Driving home one evening, a beautiful and dramatic sunset appeared before you. You stopped the car and quickly reached for your digital camera. Upon framing the shot, you noticed that the scene rendered on the camera's LCD screen appeared less spectacular than the one you witnessed directly. Somehow, the camera could not adequately capture the beauty of the setting sun with its characteristic orange glow and backdrop of pinkish clouds. Was there something wrong with your camera, you wondered to yourself? There is nothing wrong with the camera. It was just doing its job as it was designed and programmed to do. The camera detected an overly warm scene and corrected it to make the colours more neutral or balanced as it defined it. In the process, the camera reduced the picturesque sunset into a pale, almost ordinary scene.

Bright lighting conditions plus proper white balancing brings out the colours and contrast. ISO 50, f8, 1/500 sec

Through the use of external and internal sensors, a typical digital camera sets the so-called 'White Balance' electronically by measuring the 'color temperature' of the light it senses. It usually gets the colours rendered right but on tricky or mixed lighting conditions, it can be fooled. Unlike the human eye and brain, the camera's sensor and circuitry are unable to process the information from an aesthetic point of view.

For film cameras, the colour balance is handled by choosing either 'daylight' or 'tungsten' balanced film. When required, colour compensating or light balancing optical filters are used to correct mismatched light and film. When using colour print films, incorrect colour balance can be adjusted to a certain extent during the printing stage. Likewise for digital picture files, most white balance mistakes or inaccuracies can be corrected with image editing software on the computer. However, you can easily save yourself this time consuming step as the preview/review feature on digital cams offers one important advantage over film cameras; instant correction and confirmation. But where does one start?

On most digital cameras the white balance defaults to the AWB (Auto White Balance) mode. To override it, you will need to get into the camera's menu and set it to one of several standard presets like "sunny", "cloudy", "fluorescent", "flash" and "incandescent". Each setting is usually depicted with a graphical icon such as a light bulb for the incandescent setting or a lightning sign for the flash setting. On some models, there is an additional option whereby the user can point the camera at a reference white object to manually calibrate the white balance under specific lighting conditions. The user-calibrated setting can then be saved as a custom preset.

Dig up the instruction manual to verify the type of white balance options and settings available for your particular model, if you are unsure or unfamiliar. While you are at it, learn to identify the exact position of little white balance sensor window that is found on the front of certain models. A wrongly placed finger may block the sensor, resulting in misadjusted colours. Incidentally, the tips, techniques and info on white balance discussed here apply to most video cameras as well.

You will soon learn that it is not as simple as matching a preset icon to the existing ambient light. You set the camera to auto or dialed up the incandescent setting so as to properly photograph someone blowing out the candles on a birthday cake. The candle flames in the picture ended up all white instead of yellow and the atmosphere is somewhat ruined. In this particular case, choosing a 'mismatched' setting such as the outdoor setting (intentionally) produces a more realistic and warmer picture. Fortunately, with the LCD preview screen you can play around with various white balance settings until you find a satisfactorily combination.

Break the rules. By using a daylight setting in the night, the light from the candles appears warmer and more life-like. ISO 50, f2.5, 1/8 sec		Custom white balance transformed this nightime view of a lake and surroundings into something magical and enchanting. ISO 50, f3.5, 6 sec

Under normal lighting conditions, auto white balance usually works quite well. Which is good, as it is impractical to keep changing settings manually each time you move from one place to another. In certain situations, the auto white balance circuitry might be overwhelmed and is unable to remove or reduce the resulting strong colour casts. Have you ever tried photographing people under one of those bluish or reddish translucent tents put up at daytime outdoor functions? Switch to manual white balance (if available) and adjust it to a white shirt or handkerchief under the same light source. The manual setting should improve the colour balance greatly and remove the tint from faces. Do not forget to set the camera back to AWB when you are done shooting under the tent.

What about mix lighting from two or more sources? When both floodlights and twilight illuminates a building (for example), which light source should you set your white balance to? The tungsten preset deepens the blue sky while a daylight setting warms up the building and the foreground. Each option produces a distinctly different effect. By mastering the technique of white balance, you can use it to emphasize mood, convey ambience and create a more interesting picture.

Above article appeared in the print and online version of The Star Weekend 13/03/04.

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