Color Calibration (page 3)
Sidebar Two: Trick of the Trade
Since a camcorder will attempt to white balance on whatever color you focus it on, you can experiment with white balancing the camera on different colors, other than white. Typically, a video image will wash to the opposite of itself on the color wheel. As an example, if you're shooting a great sunrise and you'd like to be sure to capture the deeper reds and oranges of the scene, you can do a manual white balance by focusing on a sheet of light blue paper. This tricks the camcorder into favoring the reds and yellows. Since television sets produce images as high as 9,000-degrees Kelvin or more - a very cold, blue color - it can sometimes help to 'warm up' your shots while shooting. Keep in mind this takes practice. I have a color wheel taped to the inside of a camera bag so that I can recall how to cheat the color correctly. It's a good idea to hook up to a color monitor or television when using this technique. Please don't start experimenting with this for the first time when shooting a wedding video.
