Digital White Balance Basics

One of the big advantages that digital offers over film shooting is the very precise White Balance control....at the time of capture. And best of all, no filters are needed, because it's all done electronically.

So what's the big deal about not needing filters, you say? Well besides the hassle of attaching 'em, and keeping them clean....there's the monetary savings...so you can buy more of what we all want.....LENSES !

Plus, because the filters absorb light, there is an increase in exposure required. Which typically requires a longer shutter speed, and the resultant inability to freeze the motion. This In-Camera, electronic filter thing is really cool.

What I'm showing here is a very straightforward example of how to fix one of the most common and recurring lighting challenges. Keep this in mind: If your onboard white balance pre-set is configured to "Daylight"...or "Sunny", the colors captured will respond the same as regular color neg or slide film. So the images will look the same as if you were using a regular film camera. So, for the most part, if you're pretty comfortable shooting film, you can leave the pre-set at Daylight, and you won't be surprised.

So, for these two images shown here...they were both shot with the exact same shutter speed and aperture, and the ISO was also constant. The only change was the in-camera white balance.

Taken at night, under a picnic gazebo, the only light source was the overhead household tungsten bulb...probably 100 watts.

My camera still had the white balance set for Daylight...which was from several hours ago, when we were out in a boat, actually catching these trout! So, there's a white-balance-mismatch, here. The camera thinks were shooting in mid-day sunlight....but, the light source is actually tungsten. A much warmer light. As a result, the first image is WAY too warm.

The camera was on a tripod for the long exposure, and once I realized my mistake, a simple Pre-set change was all that's needed. Once the camera was re-set for "Tungsten"...or "Incandescent" the colors were rendered accurately, and we could now have dinner!

There are other, even more precise ways to capture accurate colors...but, this is a good start.