White Balance

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The adjustment of the color temperature of your camera to ensure that white objects appear white in your photographs.

Definition of White Balance: White balance is the adjustment of colors in a photograph to make white objects appear "white" or "neutral" in color.
Color temperature: Color temperature is the measure of how “warm” or “cool” the light source is in a photograph. It is measured in Kelvin.
Color cast: Color cast is an undesirable color tint that can be present in a photograph due to incorrect white balance settings.
White balance modes: Different white balance modes in a camera allow for the adjustment of color temperature depending on the shooting conditions.
Custom white balance: Custom white balance allows for the creation of a personalized white balance setting in a camera.
Gray card: A gray card is a tool used to set custom white balance and ensure accurate color representation in a photograph.
Kelvin scale: The Kelvin scale is used to measure color temperature and to set custom white balance.
Auto white balance: Auto white balance is a feature in cameras that automatically adjusts white balance settings based on the shooting conditions.
Preset white balance: Preset white balance settings in a camera allow for quick adjustments to match the shooting conditions.
Raw vs. JPEG: The choice of shooting in raw or JPEG can affect white balance adjustments in post-processing.
White balance in post-processing: The adjustment of white balance in post-processing software such as Photoshop or Lightroom.
Types of lighting: Understanding how different types of lighting affect white balance and color temperature, such as daylight, fluorescent, and incandescent lighting.
White balance in different shooting scenarios: White balance adjustments can vary depending on the shooting scenario, such as outdoors, indoors, and artificial lighting.
White balance and creativity: Using white balance adjustments creatively to achieve a desired look or mood in a photograph.
Color theory: Understanding color theory and how it applies to white balance and color in photography.
White balance and color grading: How white balance adjustments can affect color grading and color correction in post-processing.
Calibration: Ensuring proper calibration of camera equipment for accurate white balance adjustments.
White balance and black and white photography: Understanding the role of white balance in black and white photography and how it affects the final image.
White balance and skin tones: The importance of white balance in achieving accurate and flattering skin tones in portrait photography.
White balance and exposure: The relationship between white balance and exposure in achieving a properly exposed photograph.
Auto White Balance: It is the default setting on most cameras that automatically analyzes the scene and sets the white balance accordingly.
Daylight White Balance: This mode is used for shooting in natural daylight conditions, producing neutral and accurate colors.
Cloudy White Balance: This mode adds warmth to the image in overcast conditions, producing more yellow and orange tones.
Shade White Balance: This mode adds warmth to the image and reduces blue tones in images shot under shade.
Incandescent White Balance: This mode is used for shooting under tungsten lighting conditions, producing warmer tones and reducing the blue tones.
Fluorescent White Balance: This mode is used for shooting under fluorescent lighting conditions, producing neutral colors and canceling out the green tint that fluorescent lights produce.
Flash White Balance: This mode is used while taking pictures using the camera's built-in flash or an external flash, reducing the bluish tones in the images.
Kelvin White Balance: This mode allows the photographer to manually set the color temperature of the image.
Custom White Balance: This mode allows the photographer to set the white balance based on their specific shooting conditions, by taking a shot of a white card or any neutral object that best represents the lighting conditions in the scene.
"In photography and image processing, color balance is the global adjustment of the intensities of the colors (typically red, green, and blue primary colors)."
"An important goal of this adjustment is to render specific colors – particularly neutral colors like white or grey – correctly."
"The general method is sometimes called gray balance, neutral balance, or white balance."
"Color balance changes the overall mixture of colors in an image and is used for color correction."
"Generalized versions of color balance are used to correct colors other than neutrals or to deliberately change them for effect."
"White balance is one of the most common kinds of balancing, and is when colors are adjusted to make a white object (such as a piece of paper or a wall) appear white and not a shade of any other color."
"Several aspects of the acquisition and display process make such color correction essential – including that the acquisition sensors do not match the sensors in the human eye, that the properties of the display medium must be accounted for, and that the ambient viewing conditions of the acquisition differ from the display viewing conditions."
"The color balance operations in popular image editing applications usually operate directly on the red, green, and blue channel pixel values, without respect to any color sensing or reproduction model."
"In film photography, color balance is typically achieved by using color correction filters over the lights or on the camera lens."
"Image data acquired by sensors – either film or electronic image sensors – must be transformed from the acquired values to new values that are appropriate for color reproduction or display."
"The general goal is to render specific colors – particularly neutral colors like white or grey – correctly."
"Generalized versions of color balance are used to deliberately change colors for effect."
"The acquisition sensors do not match the sensors in the human eye, which makes color correction essential."
"The properties of the display medium must be accounted for during color correction."
"The ambient viewing conditions during acquisition may differ from the display viewing conditions."
"Color balance is typically achieved in film photography by using color correction filters over the lights or on the camera lens."
"Color balance changes the overall mixture of colors in an image."
"Generalized versions of color balance are used to correct colors other than neutrals."
"The general method is sometimes called gray balance, neutral balance, or white balance."
"White balance is one of the most common kinds of balancing."