If you’ve ever looked through your camera menu and seen options labelled WB or AWB, you may have wondered what white balance actually is and whether it’s something you need to worry about.
The good news is that white balance sounds far more complicated than it really is.
In this guide, I’ll explain what white balance is, why it matters, how to set it manually, and when you can simply leave your camera to do the work for you.
What Is White Balance?
In the simplest terms possible, white balance is a camera setting that ensures the colour white actually appears white in your photographs.
Without the correct white balance, white objects can take on unwanted colour casts. They may appear:
- Orange or yellow
- Blue
- Green
- Or another unnatural colour
Once your camera correctly identifies what white should look like in a scene, it can then accurately reproduce all of the other colours as well.
Think of white balance as colour correction built into your camera.
Why Does White Balance Matter?
The appearance of colour changes depending on the type of light you’re shooting in.
While our eyes and brains are incredibly good at adapting to different lighting conditions automatically, cameras often need a little help.
For example:
Bright Sunlight
On a sunny day, colours typically appear fairly neutral, although they can sometimes have a slightly warm appearance.
Tungsten Lighting
Traditional household bulbs often produce a warm orange or yellow colour cast.
Without correcting for this, your photos can look overly warm.
Cloudy Conditions
Cloudy weather tends to create cooler tones, often giving images a subtle blue tint.
Fluorescent Lighting
Fluorescent lights can introduce green colour casts that make images look unnatural.
This is where white balance becomes important.
Your camera needs to understand what “true white” looks like under the current lighting conditions. Once it knows that, it can accurately adjust every other colour in the image.
A Simple White Balance Example
Imagine you’re photographing someone indoors wearing a white shirt.
If the room is lit by tungsten bulbs and your white balance isn’t set correctly, the shirt may appear slightly orange or yellow.
With the correct white balance applied, the shirt will appear white, exactly as it should.
The same principle applies to every other colour in the image.
Why Accurate White Balance Is Important
White balance can have a significant impact on the quality of your photographs.
Product Photography
If you’re photographing products for a website, catalogue or online store, accurate colours are essential.
Customers expect products to look the same in real life as they do in your photographs.
Portrait Photography
Correct white balance helps produce more natural and flattering skin tones.
Poor white balance can make skin appear overly orange, yellow, green or blue.
Landscape Photography
Accurate white balance helps preserve the natural look of the scene and ensures colours appear as you experienced them.
Sports and Event Photography
When shooting in stadiums, sports halls or indoor venues, lighting conditions can vary dramatically. Understanding white balance can help you achieve more consistent results.
In short, white balance affects every type of photography.
How Do You Set White Balance?
Fortunately, setting white balance is usually very straightforward.
Most cameras provide several options.
Auto White Balance (AWB)
Auto White Balance leaves the decision entirely up to the camera.
Modern cameras are surprisingly good at this.
In fact, I’ve photographed hundreds of professional football matches over the years and have used Auto White Balance extensively.
For many photographers and many situations, AWB works perfectly well.
White Balance Presets
Most cameras also offer preset white balance modes designed for different lighting conditions.
Daylight
Best used in normal outdoor sunlight.
Cloudy
Adds a little warmth to counteract the cool tones often found on cloudy days.
Shade
Similar to the cloudy setting, this warms the image to compensate for the cooler light found in shaded areas.
Tungsten
Removes the warm orange colour cast created by traditional household lighting.
Fluorescent
Helps correct the green tint often produced by fluorescent lights.
These presets can be a quick and effective way to improve colour accuracy without needing to adjust anything manually.
How to Set White Balance Manually
If you want the most accurate white balance possible, manually setting it is often the best option.
Fortunately, it’s also very easy.
Step 1: Find Something White
A plain sheet of white paper works perfectly.
Step 2: Fill the Frame
Take a photograph of the white paper and ensure it fills as much of the frame as possible.
Step 3: Select Custom White Balance
Navigate to your camera’s menu system and find the Custom White Balance option.
Step 4: Choose the Reference Image
Select the photograph of the white paper that you just captured.
Your camera will now analyse that image and use it as a reference point for determining what white should look like under the current lighting conditions.
The result is highly accurate colour reproduction.
For that reason, I always keep a sheet of white paper in my camera bag.
It’s a simple trick, but it’s one that can be incredibly useful when colour accuracy matters.
White Balance and Colour Temperature
As you continue learning photography, you’ll likely come across the term colour temperature.
Colour temperature is measured using a scale called Kelvin (K).
Different light sources produce different colour temperatures:
- Candlelight produces warm tones
- Tungsten lighting is relatively warm
- Daylight is more neutral
- Cloudy skies tend to be cooler
- Shade can be cooler still
Many cameras allow you to set white balance directly using Kelvin values, giving you complete control over the colour temperature of your images.
While this isn’t something beginners need to worry about immediately, it’s a useful topic to explore once you’re comfortable with the basics of white balance.
Final Thoughts
White balance is one of those camera settings that sounds intimidating at first but is actually quite straightforward.
At its core, it’s simply a way of ensuring colours appear natural and accurate in your photographs.
For most situations, Auto White Balance will do a perfectly good job. However, understanding the preset modes and knowing how to set a custom white balance can help you achieve more consistent and accurate results when conditions become challenging.
If you’re just starting out, don’t overcomplicate it. Use Auto White Balance, pay attention to how your images look, and experiment with the different settings as your confidence grows.
Like most areas of photography, the best way to learn is simply to get out and start shooting.