LSCOTTPHOTOS Back to Basics #2 - Working with White Balance (Original Photos)
All photos are taken from the same location and with the same settings! I was just messing with the white balance which I am still learning about! White balance is, according to my understanding, removing unrealistic color casts from the photo to make white objects in real life actually appear white in photos. Due to different lighting, this can drastically change the picture.
Auto WB
Daylight WB
Shady WB
Cloudy WB
Tungsten WB
Fluorescent WB
Flash WB
Today I took a few random photos of birds in my backyard and messed around with the white balance while doing so. I tried cloudy, daylight, and shady according to what the weather looked like. Each one changed in subtle ways just like the photo above.
My question is... how do you choose which WB to use? Is finding the right WB simply a matter of trial and error? And is the outcome simply based on preference?
Feedback welcome and appreciated! Please upvote if you support my continued efforts to improve my photography!
lscottphotos
I also like messing with the custom white balance setting - using a shot of a blank piece of wall or a sheet of white paper to give good white in the exact lighting conditions you're in - or shooting something uniformly green to give a red/blue cast etc (I think that's right, it's early here and I'm on my first cup of coffee!) I'd love to see you push it weirder :)
Having the right color temperature set during shooting is optimal but can be adjusted in post quite readily. Use a chart like this to guesstimate your current lighting condition s and the appropriate color temperature to use.
credit
Also it can be helpful to use a chip chart or calibration chart to help you adjust for true after the fact.
credit