WHITE BALANCE CHEAT SHEET

Kelvin reference — 4 anchors to memorize

Kelvin	Light source	Cast if uncorrected
3200K	Tungsten / incandescent bulb	Heavy orange
4000K	Warm fluorescent, evening sun	Yellow-green
5500K	Daylight, electronic flash	Neutral
7000K+	Open shade, overcast, blue hour	Cool blue

Rule of thumb: Shoot RAW and you can re-set WB later — but nail it in-camera to JPEG-preview accurately on the tether and to deliver consistent skin tones across a wedding day.

Preset map — when each one is right

Preset	Kelvin	Best for
Daylight ☀	5200–5500K	Open sun, midday weddings, outdoor formations
Cloudy ☁	6000–6500K	Overcast ceremonies, soft outdoor portraits — adds warmth
Shade 🌳	7000–7500K	Subjects under tree cover or building shadow
Tungsten 💡	3000–3200K	Indoor reception with hot bulbs, no mixed flash
Fluorescent	3800–4200K	Office headshots, gym formations — kills the green
Flash ⚡	5500–6000K	Strobe-dominant studio, military headshots, bounce flash receptions
AWB	varies	Run-and-gun, mixed light reception transitions
Custom / Kelvin lock	set manually	Tethered studio with ColorChecker — gold standard

AWB failure modes — when auto gets it wrong

1. Subject wearing all white in dim light — body sees neutral and shifts everything cool. Lock to Flash or 5500K.
2. Mixed tungsten + window light — AWB averages and you get split skin tones (orange face, blue dress). Pick the dominant light source and set manually; gel the flash.
3. Strong colored walls or red bridal party flowers — sensor reads the dominant hue as a cast and overcorrects. Lock to a fixed Kelvin.
4. Strobe-lit on AWB — every frame drifts ±200K because the meter samples ambient between pops. Always lock WB in strobe work.

Custom WB workflow — ColorChecker Passport

1. Set scene lighting fully — strobes at final power, modifiers in position, ambient locked out.
2. Have subject hold the ColorChecker Passport flat against their chest, facing the key light.
3. Fire one reference frame at correct exposure. Confirm the white patch reads ~245 RGB, not blown.
4. In Capture One, with the reference frame open, use the White Balance Picker on the second-brightest gray patch.
5. Right-click the corrected frame → Copy Adjustments → Paste WB to all session frames under that lighting setup.
6. If lighting changes (new modifier, gelled accent), shoot a fresh ColorChecker frame and restart the workflow.
7. For Pro Tether Tools — Mobile Capture review, the ColorChecker frame should be flagged with a session marker so the editor can find it.

PVME WB locks by scenario

Scenario	Lock to
Tethered studio headshot	Custom from ColorChecker (typically 5400K)
Military headshot (strobe)	Flash preset or 5500K
Outdoor formation, open sun	Daylight / 5500K
Outdoor formation, overcast	Cloudy / 6500K
Wedding ceremony, daylight venue	Daylight / 5500K
Wedding ceremony, tungsten chapel	3200K, gel any flash CTO
Reception with off-camera flash + tungsten	3800K + CTO gel on flash
Real estate interior — flambient	Lock to ambient (~3400K), correct in post
Real estate twilight exterior	5000K (preserves blue sky + warm interior glow)