Lesson Three: White Balance

This lesson from Two Peas covers White Balance settings and how they can affect the color of your photos.

What you're photographing and your location determines every single one of your cameras settings. This is a great thing about DSLR cameras - you can adapt to any situation. Learning to properly choose your White Balance setting can change the entire look and feel of your photos.

Before I went through this lesson, I wasn't sure how to customize my White Balance. It's actually a really quick and easy process, but it's unique to each camera, so I won't get into details. After seeing what a difference it makes, I think I'll be customizing my setting more often!

Here are my example photos - I decided to try two different things to see how the Custom White Balance can change between items/subjects....

Shutter Speed: 1/250; Aperture: f/5.6; Focal Length: 135mm; ISO: 800

AUTO WHITE BALANCE

Shutter Speed: 1/250; Aperture: f/5.6; Focal Length: 140mm; ISO: 800

TUNGSTEN

Shutter Speed: 1/250; Aperture: f/5.6; Focal Length: 110mm; ISO: 800

CUSTOM WHITE BALANCE

And here are all three side by side so you can really get a good look at how much of a difference the White Balance setting actually makes (click for larger):

In this case, I think I prefer the way the Auto White Balance looks because it's most true to the actual colors in person. But that's all a matter of personal preference.

Shutter Speed: 1/250; Aperture: f/5.6; Focal Length: 190mm; ISO: 800

AUTO WHITE BALANCE

Shutter Speed: 1/250; Aperture: f/5.6; Focal Length: 200mm; ISO: 800

TUNGSTEN

Shutter Speed: 1/250; Aperture: f/5.6; Focal Length: 200mm; ISO: 800

CUSTOM WHITE BALANCE

Again here are all three side by side (click for larger):

With the different subject, I prefer the Custom White Balance for this shot.

For any photo shoot, you just need to pay attention to your lighting. With the correct settings from the beginning, you will have a lot less editing to do on the other end. With practice, you should be able to get great shots straight from your camera!