White Balance – Setting it right

White Balance- Introduction

Have you ever taken a picture indoor and have it come out too orange? Have you ever taken a picture on a cloudy day have it come out blue? This is because you have not set the white balance as required by the particular scene.

White balance can be confusing aspect of digital photography for the people who go from simple point and shoot camera to advanced DSLR camera. They are baffled and can’t figure out why the image color is so bad.

What is White Balance?

White balance is as important as Exposure. It is one of the important concepts when it comes to digital photography. In exposure you are telling your camera how much light to record.

In white balance you tell the right color. The main purpose of White balance is to balance the image in terms of colors by removing color casts.

 

Understanding White Balance

To understand the concept white balance you need to understand the concept of Color Temperature. Sun light has different colors which changes from time to time as day progresses.

It is yellow/orange during sunset, purple during late evening .Blue during broad daylight. These shifts in colors are measured in degree or Kelvin. This is color temperature and this helps you to set a correct white balance in your camera.

White balance Settings in your camera

Auto WB – In Auto White balance the camera makes best guess to obtain accurate colors in different lighting conditions. It measures the color of light and attempts to correct it.

Daylight – It works like Auto WB. You are specifically telling your camera that you are shooting in daylight. It removes the blue color cast thus making it slightly warmer.

Cloudy- This is used when you shoot in cloudy weather. It gives warm color a touch more than Daylight White balance to your images. Removes blue from overcast weather.

Shade- It removes cyan in the shade. It will give a slightly warm tone.

Flash- Flash light is blueish in color. It will give a slightly warm tone.

Incandescent –This white balance mode is used when you shoot indoors under bulb light. It will give a cool tone to your images.

Fluorescent- It makes photos brighter and warmer. Removes excess green of fluorescent tubes. Use this mode if your picture appears to green.

 

Conclusion

I hope you understood the concept of white balance and how to use it in different lighting conditions. If your light source is warm you need to set your camera to add cooler tones and vice versa.

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