Digital Cameras White Balance

White Balance is a term used from the days of film photography. Digital camera white balance allows the adjustment of the camera to the color temperature of a light source. Interior lighting is relatively red while outdoor lighting has a shade of blue.

Color Temperatures

The standard unit for color temperature is kelvin (K). Color temperature refers to the temperature that someone would have to heat a "black body" source to create light of the same color.

Some typical color temperatures are:

• 40 W Incandescent lamp: 2680 K
• Sunrise/Sunset: 3200 K
• Noon on a Sunny Day: 5500 K
• Overcast Sky: 6500-7500 K
• Electronic Photo Flash 5500-5600 K
• 1 hour From Dusk/Dawn: 3400 K

Preset White Balance Modes

You can achieve correct white balance when you take the photo or with image editing software used on your computer. Personally, I prefer to get it right the first time without the hassles of editing. It's easy to spend lots of time touching up or correcting a bad shot when it could have been easily prevented by correctly adjusting the camera's color balance and exposure.

Here are some different white balance preset modes:

• A (Auto White Balance)
• Cloudy
• Direct Sun
• Incandescent
• Flash
• Fluorescent
• Shade
• Snow

In most cases I choose to use A (Auto White Balance). Sometimes when I want a bit more control then I'll use of one of the preset options and touch it up with an image editing software if all else fails.