White Balance
Ahmadzargon. White Balance is one a lot of important features in your camera. It is keep your photo color neutral. What is a neutral color on your photo? Neutral means show the true color of photo base on the real color with a normal color light. Imaging sunset condition light on a beach, Almost of view is filled with orange color by the sunset light effect. It will be different on tungsten lamp and florescent lamp. The question remains is how to reduce this fill color?
White balance provide a feature to reduce all fill color. In analog era, white balance feature is performed by colored filter such as soft yellow filter, soft blue filter or soft red filter. Those are used to reduce certain color such as yellow or orange to reduce blue and vice verse, Pink to reduce Green color.
In process, There are two ways to determining the ambiance of light. The first is general situation color determine such grouping a condition in certain condition such as tungsten, fluorescent, daylight, cloudy and the other is determining base on color temperature. Our normal eyes could not see its details. It is caused by our wonderful brain which able to sens everything almost normal but what a about your camera? Yes they are have a brain also to make it normal. It is known as White balance.
The origin of White Balance Camera Preset
In your digital camera not only DLSR and presume camera but also every pocket camera has their White Balance Camera. This feature generally set in:
White Balance Preset
Auto – Camera judge the light condition based on color temperature. This color temperature have set on your camera. This feature sets the anti color of dominant color automatically.
Tungsten – signed by tungsten lamp. It is designed to take a photo on soft yellow light room.
Fluorescent – Signed by fluorescent lamp, it designed to take a photo on neon lighting room.
Daylight – Signed by Sun icon, it designed to take photo on direct sun on sunny day
Cloudy – Signed by grey cloud, it designed to reduce soft grey color such as in cloudy condition
Flash – Signed by lighting icon, it is designed for taking picture with flash and strobe.
Shade – Signed by Tree with shadow or Building with shadow, it is designed for taking in indirect sun light and in shade of big body.
How to set this feature manually in DSLR camera.
Manual White Balance Preset
DSLR camera provide white balance setting facility manually. It is give photographer to set the white balance base your styles. The other reason is color complex. Sometimes, photo’s object has complex color such combination of green and blue, blue and pink, etc. This condition sometimes makes camera white balance sensor confuse to determine priority color and sometime photographer want to make one dominant color but white balance facility reduce this color. An Indonesian photographer, Brenda gives yellow filling in her photo and this gave a unique and wonderful photo character. My last tips to set it up: use white paper and look it with your camera LCD. Try to make it white is the better ways.