Photography is about more than just pointing your camera and clicking the shutter. It’s about capturing the essence of a moment, the play of light, and the true colors of the scene in front of you.
One of the most crucial aspects of photography that often goes unnoticed by beginners is white balance. If you’ve ever taken a photo that looked too yellow, blue, or even green, you’ve likely encountered an issue with white balance. But don’t worry—it’s a simple concept once you understand it, and getting it right can dramatically improve your photos.
For beginner photographers, mastering white balance is one of the keys to transforming your photography from good to great. Getting your white balance right ensures that colors appear natural and true to life, no matter the lighting conditions. In this article, we’ll break down what white balance is, why it’s important, and how you can use it to enhance your photography. Let’s dive in!
Table of Contents
- What is White Balance?
- How White Balance Affects Your Photos
- White Balance Settings on Your Camera
- Using the Kelvin Scale for White Balance
- Common White Balance Mistakes to Avoid
- Practical Tips for Beginner Photographers
What is White Balance?
As Mark Wallace discusses in the video above by Adorama, white balance refers to the process of adjusting the colors in your photos so that they appear as natural as possible. In simple terms, it ensures that whites appear truly white, regardless of the light source. This is important because different types of light have different color temperatures, and those can affect how your photos look.
If you’ve ever taken a picture indoors under yellow incandescent lights, you may have noticed a warm, yellowish hue in your image. That’s because the light itself has a higher color temperature, which can make photos look warmer or cooler than they should.
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The key concept to understand is that light isn’t always “white.” The sun at midday is considered “neutral,” but lights inside your home, like incandescent bulbs, emit a warmer, yellow light. Fluorescent lights, on the other hand, can cast a greenish tint. Meanwhile, the light emitted from the computer screen in the image above is blue.
These color shifts are more apparent in your photos than you might realize. To compensate for these variations, white balance helps adjust the colors to make the scene look as true to life as possible.
When white balance is set correctly, the colors in your image will appear natural, with whites looking white, blues looking blue, and reds looking red. Without proper white balance, these colors can appear distorted. Understanding this concept is essential for beginners as it’s one of the easiest ways to drastically improve your photography.
How White Balance Affects Your Photos
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When it comes to photography, lighting plays a huge role in setting the mood of your images. But light isn’t just about how bright it is—it’s also about the color temperature, which can vary widely depending on the source of the light. That’s where white balance comes in…
When it’s done right, it ensures that the colors in your photos look natural. However, if you leave your white balance setting unchecked, you may end up with photos that look off—too warm, too cool, or simply unappealing.
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For example, consider indoor photography under tungsten (incandescent) light. If you don’t adjust the white balance, your photos will likely take on an orange or yellow hue, making your subject look unnatural. On the other hand, shooting outside during a cloudy day might result in your images looking too cool or blue. Both scenarios can easily be fixed with the correct white balance settings.
Understanding how white balance affects your photos can save you a lot of time in post-processing. If you’ve ever had to deal with photos that look too warm or too cold, you know how much it can affect the final result. Adjusting the white balance in-camera, rather than fixing it later, ensures your photos look just the way you saw them in real life.
White Balance Settings on Your Camera
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Now that you understand what white balance is and how it impacts your photos, let’s take a closer look at how you can control it using your camera.
Most cameras come equipped with a range of white balance settings designed to help you adjust the colors in different lighting conditions. Here are some of the most common settings you’ll find on your camera:
- Auto White Balance (AWB): This is the default setting on most cameras. The camera tries to determine the correct white balance based on the scene. It’s usually a good starting point, but it can struggle in tricky lighting conditions like mixed lighting (natural light and artificial light together).
- Daylight: As the name suggests, this setting is perfect for shooting outside on a bright, sunny day. It’s designed to neutralize the blueish tint that sunlight can sometimes create.
- Cloudy: If you’re shooting outdoors on a cloudy day, this setting warms up the scene by adding a little orange/yellow tint to compensate for the cool, blueish light typically found in overcast conditions.
