So I had a frustrating shoot today. My job today was to follow around a restaurant manager, reality style. She was wired up with a wireless microphone, then we turned her loose and I followed her as she bustled around a crowded restaurant. Problem was, she was moving very quickly among three parts of the restaurant which were lit alternately by flourescent lights, tungsten lights, and sunlight from the street. It was a white balance and exposure nightmare. My VX2000 will not permit me to change white balance while the camera is recording, so I kept having to make a choice between leaving the color alone or stopping the tape while she was speaking to make the white balance change. A pretty bad choice.

I could go on and on, but here's my question: how do the pro shooters in here handle such a situation? Do you suck it up and go automatic, which we're all trained to never do? Or do you just accept that certain environments will yield substandard video?

I should point out that this is a monthly low-budget project for a supermarket chain--roughly $350 per finished minute--and the client is exceedingly accepting of less-than-polished work. But as a professional, or someone who aspires to be a professional, I hate trafficking in work that doesn't meet certain basic standards.

Any thoughts?