12 - White Balance (Temperature)
White balance is an extremely important and very often overlook variable in photography. The white balance slider is a staple of photo editing software and is often place in a prominent position.
So what is white balance?
Ice and Fire
Ambient light will have a colour cast. This colour cast is known as the temperature and is measured in kelvin. The ambient light coming from the sun at noon is considered neutral and has a temperature between 5000-6000K.
A scene lit by a candle or open flame would have a very warm temperature and appear orange/red (2000K).
A scene lit by an overcast sky would have a cold temperature and appear blue (8000K). Contrary to convention, the lower the kelvin number the higher the temperature. Some editing software have a reversed version of this scale.
Our eyes can often adapt well to various colour temperatures whilst a camera's ability to adapt is limited. Whilst most cameras can usually be left in AWB (Auto White Balance) mode most of the time, it is important to understand white balance so you can recognise when your camera has made a bad call and has incorrectly balanced an image. This is most noticeable with an image that is too blue.
Controlling the white balance also gives the photographer stylistic control over the image. Adding a slight amount of warming or cooling to an image can have a huge impact on the mood and feel.
The emotional thermostat
You are in control over the temperature in your images and through temperature, you can control the feel of an image. Whether you choose to add more warmth to make an image more inviting and pleasant or cooler to envoke a less welcoming is up to you.
For most of my images, I usually favour warmth over coldness. However, too much warmth in an image will look fake and make people in the image look like they are suffering from Jaundice.
For this week's assignment: Compose three photos, one with the correct white balance, one warm and one cold. These photos can be taken in the same location. You are allowed (and encouraged) to adjust the temperature in-post.
Reading Material:
https://photographypro.com/white-balance/
https://photographylife.com/definition/white-balance
https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/white-balance.htm