White Balance
What it is: Different light sources have different "colour temperatures"and affect the overall
colour of an image. Your digital camera has a setting that allows you to compensate for this
effect. For example, candle light will create a yellow colour cast, and cloudy daylight will create
a blue colour cast. Your eye (and your brain) effectively adjusts your perception of most lighting
situations to appear as if the light source is white light . Digital cameras can automatically set
white balance fairly well (AWB). However, there are times when, for creative reasons, you may
want to set the white balance manually.
White Balance Activity
1. Put your camera in Program mode and set to ISO 1600.
2. Select menu button > select"White Balance" > select"AWB" (Automatic White Balance).
3. Take a photo of the lighting on the ceiling.
4. Repeat using the following settings; Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten/Incandescent,
Fluorescent, and Flash.
5. Playback the 7 images you just created and notice (record) the difference in the colour
temperature of each picture.
AWB
Daylight
Shade
Cloudy
Tungsten/Incandescent
Fluorescent
Flash.
What did the white balance change do?