Mastering Your DSLR Part 10 (a) - Take Control of White Balance

Do you often find that some of your photos look either too warm (with a yellow/orange tinge) or too cool (with a bluish tinge), particularly when taken under artificial lighting? Well this is not unusual as different light sources operate at varying color temperatures with the lower temperatures producing the orange/yellow colors, the higher temperatures providing the blue/green colors and the midday sunlight and flashlight both being in the mid range temperatures producing a more pure white. The term color temperature is simply just a way of quantifying the color of light. Now there is a heap of scientific and technical information written on this subject that you can read at your leisure should you have an interest in this subject. This short article will not address these technical matters in any depth but will suggest how you might adjust your photography techniques either before or after you have taken your shots to obtain the correct color for your photographs. However, the "correct color" can be a very subjective matter, so please note that for creative purposes you may like to manipulate these techniques to give a particular tone, color or mood that you desire in your photographs for particular situations. Color Perception As humans, our brain through our eyes adjusts to different lighting conditions (color temperatures) so that we see a white object as white (based on prior experience) regardless of the lighting conditions. In other words what we "see" . . . (to read the remainder of this article, please log in below.)