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5D ($3,300) and 16-35mm L ($1,700) and got the same results. You need to adjust the
White Balance at times with every camera. I've also found point-and-shoots to be better
than the more expensive DSLRs at auto white balance!
Also see:
Explicit Examples (page 50)
How to Change the White Balance of an Existing Image
The Expodisc
INTRODUCTION
This is so simple it often confuses people who think it's supposed to be complicated.
White Balance is nothing more than an adjustment to get the color you want. You set it to
look good on the camera's LCD and that's it until the light changes. There is no right
answer; it's what looks good to you. Skip to my Examples (page 50) and forget this
page if you prefer. Getting the image to look right is all that matters. Tweak WB until it
looks good. Period.
That's right: I play with it until it looks good on the color screen on the back of my camera.
SIMPLE! Of course it helps to know what the tweaks do to help you get there.
Photos can look too orange, blue or green even if the subject looked OK to our naked
eyes. Since we can preview the photos on our color LCDs setting white balance is easy.
Our eyes adjust this automatically just as they do for lightness and darkness. It would be
great if cameras did this as well as our eyes do, but cameras often need a little help just
like they do with exposure.
White balance settings may be altered for deliberate creative purposes, exactly as we do
with exposure.
You can change the orangeness or bluishness of your images to make them as warm,
neutral or cool as you want without having to use glass filters. You even can get rid of the
green cast from fluorescent lighting, all without the glass filters we need for film. Cool, huh?
Skip straight to the Examples (page 50) or Application (page 47) sections unless you really
care about the scientific details.
BACKGROUND
Just skip to Application (page 47) if you just want to learn to make good photos. This
section is only if you really care about the "why" behind all this.
Different kinds of light require different adjustments to give a good picture. If we consider
full daylight as "normal," then indoor incandescent screw-in light bulbs look orange by
© 2007 KenRockwell.com 45 converted by Sándor Nagy