White Balance

Setting the White Balance on your digital SLR camera.

White Balance is how you set the color balance. Color balance, is critical to every image. Have you ever taken a photograph and found it looked too blue, yellow or green? This is usually a result of the camera’s White Balance not being set correctly for the available light.

To understand why White Balance is important, take the 3 photographs below for example. The first was photographed with the cameras White Balance set on ‘Daylight’, the second with a ‘Shade’ setting, and the third with a ‘Fluorescent’ setting. Notice the difference in the coloring?

White Balance settings for many Digital SLR cameras include:

Auto: The Automatic White Balance setting on todays SLR cameras do a pretty good job when photographing outdoors. If you’re a beginner to SLR photography, keep your White Balance set on Auto to start with until you get the hang of other important settings. Truth be told, many professionals keep it on Auto White Balance as well. One day when you’re not photographing anything special, take a few shots of the same scene, all set on different White Balance settings to see the difference for yourself. You’ll find 9/10 times, the Auto setting will end up the best choice.

Daylight: Use this White Setting for bright sunny days.

Cloudy: Overcast and cloudy days. Cloudy is also great for twilight and sunsets.

Shade: Used in the shade, for example in a shady area of a park.

Tungsten: Normal indoor lighting.

Fluorescent: Indoor fluorescent lighting is one of those rare times when experienced photographers manually choose their White Balance setting. Don’t rely on the Auto setting for indoor shots, this is normally the time your camera will get it wrong.

Some Digital SLR Cameras may have others as well.

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