White Balance

[Peter_S.]

White balance is a function to make white things look white in a photograph by compensating the influence of the colour of light under the shooting environment.
Different lights have different colours and characteristics. For example, incandescent lights have a yellowish colour, and the sunlight on a cloudy day has a bluish cast. The human eye can automatically compensate for this influence based on the concept that "white things should look white". However, a camera reproduces the colour it captures as it is on a photograph. Therefore, depending on the ambient lighting, white may look yellowish or bluish on a photograph compared with the actual image seen by the naked eye.

In photograph [1], white dishes appear yellowish due to the incandescent light. On the other hand, photograph [2] has a bluish cast due to the sunlight.
Adjusting the level of "whiteness" in the camera to correct such "colour casting" caused by the colour of light is the original function of white balance. In addition to this function to reproduce whiteness, the white balance function in digital cameras is increasingly used as a colour filter to adjust colour tones as well.

Auto white balance (AWB)

The camera has the "auto white balance (AWB)" function which adjusts white balance automatically according to the recognised scenes. As the white balance function of the camera is set to AWB by default, it automatically adjusts the colour of photographs to look natural in various scenes. For snapshots, or in conditions with mixed lighting for which you don't know which white balance setting is suitable, it is recommended to start with AWB.

 

Changing the white balance setting

Other than AWB, several white balance settings suitable for respective scenes are preset in the camera. If you cannot get the expected colour with AWB, or you want to adjust colour tones according to your preference, select a desired white balance setting by yourself.

As shown in the figure above, 10 white balance settings including AWB are preset in the camera. The following photographs show the colour difference with different white balance settings.



The photograph of the cat was shot on a cloudy day. With [AWB] and [Cloudy], colours were reproduced naturally, close to the actual colours. In comparison, the photograph looks more bluish with [Daylight], and more yellowish with [Shade].



Now, let's compare the above night view shots. Here, [AWB] reproduced the actual colours quite well, but there is a slight green cast on the entire image. By changing to [Fluorescent], the entire green cast went away. Among the [Fluorescent] settings, you can see the colours become warmer as the setting is changed from - to +. Select the setting according to your preference or image you want to express.

Fine-Tuning

Each white balance setting can be fine-tuned (*). By fine-tuning the preset white balance settings, you can add your own taste to your photograph.

(*) White balance settings that can be fine-tuned and the operation screen are different depending on the model.

The photograph on the right was shot by adding a blue tinge to the [AWB] setting.
By utilising the fine-tuning function, it rendered a colour that cannot be realised by the preset white balance settings.

Utilising white balance for photographic expression

Originally, white balance is a function to adjust "whiteness", but this adjustment does not always have a right answer. Whether you like your image to be warmer or cooler depends on the theme you want to express, or your personal preference. White balance can be used to deal with this kind of expression. Let's enjoy varied colour rendering by trying different colours with white balance.