The Importance of White Balance in Digital

Photography

Woodlands Photography ClubJune 2010Don Rueter

White Balance

• Critical to “look” of the photograph

• Instructs camera computer how to interpret colors it sees

• Set based on temperature (degrees Kelvin) of the primary light source

• Incorrect White Balance can cause colors that are too warm (red) or too cool (blue)

White Balance Goal

• Achieve a neutral colorcast in your photo

• Get whites to look white

• Get colors to look like what you saw when you took the photo

White Balance Importance

• JPEG vs. RAW

• When true color rendition is critical– Weddings– Portraits– Product Photos

Setting White Balance

• Before shooting– Auto– Camera Menu choices (e.g., direct sunlight,

cloudy, shade, flash, fluorescent (7 choices), incandescent, set color temp)

– Manual Preset• Gray card photo• Expodisc• Neutral color photo

Adjusting White Balance

• After shooting– JPEG – not directly adjustable– RAW – fully adjustable in most processing

software• Menu choices• Gray card photo• White point/Gray point tools

Examples

Hi Temp Merc Vapor (7200K) Sodium Vapor (2700K)

Examples

AUTO WB Cool White Fluorescent (4200K)

Examples

Incandescent (3000K)Set Gray Point on Cheerleader’s

Arm

Examples

AUTO WBSet Gray Point on Cheerleader’s

Arm