White Balance: How it Works
White balance helps you properly adjust color in regards to the light source that is being used. When this is done correctly, white objects will appear white. But don't take the simplicity of this concept for granted! With so many types of lighting, white balance can be difficult to determine with your eye, even for the most experienced photographers.
You can use an image sensor to help you adjust the color differences for your camera. Instead of manually adjusting this, you'll probably prefer to use some of the presets that are available. By doing this, you'll used the color information from that preset to adjust the sensor.
Many of the normal presets that you'll see are cloudy, shade, daylight, tungsten, fluorescent, and flash. Selecting what's appropriate for your situation will help to get your sensor running optimally. As the light passes through the camera and the RGB filter, the light will be adjusted according to the preset you have chosen.
Considerations
As many photographers strive for perfection when it comes to their work, let us not forget the artistic aspect of this field. Although a system of defining your white balance is necessary, don't let it be a limiting factor for you. As you keep in mind how white balance works, you'll be able to make the best judgement call and even try other options for determining white balance.
What I've had the chance to learn through trial and error has been extremely helpful for future shots! Frequently, color temperatures are not the same throughout one scene. This often happens with several light sources, so it is best to determine which will be your true sampling area.
Please don't think that post processing will be able to solve the white balance conundrum. Often, it is more difficult to change the white balance during post processing! With several different color and light sliders, you'll find it near impossible to do so to all your photos afterward. This is where your experience and expertise come into play to help you achieve the white balance while your shooting.
The Overall Feel
When we look at a white object, our eyes will automatically adjust to the lighting conditions, so that the object appears perfectly white to us whether we are indoors or out in the bright sunlight. While our eyes are excellent at making this adjustment, digital cameras aren't, and the same object will appear different depending on the color of light in the scene (something known as the "color temperature"). This can leave our photos with a blue (cool) or orange (warm) tint.
White balance is the process of giving our camera a helping hand, so that it can reproduce the whites in our photo as they should be. Once it gets the white right, all the other colors in the scene fall into place, and we're left with an image that perfectly reproduces what our eyes saw. White balance can make the difference between a dull looking "digital" picture or an image that really jumps at you when looking at it, so it's worth the time to get it as close to "right" as possible.
White balance helps you properly adjust color in regards to the light source that is being used. When this is done correctly, white objects will appear white. But don't take the simplicity of this concept for granted! With so many types of lighting, white balance can be difficult to determine with your eye, even for the most experienced photographers.
You can use an image sensor to help you adjust the color differences for your camera. Instead of manually adjusting this, you'll probably prefer to use some of the presets that are available. By doing this, you'll used the color information from that preset to adjust the sensor.
Many of the normal presets that you'll see are cloudy, shade, daylight, tungsten, fluorescent, and flash. Selecting what's appropriate for your situation will help to get your sensor running optimally. As the light passes through the camera and the RGB filter, the light will be adjusted according to the preset you have chosen.
Considerations
As many photographers strive for perfection when it comes to their work, let us not forget the artistic aspect of this field. Although a system of defining your white balance is necessary, don't let it be a limiting factor for you. As you keep in mind how white balance works, you'll be able to make the best judgement call and even try other options for determining white balance.
What I've had the chance to learn through trial and error has been extremely helpful for future shots! Frequently, color temperatures are not the same throughout one scene. This often happens with several light sources, so it is best to determine which will be your true sampling area.
Please don't think that post processing will be able to solve the white balance conundrum. Often, it is more difficult to change the white balance during post processing! With several different color and light sliders, you'll find it near impossible to do so to all your photos afterward. This is where your experience and expertise come into play to help you achieve the white balance while your shooting.
The Overall Feel
When we look at a white object, our eyes will automatically adjust to the lighting conditions, so that the object appears perfectly white to us whether we are indoors or out in the bright sunlight. While our eyes are excellent at making this adjustment, digital cameras aren't, and the same object will appear different depending on the color of light in the scene (something known as the "color temperature"). This can leave our photos with a blue (cool) or orange (warm) tint.
White balance is the process of giving our camera a helping hand, so that it can reproduce the whites in our photo as they should be. Once it gets the white right, all the other colors in the scene fall into place, and we're left with an image that perfectly reproduces what our eyes saw. White balance can make the difference between a dull looking "digital" picture or an image that really jumps at you when looking at it, so it's worth the time to get it as close to "right" as possible.
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