Using White Balance to achieve better color

It might be one of the most overlooked features on digital cameras, but it’s likely one of the most important to get the kind of color you expect in your pictures. White balance demands your respect!

Since color temperature is fairly easy for a camera to measure in most scenarios, the automatic white balance usually works quite well – at least good enough for most people. Still, there are situations where you want to have consistent or more accurate color, and where automatic white balance just won’t cut it. That’s where you step in.

Automatic white balance is usually done by the camera measuring the entire scene and assuming that the area of the image which has the lightest tones is white (or the next best thing). It then uses the color temperature of this area to balance the color for the rest of the image. The problem is that maybe you don’t have anything in the image that the camera can use to measure off of properly, or maybe you’re shooting with a flash and the camera can’t make an accurate measurement of the scene because the flash hasn’t fired yet.

There are numerous scenarios for why automatic white balance wouldn’t work as it should. That’s why the camera has other white balance options. Most will feature presets for daylight, tungsten light, flourescent, shade, and flash. These are fairly self explanatory. The advantage of using a preset white balance over automatic is that it will give you consistent color across the board since it’s locking in to a certain color temperature. Usually this is almost a necessity when shooting with flash.

Going a step further is the custom preset white balance feature, which you will find on most digital SLR’s. This feature will let you set your own white balance by measuring it off a white or grey card. If you need consistent color, but the available presets aren’t adequately measuring the color (because it’s a strange or mixed quality of light), doing a white balance preset off a card may be your only option. When you’re shooting under controlled conditions (like in a studio) there’s no reason not to measure the white balance yourself. It will save you headaches later when you’re trying to post-process.

The question I often get asked is whether there’s a difference, when manually measuring, between using a white or grey card, and the answer is no. The idea is to take a measurement off something that has no color cast, and the camera will then give you a nice neutral (and balanced) image.

One gadget that’s attracted a lot of attention and received good reviews is the ExpoDisc, which is almost like a filter that you use when presetting your White Balance. It’s a more portable solution to carrying a white card with you, and depending on who you believe, it may even yield more accurate results.

One thing is for sure though, that when you pay attention to your white balance and set it properly, you will get more accurate, more consistent color each and every time. So throw away that automatic white balance and try it out, you’ll be surprised at the results.