White Balance 101

So what exactly is white balance and what is it for?  Well each DSLR camera has a white balance setting which is used to make white objects appear “white” in your photographs.  When you take your photos, keep in mind that all light has some color to it. For example, if you are taking pictures in a gym you may have some halogen bulb lighting which will give off a red/orange color in your photos.  While taking the photographs you will not notice the red/orange color because our brain adjusts the colors that we see.  So adjusting your white balance setting will help make the white objects in your photos appear white.

The color of light (aka temperature) is measured in degrees Kelvin ranging from 1000 K to over 10,000 K.  Below is a chart I found on www.bloglovin.com that will help as a reference for color temperature and white balance settings.

White Balance Options

Your DSLR camera should have 3 options for your white balance selection.  They are 1) Automatic White Balance, 2) Presets for White Balance and lastly 3) Custom White Balance.  I will explain each option below.

Automatic White Balance

This setting allows the camera to attempt the correct temperature of light for your photo.  This option works very well most of the time until you come across a difficult lighting situation such as a gym with poor lighting or when you want the colors to be match exactly perfect.

Presets for White Balance

Your camera should have a variety of white balance presets for you to choose from.  These settings will compensate and make adjustments to your photos.  The presets that I have on my camera which should be similar in most cameras are:

·         Daylight – This preset would be used when it is sunny or general daylight conditions.

·         Shade – This preset should be selected if it is sunny out but you are shooting in the shade. 

·         Cloudy – This preset should be selected if it’s a rainy day or there is an overcast

·         Tungsten – This preset works best under photos with a normal light bulb or incandescent lighting

·         White Florescent – This preset works best for photos taken under florescent lighting

·         Flash – This preset should be used when utilizing the flash

So this is how the presets work - say I am taking a picture outside in the shade (which will have a blue temperature), I would want to select the shade preset in order to balance the color.  The camera will then add some warmth to the photo by adding some orange, red or yellows. 

Below are two photos I took.  One was with the auto white balance and the other was set to Shade notice the difference in warmth in the second photo.

Auto White Balance

 

Shade White Balance

Custom White Balance

If none of your presets or if the automatic white balance setting does not work well for your photos then you have the option of custom white balance.  I sometimes use this feature when I am shooting in a gym with terrible lighting.  What I usually do in order to create my custom white balance is I will take a picture of a white or gray object in the area I am shooting.  Then I set the image as my custom white balance for my future shots.  Each camera may be different so you will need to consult your manual for directions.  Another option, which I have not used, would be to select your color temperature from the set of values in your camera.  Below is a YouTube Video from www.mahalo.com on how to select your custom white balance in a Canon DSLR camera.

The best way to learn about white balance is to take several photos and for each photo select a different preset so that you can see the difference of color in the photographs.

Have you experimented with white balance?  I would love to hear your thoughts.