Posts Tagged ‘White balance settings’

Different light sources produce light with different colors. For example, fluorescent lighting often has a green tinge, while tungsten lighting is a warm amber. Our eyes don't tend to notice the color of light too much, as they automatically correct for any color casts to a certain degree.

But a camera records what it sees, and this is where setting the correct white balance becomes important. If your camera is set to daylight color white balance, then you shoot under tungsten lighting, you'll find the resulting images have a strong orange color cast.

Photo lit with a standard indoor energy saving CFL bulb and white balance set to daylight

When you set the correct white balance setting on the camera, it modifies the camera's color response. It works in much the same way as using the curves tool in Photoshop to adjust color. The white balance setting determines the overall balance of colors in an image, to result in an image with a neutral color cast.

Got a new camera and wondering how all those different camera settings should be set for the best results? The good news is that just about all modern cameras will work resonably well with the settings set as they are straight out of the box. However, to really get the most from your camera, there are a few settings you should pay attention to.

In this article I'll cover the different settings for getting the best results. The settings available and setting locations in your camera's menu will vary between camera models, if you're not sure how to change a setting, check your camera's manual, or do a quick google search with the setting you want to change and your camera's model name.