White, white, baby…
No, that’s not a reference to Jim Carrey’s Saturday Night Live performance of Vanilla Ice’s timeless classic…
I’m talking about White Balance.
Now, to those of you who know little or nothing about filming or photography (don’t worry, that’s nothing to be ashamed about - I was once there too!), this means absolutely nothing. So this is where I’m going to start this guide from - the absolute basics!
Colour Temperature Scale borrowed from the Media College website
Ignore the numbers on the left hand side of that image for now- that kind of information is really more for professionals, and isn’t something that the rest of us need to focus on. Instead, check out the coloured bar and the labels next to it.
This is what white balance is all about.
My explanation may not be technically correct (so apologies to any who plan on screaming at me that it’s wrong), but I’m just going to try and explain this as simply as possible without getting technical so that anyone can understand this.
All light has a temperature/colour, which casts a tint over what you see. Early morning and late afternoon tend to cast a dull, yellowy tint, and your average indoor house light or lamp has a horrid orange glow (those of you who have shot in this lighting will be all to familiar with the orange colour it casts through the photo).
According to the chart, the best time of day to shoot is a little after lunch - I try and do any photographing between the hours of roughly 1 and 3 (depending on weather and season), as this is generally when you have ‘white light’, or light that just highlights without adding much in the way of a colour tint over what you see/photograph. However, this doesn’t always pan out - it may be a rainy and overcast day, or I haven’t cooked something that can wait to be photographed at that time. What then?
This is when our cameras white balance function comes into play.
Most, if not all, point-and-shoot digital cameras come with at least 4 different white balance options - AWB (Auto White Balance), Sunlight, Cloudy and Tungsten. However, many cameras also have a 5th option, something that you will come to absolutely love - CWB (Custom White Balance). You can use the custom option to ’show’ your camera what the colour white (and white objects) look like in the lighting that you are currently under, and it will try to adjust all the colours accordingly, to try and make the scene look as realistic as possible!
YAY! Well, it sounds YAY in theory… but in reality, it’s not perfect (and really, is anything?). To illustrate how each of these settings works, I’ve taken the following shots for you.
All shots were taken in a dim indoor room with mediocre tungsten overhead lights. In the shots is a plain little apple on a piece of white cardboard.
 |
Sunlight setting |  |
Tungsten setting |
 |
Cloudy setting |  |
Auto White Balance setting |
 |
Fluorescent setting |  |
Custom White Balance setting |
Now, you can see that while the Tungsten & Fluorescent settings comes close, it is the Auto White Balance and Custom White Balance shots that come the closest to establishing a nice, neutral white tone to the background and colour. Whilst the Auto White Balance shot is brighter, the Custom White Balance has the best balance of neutral white tone and realistic colours.
(Bear in mind that I do realize that its a rather crap shot - there’s quite a few other things on functions on the camera that need to be fiddled with to get the best shot, but I’m only focusing on white balance and not touching anything else so that we can see just what each function does).
Since I don’t know what model camera you’re using, I can’t tell you how exactly to use the custom white balance function - you will have to refer to your cameras operating/user manual for that. However, what you will definitely need in order to set your custom white balance is a piece of white cardboard - for example, the back of a white business card.
Or, in my case, my public transport ticket!
Ideally, you would have a white balance card specially made for photographers at (if memory serves me correctly) 18% grey - but these guides are meant to be working with what you have, so as long as you have a bright, white piece of cardboard, you should be fine. Bear in mind that any colour in the white (e.g. if it is off-white like mine and not pure white) will cast that colour throughout the picture, so just try and carry a bright white one in your wallet so its on you at all times! Otherwise, be prepared to sit down and spend some time learning post-production (aka photoshop/photo editing) skills 
Now, if you don’t have the ability to set a custom white balance, unfortunately you will have to work with either the auto white balance or other presets, taking a photo with each different setting to try and find the most neutral/natural one for that particular situation. However, don’t fret too much about getting it absolutely perfect, as when we get to the post-production guides in a few week’s time, I’ll show you how to take an image like that custom white balance apple, and turn it into…
this! 
Quite a bit of difference, huh? Not perfect - but from the original to this in less than a few minutes isn’t too shabby 
If you’ve got any questions, requests, or found this helpful, then please let me know in the comments so I can get your feedback for the following guides!
Also, if you enjoyed reading this and think that your own readers/community members/friends would benefit from this and the upcoming guides, spread the word and point ‘em in this direction I’ll do my best to keep these as clear, simple and easy-to-understand as possible!
