Manual White Balance Tools - getting tangled up in my slate.

[Taxgeek]

Having recently discovered the joys of manual white balance, I've been carrying my slate around with me and doing the manual white balance dance every few minutes during the dive. Love love love the results.

But, I'm getting all tangled up! I have my slate clipped to my BC, and during the dive, it sweeps back over my shoulder, which (a) makes it hard to locate and (b) gets it tangled in my inflater hose and my camera wrist strap.

Anybody have any creative tools for whitebalancing that don't involve clipping yet another gadget to my BC?

Has anybody tried using a wrist slate?

(I dive Southern California, so whiteish sand is nonexistent most of the time).

Thanks for any ideas you have!
Taxgeek

 

[Bill51]

Use a Velcro dot to attach the slate to the bottom of your camera once you're in the water.

 

[ronrosa]

Sand or white duct tape on the fin.

 

[Mike Veitch]

I attach the slate on a retractable pull cord to the housing. Just make sure it doesn't float into your shot....

 

[Taxgeek]

I attach the slate on a retractable pull cord to the housing. Just make sure it doesn't float into your shot....

Thanks all! I'm going to try the white tape on fins first. I also thought of this one, although a little dorky (ok, alot dorky) maybe: white glove worn over regular gloves. I know, I better learn how to moon walk before I try that on a boat though, huh?

 

[ScubaJo]

hey tax geek!
I use a slate with a velcro strap on my forearm just above my computer,
doing the manual white balance dance when you get to depth definately
is quite the experience. Let me know how the other techniques work out!

 

[Taxgeek]

hey tax geek!
I use a slate with a velcro strap on my forearm just above my computer,
doing the manual white balance dance when you get to depth definately
is quite the experience. Let me know how the other techniques work out!

Hi Scubajo! So are you saying your slate is velcroed on your forearm, like so that it is stuck there, or it is just attached to your arm? I've been briefly considering this - kind of like a wrist slate only flat. If that is what you use, does it get caught on stuff?

Thanks!
Taxgeek

 

[ScubaJo]

Hi Scubajo! So are you saying your slate is velcroed on your forearm, like so that it is stuck there, or it is just attached to your arm? I've been briefly considering this - kind of like a wrist slate only flat. If that is what you use, does it get caught on stuff?

Thanks!
Taxgeek

Hi Taxgeek! Lashed to my arm I guess is a better way to describe it!
It's simple wrist slate with velcro that loops through it - I believe trident made this mini slate (just ditch the pencil), so you can adjust it accordingly on your forearm. Let me see if I can attach a picture of it...

The only thing is, you have to juggle the camera and the "set" button with one hand while aiming it at the slate, but I haven't had too many problems with this. You can see it on my arm in my avatar pic.

 

[Mike Veitch]

I would beware of white on the fins, i used to do that but it is a huge pain in the butt to even try getting enough of it in the frame and then of course you need to always aim down to do it or else start looking like a ballerina! Always best to WB in the direction you are going to shoot i find, therefore is best to use something that is easier to move. The wrist mount looks like a nice option.

 

[meekal]

i went for broke and got the WHITE BALANCE SLATE gimik from Gates.

http://www.gateshousings.com/accessories.html#hardware2

it's very schweet to just flick it down, hit the WB and pop it out of the way.