Hi Lea
Generally white is better (It's called "White balance" after all...:-)
Light grey is ok providing it's an absolutely neutral grey and not a blueish grey etc., It isn't always so easy to tell without something neutral to compare it to. The reason grey is preferred by some, is because you don't have the same exposure error as with white.
My formula, for what it's worth is:
Point at something very WHITE, that more than fills the frame, take a reading and open up 2 1/2 stops from there. Shoot the target and use as a reference. (if you don't open up the 2 1/2 stops then you might as well shoot grey cos your reference will look grey anyway.)
A piece of well-washed white cotton sheeting about 2 feet square is easy to store and works well.
Well-washed, because new, white cloth can contain optical brightner which reflects a lot of UV.
Herschel Mair
Head of the Department of Photography,
Head of the Department of Photography,
Higher College of Technology
Muscat
Sultanate of Oman
Muscat
Sultanate of Oman
Adobe Certified instructor
+ (986) 99899 673
----- Original Message ----
From: lea murphy <lea@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: List for Photo/Imaging Educators - Professionals - Students <photoforum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, February 1, 2007 7:24:57 PM
Subject: custom white balance
Some camera mfgs say to balance to white, some say gray.
From: lea murphy <lea@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: List for Photo/Imaging Educators - Professionals - Students <photoforum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, February 1, 2007 7:24:57 PM
Subject: custom white balance
Some camera mfgs say to balance to white, some say gray.
Does it matter?
Why or why not?
Thanks,
Bored stiff? Loosen up...
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