Karthik,
It is a common misconception in the RAW world that shooting a gray card and then clicking it will automatically set a proper white balance. In this RAW image in C1, you could click on the wall behind her, the eyes, teeth or even her skin. For that matter, you could even use her hair. Just look for areas that are fairly close in RGB values. The purpose of white balancing is not to set a neutral 18% gray but to achieve the overall color temperature of the scene.
So many people are confused with this issue and try to get RGB values of 128, 128, 128 for everything when this really isn't the case. The exposure, light mix and image color content all play major roles in getting a good white balance. There are no magic by the numbers for real world color.
You can try this in C1 to see the correlation that I'm speaking of:
Make sure the image is at As Shot defaults. You can Ctrl-Click the black X with the ! (exclamation point) beside it to reset to defauts.
Now press Ctrl-Shift-W (Auto exposure)
Press Ctrl-W for Auto White Balance
At this point, you should have a fairly neutral toned and exposed image. You can further tweak the white balance with the temp and tint sliders or for even further fine tuning, use the color balance correction wheel. Exposure can then be tweaked using the RGB levels with Preserve Color Balance checked, or uncheck Preserve Color Balance to be able to tweak each RGB channel separately. You can also use curves and most C1 based images benefit from a slight S curve with the mid shadow end bumped up a tiny bit and the mid hilite end bumped down the same.
I loaded your RAW file into C1 and achieved a good color balance and white balance using the above simple auto method. Of course, only you know how the image should actually look. In all, it was about 5 seconds worth of tweaking. That's what C1 is all about.
HTH,
VG
Karthik Murugesan wrote:
> Clarification:
>
> I am not trying to set the custom white balance in the camera using
> the gray card. I am shooting RAW and use the gray card shot while
> processing it with C1 DSLR or PS CS Camera RAW.
>
> When I place the WB pointer over the gray card. This is the
> following reading I get
>
> Before fixing WB - (R,G,B):(128,150,185)
> After corrceting WB - (R,G,B):(165,165,165)
>
> Isn't that gray supposed to be set at (128,128,128). If so, how do
> I correct individual colors using C1 DSLR or PS Camera RAW.
>
> I really appreciate taking your time.
>
> Equipment Info:
> 10D
> Canon 100/2.8
> natural light
>
> Sorry I forgot to provide this earlier.
>
> - Thanks, Karthik.
>
> Karthik Murugesan wrote:
> > Hello All:
> >
> > I need help your to see if I am doing this right. Last weekend I
> > made few portraits. It was a sunny morning around 10.00. Every
> > session I started with a gray card image and shot RAW. The model
> > was seated under a roof, well shaded in the backyard. I used
> > couple of white foam boards to lit the model's face with a flood of
> > light from the bottom.
> >
> > The problem I faced, when processing RAW bith with C1 DSLR and OS
> > CS Camera RAW.
> >
> > When I place the WB pointer over the gray card. This is the
> > following reading I get
> >
> > Before fixing WB (R,G,B):(128,150,185)
> > After corrceting WB (R,G,B):(165,165,165)
> >
> > Isn't the gray supposed to be set at (128,128,128). If so, how do I
> > correct individual colors using C1 DSLR or PS Camera RAW.
> >
> > I've given link of original raw file to both the gray card image
> > and the next image.
> >
> > http://www.camantrix.net/content/dpreview/stef/CRW_8446.jpg
> >
> > http://www.camantrix.net/content/dpreview/stef/CRW_8446.CRW
> >
> > http://www.camantrix.net/content/dpreview/stef/CRW_8449.jpg
> >
> > http://www.camantrix.net/content/dpreview/stef/CRW_8449.CRW
> >
> > Please take your time to see if it's the image, lighting or the way
> > the gray card was held.
> >
> > I played with the WB settings reduing the color temperature, and
> > levels and posted some images.
> >
> > http://www.pbase.com/cartic_kn/dave_stef_jason
> >
> > http://www.pbase.com/image/31797495/original.jpg
> >
> > But I am sure it's not even close to perfect as far as the skin
> > tones and WB are concerned. I know I can't get the perfect color
> > just by shooting a gray card. Just wanted to share and get inputs
> > from experts here. Please be gentle :).
> >
> > Thanks, Karthik.
> >
> > --
> > http://pbase.com/cartic_kn
> > http://camantrix.com
>
> --
> http://pbase.com/cartic_kn
> http://camantrix.com