Come back next week for a guide on how to manage bright/dull light and exposure
Technorati Tags: photography, beginner, white balance, cameras, point and shoot, guides
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Comments
Kalyn Ellie, I am loving these posts. Great job. I’m learning a lot even though I now use a dslr camera.
Hendria Hi
love your site great info on the photography.
I have tagged you for a meme hope you do not mind.
Tisha Hi Ellie,
Thanks so much for this helpful post. It’s so clear. Since the days are getting shorter and shorter for us in the northern hemisphere (and I’m quite far north), it’s great to know how to take pictures with indoor light!
neil Hey, that was really good…I had no idea about any extra functions on our point and shoot other than the macro setting, thanks!
Ellie Deborah - I do have to stress something, its not the camera that makes for good photos but the person behind it (though, of course the camera helps!) That’s something that my photog-pals have stressed to me, and that I’ve come to agree with…but what I’ve also found that learning how to use your camera definitely helps in terms of getting the best out of what you’ve got!
Kalyn - Thanks hon This is in no way a comment about your photos which I’d say are pretty darn good, but I’ve found that a lot of people seem to think that just getting a dslr automatically means their photos are going to be better, but without knowing what all those functions mean, they don’t really make the best of their equipment!
Barbara - No worries
Hendria - Thank you I’ve got posts planned for quite a while, but I’ll get round to it when I can.
Tisha - Glad you found it helpful
Neil - LOL, thats exactly the same as me when I bought my first camera, it’s taken about 6-7 months of solid reading, experimenting and learning to get to where I am now…and yet I’m still a beginner! (>_< ) What I’m aiming to do with these posts is help people who are in the position I was in to learn things much quicker/easier than I did
Cindy This is great, Ellie. Thanks! I’ll pull out the camera (and manual) tomorrow night and have a proper fiddle under these yellow lights in my lounge room.
I particularly appreciate your choice of portable prop/metlink ticket - I always have one on me. 
Ellie Cindy - Glad it made sense And I’m the same - one thing I always have on my person is my metcard
Belinda I’m looking forward to the next installment in the photography series, Ellie! I can use all the tips I can get. I like photography, but I am very amateurish in my efforts. Your photos always looks great…I am trying to get better with the lighting part.
Ellie Belinda - Trust me, I know how you feel (go to the first few entries of this site if you don’t believe me…there are still some crappy photos that I haven’t retaken!) it’s just a matter of going slow and learning all the technical aspects of how to control your camera so you can get the best results possible
Magpie Ima Thanks so much for the photography posts–I just discovered them and am anxious to try out what I’ve learned. This is a lot of work-just want you to know it’s appreciated!
Ellie Magpie Ima - My pleasure Thank you so much for letting me know that you could understand them, its comments like these that make it all worthwhile!
Channa I’m buying my first digital camera, and it’s all so complicated. You’ve make it seem logical! Thanks!
Alanna Great post! I just moved a few of my own (white) business cards to the drawer where I keep the tripod platform. That way they will always be handy, either in my wallet or right there as a reminder!
Ellie Channa - I’ve written a guide on how to buy a digital point and shoot, so hopefully that will have been of some help
Alanna - Hehehe, same tactic as me Its always good to have the little props near each other as it lessens the chance of forgetting them
Winsome Thanks Ellie,
this site is totally awesome!
It’s all starting to make sense now haha
Aparna I accidentally came across this when googling for something totally unconnected. Really appreciate these posts. I would love to be able to take good pictures, but am just beginning to figure out things. Recently bought my first digital camera, a Canon Powershot A550, and posts like these are helping me out, I think.:)
Will follow this series.
Ellie Winsome - Glad to hear it’s coming in handy
Aparna - The canon powershots are, on a general basis, not too shabby cameras I’m glad that these posts helped the journey though!
amy thanks for the helpful info!
i will keep looking at these posts..
i have a sanyo vpc-s770 and i am not really new to photography i guess there is just a lot i don’t really know.
This is exactly the type of post I need! My photography skills are dismal, and I am constantly frustrated by my inability to capture my food and make it look as good as it actually is. I know my camera (an Olympus C-4000 digital) has a lot more features than I know how to use, and I have no time to take a photography class, but you have inspired me to pull out my very thick instruction book and start working to improve my skills! Thanks, and you know I’ll be back for another lesson!