5 Tips for White Balance Settings

White balance shouldn't be a serious problem, but it can still be confusing. Should I shoot RAW? Or should I choose a different WB for each situation? Today, we'll explain to you some techniques you can use to get the perfect white balance.

Understanding Creative White Balance

Before we move on to better techniques for perfecting white balance, let us explain that you don’t always have to look for the “right” white balance. Yes, all lighting will have a "correct" balance associated with it, but you can use different white balances to create different effects.

I mean these two sky images shown here are a good example. They were all taken at the same time and place. One of them used professional digital white balance definition, while my camera's automatic white balance showed this relatively warm image.

So, with that said, it's about time to reveal the different ways to get the perfect white balance. Or nearly perfect, as you'll soon find out.

Working with RAW

When using RAW, you can choose white balance at the editing stage, Camera RAW or Lightroom.

The best way to get perfect white balance is simple: shoot your photos in RAW. Afterwards, you can choose the white balance during the editing stage.

That’s what most people will tell you, but some photographers, like favorite Outdoor Photographer magazine columnist Rob Shepherd, never do that. "When you shoot RAW, there's still a file recording the white balance setting that was used," he points out. You'll see that when you open the file in Photoshop Lightroom or any other program and preview the JPEG.

What to do? Take the middle road: shoot RAW, use AWB and confirm on the LCD, the result is an image and histogram that is close to what you need/want to check. Trust what your eyes see and use some common sense.

Using Gray Cards

For decades, the most common way to achieve accurate color and exposure was with Kodak Gray Cards.

I have been using gray cards for many years. Kodak Gray Card, you can buy it in different sizes when you want to get the perfect light.

If the cards are not at exactly the same angle, you may not get the best results. In addition to this, gray cards tend to get damaged with long-term use, especially if you carry them with you everywhere.

You can use a gray card when shooting and use a custom white balance

Use a custom white balance

You can always choose a predefined white balance Balance options in your camera (daylight, shadow, incandescent, fluorescent, etc.). You can also set specific colors to use, and you can set a custom white balance.

Cameras have different ways of setting custom white balance, but the usual process is to shoot what you want to use as a reference and let the camera use custom white balance. If you shoot with a gray card and set the picture as a custom white balance source, all images shot thereafter will adhere to that set of white balances until you change it again, or select one of the other options.

Use Live View

Using Live View when shooting with a DSLR camera allows you to see how each white balance setting affects the photo.

If you look at the LCD screen of a compact digital camera and change your white balance, you will notice a change in color. With DSLRs we tend to think this can't be done when we're looking primarily through the viewfinder. But ever since DSLRs started having live view options, everything has changed.

When faced with a tough problem, use your DSLR camera to examine the field work in different settings.

Using the ExpoDisc

Use the ExpoDisc and measure the color of the incident light for optimal rendition.

Remember to set the correct exposure for the lighting conditions. Follow your camera's instructions to set custom white balance.

Once you do this, you can keep shooting with the same settings.

The image shown above is a good example of using a tungsten ExpoDisc. The green color on the bowl shows up only when the ExpoDisc is using the correct tone.

Other options to check

The ExpoDisc and other tools and systems mentioned here are essential ways for some photographers to measure white balance. However, if you want to develop creative photography and shoot in various lighting conditions, you will not be satisfied with these basic settings, but find some other items in your bag to change.