White balance

The Idea of this exercise is to make you aware of the accuracy of the camera's white balance Pre-sets. By the time the assignment is over, you will know what objects look like under each lighting condition, and how the pre-sets alter and correct deviations.

Things you'll need:

• A movable object /objects,of various colours
• Lighting conditions to match White balance pre-sets
• Notebook/pen/pencil

1. Direct Sunlight- Set camera to 100 ISO, Daylight pre-set, Take shot
2. Switch to Auto White balance-take a shot
3. Object(s) in open shade-Shade/cloudy pre-set-take shot
4. Switch to AWB-take shot
5. Switch to Daylight-take shot
6. Object(s) under tungsten lighting-Tungsten/incandescant pre-set-take shot
7. switch to AWB-take shot
8. Switch to daylight-take shot
9. Objec(s) under fluorescent lighting-fluorescent pre-set-take shot
10. Switch to AWB-take shot
Note what happened when image was adjusted, was adjustment correct?

White balance

Where, with film you either shot print film in daylight or with flash indoors, and with slide film, you used daylight or tungsten film, or used compensating filters with these. White balance is Digital’s version-you select a white balance based on the condition of the light you are using, so the camera’s meter allows for white to photograph as white
Auto white balance does a reasonable job most of the time, but it cannot cope in some situations-especially when subject is in deep shadow. You need to know when to use the white balance settings for all situations, and this table will help you understand: ( degrees Kelvin is a means of determining colour temperature)

Sunrise/sunset 2400-3000 Kelvin……………………Use Auto white balance
Tungsten lighting 3200-3500 Kelvin Note…( these settings are for studio white balance for tungsten-Use tungsten/Incandescent white balance) For Domestic tungsten lighting-2500 - 3200-you will generally get better results using auto white balance
Fluorescent lighting 4000 Kelvin …………… Use fluorescent White balance
Early morning/afternoon sun 4000 Kelvin…….Use auto white balance/ --fluorescent white balance
(Magenta filter) to counter greenish cast on skin from foliage if under trees or on really green grass
Noon sun/Sun overhead…5000-6500 Kelvin…………………….use Cloudy White balance
Flash photography in daylight 5500 Kelvin ………………………Use Flash White balance
Deep shade………………….6500 Kelvin…………………………Use cloudy/shade white balance
Shade in daylight 7500 Kelvin ………………………………......Use shade white balance
Heavy overcast, very dark shade 8000 to 10000 Kelvin………Use shade white balance plus 81a-85c glass filter

To set custom White balance: (Nikon)-Sorry I only know Nikon's method

Select a neutral coloured object to set your white balance
It’s best to avoid using a white target. The camera prefers grey.( Print yourself a grey card: In photoshop- File> New
Click on background square in toolbox
select: red 127; green 127; blue 127 from color chart- Print)


In white balance menu select "Custom"> "Preset"
select "measure"
Press shutter release halfway to return to shooting mode
press wb button until a blinking "Pre" appears in control panel and viewfinder
frame reference (grey card) so it fills the frame
and press shutter release all the way down (Camera won't take picture)
If camera was able to register a value for white balance "Good" will flash in control panel and GD will flash in viewfinder
If lighting is too dark or bright "no g d" will flash in viewfinder and control panel


If you use white in direct sunlight you'll always get a "No Gd" response from the camera because the Matrix meter is rendering it white instead of grey. Thus the trick is to select the centre-weighted meter when using a white reference in bright light and you'll get "Good" from a camera. Remember to set back to Matrix metering as soon as you're done.






Towards Perfect Colour Balance

The Idea of this exercise is to make you aware of the accuracy of the camera's white balance Pre-sets. By the time the assignment is over, you will know what objects look like under each lighting condition, and how the pre-sets alter and correct deviations.

Things you'll need:

• A movable object /objects,of various colours
• Lighting conditions to match White balance pre-sets
• Notebook/pen/pencil



1. Direct Sunlight- Set camera to 100 ISO, Daylight pre-set, Take shot
2. Switch to Auto White balance-take a shot
3. Object(s) in open shade-Shade/cloudy pre-set-take shot
4. Switch to AWB-take shot
5. Switch to Daylight-take shot
6. Object(s) under tungsten lighting-Tungsten/incandescant pre-set-take shot
7. switch to AWB-take shot
8. Switch to daylight-take shot
9. Objec(s) under fluorescent lighting-fluorescent pre-set-take shot
10. Switch to AWB-take shot
11. Switch to daylight-take shot
12. Object(s) under cloudy lighting-cloudy pre-set-take shot
13. switch to AWB-take shot
14. switch to daylight-take shot
15. Object(s) ready for flash lighting-flash pre-set-take shot
16. Switch to AWB-take shot
17. Switch to Daylight-take shot
18. Object(s) under window light-Shade pre-set-take shot
19. Switch to AWB-take shot
20. Switch to daylight-take shot
21. Object(s) under overcast lighting-shade pre-set-take shot
22. Switch to AWB-take shot
23. Switch to daylight-take shot
24. Object(s) ready for open bulb lighting-flash pre-set-take shot
25. Switch toAWB=take shot; then Daylight-take shot
In your imaging Program, see how the object(s) look(s) in each pre-set,and the differences switching pre-sets made to your object(s).
Note what happened when image was adjusted, was adjustment correct?