I figured what better way to give back than to share some of the knowledge I’ve acquired over the last year and half. I still feel like I have A LOT left to learn as a photographer and businesswoman but if I can help make someone else’s journey a little easier then I’m all for it. Let me preface this by saying I’m no expert, I’m just speaking from what I know and what I’ve learned.

Today I’m going to be talking about white balance. Now some of you may not even know what this term means (and for those who do… you can just skip this part lol) so allow me to explain it to you. White balance (WB) is the process of removing unrealistic color casts, so that objects which appear white in person are rendered white in your photo. Proper camera white balance has to take into account the “color temperature” of a light source, which refers to the relative warmth or coolness of white light on the Kelvin scale. Our eyes are very good at judging what is white under different light sources, but digital cameras often have great difficulty with auto white balance (AWB) — and can create unsightly blue, orange, or even green color casts. Understanding digital white balance can help you avoid these color casts, thereby improving your photos under a wider range of lighting conditions. In the most simple and basic sense, WB impacts the color of your images.

Now, I guess your next question would be, “how can I control the WB in my images?” Luckily for you, I have an answer. Generally speaking the camera’s AWB works pretty well.  For example shooting outside in daylight (with no clouds) the camera usually does a good job at capturing accurate color. However, it is still just a machine and it doesn’t always get it right. Considering at some point you are probably going to take pictures in various lighting situations that fall outside of cloud-less, sunny day it may be beneficial to learn how to manipulate white balance. Here are a few things that I’ve learned that help with adjusting WB.

1. Use one of the preset WB modes in your camera. All digital SLR cameras (as well as a number of the point and shoot cameras) have preset WB settings specific for various lighting conditions. Although there is still the possibility that the camera won’t get it exactly right, it is better than AWB in some situations. I’ve included the commonly used symbols below. On Nikon’s you hold down the WB button while turning the main command dial. In the bottom left corner of the control panel you should see WB as well as one of the symbols I have listed below. Most DSLRs have a WB button to allow changing of these settings.  Please check your camera’s manual to see how to change it on your camera.

Auto White Balance  Custom  Kelvin  Tungsten  Flourescent  Daylight  Flash

Cloudy  Shade

 2. Adjusting the Kelvin scale in your camera. Color temperatures of light are measured in Kelvins. Don’t ask me why this is because I would be lying if I tried to explain it. The scale ranges from blue to orange and if you’ve ever moved the WB sliders in Lightroom (or any other photo editing software) you can see how moving the slider one way or another changes the color of the image. 5000K is in the middle of the scale and is considered to be neural light (I considered this to see perfect sunlight). The higher you go on the scale, the more blue or cooler the light becomes. The lower you go on the scale, the more orange or warmer the light becomes. The important thing to know is that on this Kelvin scale different types of light have different Kelvin readings. I’ve included a list of the Kelvin readings of the most common light sources.

So if I was shooting indoors, under Tungsten light bulbs, I could set my Kelvin in my camera somewhere between 2500-3500K to compensate for the orange cast that Tungsten lights give off. Conversely, if I was shooting outside on a cloudy day I could set my WB to 7000K to compensate for the blue cast this light typically gives off. To change this setting, you do that same thing as if you were going to change the WB preset but you leave it on the “K” which represents Kelvin. From there, you can put in a Kelvin number as shoot away. Just remember to change the Kelvin number again if you enter into different light conditions otherwise you’ll have some funny looking pictures (this also goes for the preset settings as well.)

3. Shoot in RAW. RAW images maintain all the data of an image. Like a photographic negative, a raw digital image may have a wider color gamut than the eventual final image format, and it preserves most of the information of the captured image. The purpose of raw image formats is to save, with minimum loss of information, data obtained from the sensor, and the conditions surrounding the capturing of the image (the metadata). By shooting in RAW, photographers are able to make adjustments to WB in post production.

4. Calibrate your computer monitors. Trying to tweak WB on an uncalibrated monitor is almost counter-intuitive. In order to make accurate colors, your monitors need to be set so that they our outputting accurate colors. Otherwise you are making adjustments almost blindly. This becomes very important when you print your images. Those images that looked awesome on your uncalibrated monitor may look off when printed. In general, it’s good to edit on a calibrate computer so you know exactly what your work looks like. I use the X-Rite i1 but there are a lot of other companies that make monitor calibration software as well.

5. Get an ExpoDisc. Presets are easy to use but they don’t always work 100%. The Kelvin scale can be more accurate but can easily become a cumbersome tasks if you don’t know the Kelvin numbers to various light sources. Even though technology allows us to fix WB in post it can become a pain to get the colors exactly how they should be. So… enter the Expodisc. I promise you this little disk completely changed my life!

The ExpoDisc is a professional digital white balance filter. In other words, it measures the WB for you so you don’t have to. Similar to adjusting the Kelvin scale, you are able to customize the WB to fit the exact lighting situation. If you noticed earlier in this post, there is a “custom” preset in the WB preset menu. You simply place the ExpoDisc in front of your lens and capture the incident light while setting your camera’s custom white balance.Viola! Perfect white balance every single time. You can check out the ExpoDisc website to learn more about the product, purchase one for yourself and even learn how to use it.

Since things are better with a picture, here is an example of a photo I took with and without the ExpoDisc. Both images are SOOC and were taken indoors under tungsten light.

There you have it. My 5 ways to achieve prefect white balance in your images. As I stated earlier, I’m not an expert… I’m just speaking from my own experience. If  after reading this, it still seems like greek to you shoot me an email at saadia@saadiamechel.com and I’ll see if I can explain it for you a little better. Until next time!

~Saadia Me*Chel