'In Camera' Custom White Balance

The easiest way to get perfect colour in your photos is to use in camera custom white balance.

I used to shoot raw and deal with it in post

In the past I shot raw files and included a white balance grey card in the first and last shot of a series.

Now I prefer to shoot jpgs and get all my settings right, in the camera, so I have less photo editing to do.

Custom white balance is a time saver

The video above shows how to set up Custom WB for two different camera brands: Lumix and Canon.You'll need a special white balance grey card for this. I like the X-Rite Color Checker Passport best. But there are several on the market. This post gives you more info about all the grey cards I've used.

If you aren't sure how to set up Custom WB on your own camera, it may be time to crack open that camera manual!

Use custom white balance for video too

Using Custom WB is important if you are shooting hybrid videos.

That way your videos and photos will match perfectly and you can go seamlessly from stills to video clips without having to post process both your video clips and your photos. That's a very time consuming process.

If you've never used custom white balance before, try it out on  your next shoot. BUT don't forget to change the settings back to Auto White Balance or a pre-set, when your lighting changes.