scraps). The price of this scrap of card is very attractive.

It's neat to see all the little color squares in the Macbeth chart, but I feel challenged to start fooling with color shifts and so far have been WB-ing in C1 by finding the area nearest white.

The real question: I will be doing a studio shoot on the 21st. I will be using white back and floor and three modeling lites, 2 to blow out the background and 1 for the front. I expect to use silver umbrellas for all 3. Since the light is of uniform temperature (daylite) and will cover the entire shooting area ----- and since shifting colors gives me the willies (appropriate, don't you think) ----- can I just have my subjects hold a white card?

Thanks in advance.

[scott kirkpatrick]

Check out the WhiBal (see www.rawworkflow.com), which is a certified neutral gray card, with white and black patches. The MacBeth color checker requires either a good eye and time to study it, or proper software to turn into a profiling tool, while the WhiBal just gives you something to click on, without worring about the casts that can result from using cloth or paper which may have brighteners and not be really white.

scott

[pascal_meheut]

You can never be sure that you white card is really neutral. I have some Macbeth Color Checker but for WB, I use a WhiBal.

WhiBal Gray Card for Digital Photo White Balance - RAW Workflow

This is much more convenient and garanted neutral. I got better results than with the ColorChecker.

[wparsonsgisnet]

Thanks, Scott and Pascal. I just ordered the studio card.

When you use this is C1, do you balance the white or the gray portion? If the gray, could you elaborate?

Many thanks. I'll post shots from this weekend's shoot.

[cbretteville]

Bill,
You'll find instructional videos on the rawworkflow site. Its a very convenient tool. I've had mine for close to three years now.
WhiBal White Balance Gray Card Video Tutorial by Michael Tapes
- Carl

[wparsonsgisnet]

Thanks, Carl. I've got the PDF and am reading it.
I believe the small version of this card was on Sean's Xmas tree in a shot that was posted here.

I should have it shortly. Thanks, guys, you've saved me $50!

[scott kirkpatrick]

Originally Posted by wparsonsgisnet

When you use this is C1, do you balance the white or the gray portion? If the gray, could you elaborate?

The gray card is what you use. The reason is that white balancing is simply finding out that what should be a neutral color area is coming out, say RGB = 145/150/138 . The correction might be to rescale RG&B so that they are now 145/145/145 on the gray card. If you use a white area, you might overexpose or at least saturate one of the channels, and the correction that is obtained would not be accurate. The gray card, which is fairly dark (Tapes' video will say what its reflectance is), is right in the middle of the range, not likely to be overexposed, and gives plenty of data to work with.

[wparsonsgisnet]

Thanks, Scott et al. I will play before using the card this weekend.

I'm also watching the online video series. Very cool.

Regards,

[pascal_meheut]

I use the gray because the white is sometimes overexposed and if so, WB does not work very well.

[overgaardcom]

This is a nice fellow from a shoot saturday in Berlin, entering the stage so that all television cameras and still shooters can check their gear.

This one is straight out of D2, auto WB. You can play around with it but will find that it's very close to perfect settings.

It's a nice shot to have because you can play around and you have a quite good indicator as to where you are going. Without the board you have really no idea what the skin tone of the guy actually is - not to mention the rest of the set.

[wparsonsgisnet]

I am viewing the video from the WhiBal site. It's clear how to do this in PSCS2. Is anyone here using the WhiBal with C1?

Looking at the help stuff in C1, it says to click on the "White Balance" when using the Gray Card. When I play, using gray areas in images I already have (pre card) C1 seems to balance nicely, but the grays I am seeing have rgb values about 25-50 -- not all all like the 245 mentioned above.

Presumably this is because the card itself will give me 245's, but can someone confirm that I am doing the right thing?

Tnx.

[wparsonsgisnet]

Would those using the WhiBal card with C1 describe their workflow?

tnx,

[sean_reid]

Hi Bill,

Sure. Photograph the WhiBal in one frame from a series made under the same subject lighting. In C1, open the white balance tab and use the eye dropper tool to click on a grey section of the WhiBal card as it appears in the picture. Apply that white balance setting (see C1 instructions) to other frames made in the same lighting. Easy and fast...

Cheers,

Sean

[wparsonsgisnet]

Originally Posted by sean_reid

Hi Bill,

Sure. Photograph the WhiBal in one frame from a series made under the same subject lighting. In C1, open the white balance tab and use the eye dropper tool to click on a grey section of the WhiBal card as it appears in the picture. Apply that white balance setting (see C1 instructions) to other frames made in the same lighting. Easy and fast...

Cheers,

Sean

Just the guy I wanted to hear from!

So my description above is correct? It is the white ballance tab, and when I apply the setting when the dropper is in a "gray" area (the card), C1 will adjust everything accordingly, even tho it's a gray balance and not a white balance?

Thanks, Sean.

[guy_mancuso]

Let me add to Sean's comments. I take the WB off the card than apply this to ALL images , just do a select all than hit apply settings . Than when i come to the next series where the light changed i repeat. I add the images to the batch as i go than keep continuing on until the end. Makes this very easy to work like this, even though the WB changed on the 1st set it does not matter the orginal settings I made for them went to batch.

[guy_mancuso]

Bill always use the grey balance since the white could have been blown out . On a CC card use the bottom second from the left

[wparsonsgisnet]

Originally Posted by guy_mancuso

Let me add to Sean's comments. I take the WB off the card than apply this to ALL images , just do a select all than hit apply settings . Than when i come to the next series where the light changed i repeat. I add the images to the batch as i go than keep continuing on until the end. Makes this very easy to work like this, even though the WB changed on the 1st set it does not matter the orginal settings I made for them went to batch.

Thanks, Guy. I watched the online video and worked out how to do this in PSCS2. This morning I got C1 to do several images at the same time by shift- or control-clicking to get a group. This is very cool stuff.

I am expecting my WhiBal card to arrive today and will snap several of the bride to test the balancing in C1.

Thanks to all who assisted me.

[Cruewell]

Can Whibal be ordered from European online stores? I can't find it in Spain.

[wparsonsgisnet]

Originally Posted by Cruewell

Can Whibal be ordered from European online stores? I can't find it in Spain.

Jose, try online at this link from posting #3, above
WhiBal Gray Card for Digital Photo White Balance - RAW Workflow

I got mine there.

[Cruewell]

Thanks, Bill, that's where I read about WhiBal and decided it was worth getting it, but it's an American online store, no?

Problem is Spanish Customs employees have nothing else to do but pick on people who order any tipe of merchandise from any country outside the Euro Union in order to leech outrageous taxes from us. While this won't make me go broke, I hate being taken for a sucker by my dear Government.

But... if I can't find the product in Europe I´ll try find some other way to get it. Would WhiBal be available at ordinary photo stores?