Page 47 - (DK) Advanced Photography Guide

COMP OSI T I O N 45

White Balance (WB) USING KELVIN VALUES
Your camera’s White Balance settings compensate
for any color cast in the light by adding blue or red. Although the White Balance presets are accurate for most
The easiest setting is Auto, but it only works well with images, using a Kelvin value gives you greater accuracy,
since you can set the White Balance at anything from 2,500
temperatures from 3,000 to 7,000K and does not to 9,900K, usually in increments of 100K. Use the chart on
adjust well if there is one predominant color in the the page opposite to assess the color temperature of the
shot. The other presets are more precise, and you light. (You can check the temperature of internal lights by
choose the one that best matches the light in which consulting the manufacturer’s website.) The most useful
Kelvin values to remember are those for daylight, cloudy
you are working. The Custom White Balance is the days, and tungsten light bulbs. Set the Kelvin value to the
most precise, but you need accurate light readings. temperature of the light, then shoot and review your shot.
Assess whether the white balance looks accurate. If not,
adjust the Kelvin value by 500K, reshoot, and assess the
white balance again, repeating as often as necessary.
WHITE BALANCE SETTINGS
AUTO: The camera automatically assesses the
AW B color bias of the lighting and calculates the PLAYING WITH COLOR
white balance for you.
If you try out a range of Kelvin values in normal daylight,
CLOUDY: The Cloudy setting corrects the you can see how they make the camera add blue or red
slightly blue bias of the ambient light on a to compensate for the type of light it expects when using
heavily overcast day. each value. These images were shot with values from 2,500
to 10,000K, instead of the 5,500K used for daylight.
FLASH: This setting is balanced for use with
an electronic flash, which, at around 6,000K, is 2,500K 5,000K
a very white light.

DAYLIGHT: The Daylight setting does not make
any color adjustment, because the sunlight at
midday on a cloudless day is neutral.
FLUORESCENT: Most cameras have a range
of fluorescent settings to compensate for the
color casts of different types of artificial light.

TUNGSTEN: This setting should be used when
shooting under incandescent bulbs. It adds blue
to correct the red bias of the lighting. 7,500K 10,000K

SHADE: This setting adds orange-red to
compensate for the blue shadows that are
created outdoors on a sunny day.
CUSTOM: The Custom setting enables you to
set an accurate White Balance yourself, by using
a gray card (see p.68).

K KELVIN: This setting allows you to set the color
temperature manually in Kelvin (see top right),
which gives you great flexibility.

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