Photography Raw Format
White Balance in Photography
White balance is the method used in digital photography to neutralize the colors of aphotograph. The goal is to have the colors in the photo look the same as their real counterparts. This is done by removing any color bias resulted from the usage of a certain light source.
An incorrect white balance will result in a yellow or blue cast over the whole colors of the photo. The type of the color distortion depends on the light source in use when the photograph was taken. Those of lower color temperature (incandescent lighting or sunny sky) tend to produce the yellow casts, while those of the higher temperatures (fluorescent lighting and cloudy sky) are usually responsible for the blue cast.
Such is usually the problem of using automatic white balancing. It is more convenient to outdoor photography, but it still may yield bad results both in outdoors and indoors. And since it tries to guess the color cast, the balanced colors are not usually the best. This is because the objects inside a photograph may confuse the guessing algorithm. Like when a photograph is full of blue elements, the automatic white balancer will make the photo more warm, which is not desired.
The camera doesn't recognize the different light sources. The automatic white balance acts indifferently with all photos. This is the main reason we may need preset white balance settings. Unlike the automatic settings, the camera will identify the light source with the help of the user . Most digital cameras come with preset white balance options, and they are usually preferred in certain condition when the automatic white balance fails to give acceptable results.
The preset white balance options arranged in ascending order according to the color temperature are Tungsten, Fluorescent, Daylight, Clouds, and Shade. Despite the names, these settings are far from giving an optimum color balance too, but still, they can be used to tune it. When your photo seems too cool (blue) in your LCD viewfinder, use a setting of higher color temperature to make it warmer. A similar technique can be used for the opposite situation in which low temperature sources settings make the photograph cooler.
A custom white balance mode, if available, is the best way to get optimum results using your camera by just pointing it to a neutrally colored surface. In advanced cameras, taking pictures in the RAW format gives you the flexibility to adjust the white balance later, as the on-camera settings are ignored.
White balance can also be used creatively to distort the colors of your images on purpose. Doing so, you will be able to change the mood of your picture instantly. So, give it a try.
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Digital Photography RAW vs JPEG Part 1