douglascott Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 I'm having difficulty capturing a custom white balance with studio monolight strobes. Part of the reason, I imagine, is that until the flash fires, there is not enough light on my white card to allow the camera to focus and lock. I've tried to lock the focus on the edge of the card and then shift back to the center, but it hasn't worked - I get a "no good" response. I've had more success when there's some ambient light in the area, but in this particular studio setting there is none. I'm familiar with other white/gray cards used in post-processing, but I would prefer to resolve in camera, if possible. I would appreciate any suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brooks short Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 Manual focus? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelklothphotography Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 Doug, I see that you are using a Nikon D80 which allows you to dial in the Kelvin temperature settings for your light source. Since you are having difficulty with your current method and since your strobes are likely daylight balanced, one solution would be to dial in a setting of 6500K (or what ever your strobes are rated at). Another possible cause for your difficulty is the color of the room that you've set up to use as your studio. If your walls or ceiling are painted with bright, saturated colors, you might be introducing a color shift from the reflected light and you would have to adjust your Kelvin temperature accordingly. Lacking a color temperature meter to give you an accurate measurement, you will have to experiment to find the best setting. Best of luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrstubbs Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 No need to focus for the white balance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brandon.r.foster Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 Shine a flash light on the card to focus, and then turn the flash light off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brandon.r.foster Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 Or you could always gel the strobes to a know Kelvin value, and dial in. You could also go with the in camera WB setting for flash. But I have had to use a flashlight to focus on subject in a dark studio before, and on critters at night for macro work. I will work just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beauh44 Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 What Anthony said. And you can always shoot RAW and dial in a custom color temperature after the shot's taken in something like ACR. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
douglascott Posted September 18, 2007 Author Share Posted September 18, 2007 Thank you for all of the answers. I've had some success with placing a small thumb tack in the middle of the white board that I use. It gives the camera something to focus on, and therefore allows me to push shutter release. The modeling lights on the strobe, when the strobe head is in close proximity, usually puts out enough light. I will definitely keep the flash light trick in mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellis_vener_photography Posted September 18, 2007 Share Posted September 18, 2007 Stop shooting jpegs and manually focus at infinity. In Adobe Camera Raw (ACR), Lightroom, Nikon Capture , Bibble , etc. there are white balance eye dropper tools. Just be mindful that with virtually all monolights , due to their internal engineering, when you change output levels, you'll also change the colro temperture of the light and flash duration. How big a change this creates will be dependent on how the pack was engineered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_aceti Posted January 1, 2009 Share Posted January 1, 2009 <p> Last I checked strobes are 5500K not 6500K<br> Set your camera to 5500 and go to town.<br> Nikons will not fire unless they lock when using autofocus. Take a black pen and draw an small X in the center of the card, it needs a sharp edge to focus on</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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