- Tungsten: This setting is used to correct the warm, yellow/orange hue cast by indoor tungsten (incandescent) lighting. It adds a bluish tint to balance out the warmth of the light.
- Fluorescent: Fluorescent lighting often gives off a greenish tint. The fluorescent white balance setting compensates for this by adding a magenta tint, neutralizing the color cast.
- Custom/Manual White Balance: For the most accurate white balance results, this setting allows you to take a reading from a neutral white or gray object in your scene (such as a gray card) and set the white balance based on that. It’s perfect for tricky lighting situations where presets just don’t cut it.
Each of these settings helps adjust the color temperature to match the lighting in the scene, and experimenting with them will give you more control over your photos.
Keep Reading: Camera Basics for Beginners
Using the Kelvin Scale for White Balance
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If you want even more precise control over white balance, you can use the Kelvin scale. The Kelvin scale measures the color temperature of light, ranging from cool (blue) to warm (yellow/red). The scale starts at lower numbers (around 2,500K) for warm light and goes up to higher numbers (around 10,000K) for cooler light.
When you set your camera’s white balance manually using the Kelvin scale, you can fine-tune the exact color temperature of the light in your shot. For example:
- 2,500K represents the warm glow of candlelight.
- 5,500K is the neutral color temperature of daylight.
- 10,000K is for the cool, bluish light seen during an overcast sky.
Understanding the Kelvin scale can seem like a lot to handle, but it’s incredibly useful in situations where presets won’t give you the accuracy you need. By using the Kelvin scale, you can adjust the color temperature exactly how you want it.
Common White Balance Mistakes to Avoid
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Even seasoned photographers can make mistakes with white balance, and beginners are no exception. Here are a few common pitfalls to watch out for:
- Leaving White Balance on Auto: While Auto White Balance can work well in many situations, it can also misinterpret tricky lighting and lead to unwanted color shifts. If you’re shooting under mixed lighting, it’s better to switch to a preset or custom white balance.
- Ignoring White Balance Indoors: If you’re shooting indoors under tungsten or fluorescent lights, make sure to adjust your white balance accordingly. Otherwise, your photos may come out with an unnatural orange or greenish tint.
- Relying on Post-Processing: While it’s possible to adjust white balance in editing software, it’s always better to get it right in-camera. Adjusting white balance during post-processing can reduce the quality of your image and take up valuable editing time.
By avoiding these mistakes, you’ll save yourself time in editing and ensure your photos look more natural right out of the camera.
Practical Tips for Beginner Photographers
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Mastering white balance can seem like a challenge, but with a few practical tips, you’ll be able to achieve great results quickly:
- Start with Auto White Balance: This is a good default setting, especially if you’re just getting started. AWB works well in most situations, but don’t hesitate to switch to a preset if you notice any color shifts.
- Experiment with Presets: Don’t be afraid to try different white balance presets to see how they affect your photos. Shooting outside on a sunny day? Try the Daylight preset. Indoors with incandescent lighting? Switch to Tungsten.
- Use Custom White Balance for Accuracy: In tricky lighting conditions, take a shot of a gray card or white object and use that to set your custom white balance. This ensures accurate colors, especially in mixed lighting situations.
- Understand the Mood of Your Photos: The white balance setting can also influence the mood of your photos. A cool white balance can give a more somber, bluish tone, while a warm white balance can add a cozy, inviting feel. Experiment to see what best suits the mood you want to convey.
Photo by Radu Bercan via Shutterstock
Mastering white balance is a crucial step toward becoming a better photographer. It’s an easy adjustment to make, and once you start using it correctly, you’ll notice how much more vibrant and true-to-life your photos will become.
Don’t be afraid to experiment with different settings, and always remember that white balance is all about making sure colors in your photos look natural. By understanding the basics and using the tips we’ve covered, you’ll be well on your way to capturing stunning, accurate images every time you click the shutter.
Happy shooting!
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