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Microsoft Picture It! Companion Guide
25
Chapter 2: Making the Most of Your Camera
However, in some lighting conditions, the camera fails to correctly set the
white balance. If you’re shooting indoors, for example, incandescent lights give
off a yellowish or reddish glow. This color is not really visible to the naked eye,
but often shows up in indoor photos. To counteract this problem, most digital
cameras have preprogrammed color balance settings that compensate for
different kinds of light. Typical settings include cloudy, shade, incandescent,
flash, fluorescent, and sunny. These settings compensate for the different colors
of light likely to be present in those conditions, and should produce photos that
require little or no color correction. Read your camera’s manual to find out
about specific white balance settings it offers.
With film cameras, there is no way the camera itself can compensate for
different lighting conditions. But there are two ways you can compensate for
the colored light:
■
Use film designed for specific lighting situations. Tungsten-balanced
films, for example, help to neutralize the color of tungsten or halogen
illumination.
■
Use a filter on your camera lens. For example, if you’re using daylight-
balanced film but want to shoot indoors, you can use a blue-colored filter
to absorb the overriding yellows and reds of the indoor incandescent
lights.
Using Automatic Modes on Your Camera
Many of the automatic cameras sold today—even some of the less-expensive
models—have pre-programmed modes that are designed for special situations.
Sometimes called program modes, these modes automatically adjust your
camera to special settings designed specifically for things like macro photogra-
phy, action shots, portraits, panoramic mode, or picture series.
If you’re a beginning photographer who is not always confident enough to
adjust your camera’s manual settings, use the automatic modes to help you take
better photos.
Correcting tint in
Picture It!
If your photo has a
colored cast from a
light source, correct
the problem with the
Picture It! tint tool.
Setting the white
balance manually
Some digital cameras
offer manual white
balance control. This
feature allows you to
set the white balance
by focusing on a pure
white object, such as a
piece of paper, and
then locking down the
white balance before
you take the photo.