White Balance on 20d

[ktixx]

If anyone has done research on the canon 20d digital SLR, you will probably notice (as I did) that it has a new White Balance Feature. This feature allows you to select a WB Bracketing and WB Shift. You can choose the bracket on the blue/amber or green/magenta axis. More info about this can be found in the review done by dcresource at http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/c...iew/index.shtml
basically my question is: What does this do, and when will it be used. For example, in what situation would I want to move the white dot to the green/magenta access, and what result would I be looking for to do this. I am an amature photographer looking to get more involved. I have searched all over the interet (and even called canon) and no one can tell me a solid answer. I will appreciate any help you can give. Thank you
Ken

[Arizona]

Shifting towards blue would be under tungsten light. Maybe the standard setting is not perfect for all light bulbs as some may be a stronger yellow than others. I don't really know for sure.

I have seen people shots where they are surrounded by green foliage and there is a green cast on their skin. Maybe you could slide the axis more toward magenta for a shot like that.

I would suggest just shooting RAW if you have a camera like the 20D and forgetting those other settings you mention. Then you can fine tune the WB in post RAW processing to any fine degree, work up the final touches in 16 bit and have a better dynamic range options as well. That way you aren't fooling around as much with the camera settings while you are composing an image. It also leaves you with many more options in the digital darkroom.

[Donkeyotey]

I know in video camera work, we use shifting the White Balance around to shoot panoramic shots of sunsets, where you want the sun to look all reddish and 'fierce,' for lack of a better term. You see this where someone comes riding down the highway, and crests a hill and you see the heat waves, etc. in the foreground.

You can try white balancing on something deep blue, or on something red, and you will get totally different results.