[CT]

To understand WB it's best to think first of all of the traditional effect it has with conventional film.

If you go into any photographic shop and ask for a roll of film they'll automatically give you daylight exposure film, as that's what they'll assume you want, and you probably do. Daylight exposure film is colour corrected to be exposed in daylight conditions to give the right colour balance in your shots without any nasty colour casts.

If you take available light shots indoors under tungsten light with daylight film, then you get an awful orange cast over everything in your prints. This is due to the very yellow/orange nature of tungsten light.You've probably seen this in shots you've taken indoors without flash. You can get a Wratten blue filter which enables you to use daylight film under tungsten light without the cast, or you could do the right thing in the first place and ask for tungsten film instead of daylight film. Specialist photo shops should stock it.

Electronic flash is corrected for, and has the same colour temperature as daylight (sunlight to be more accurate). If you shoot indoors under tungsten light then the flash kills the tungsten light and you get pics without the orange cast .

With the advent of digital photography we no longer have a choice over which film we buy, so the camera now has to 'know' under what lighting conditions we're taking photos to avoid unsightly colour casts We do this by 'telling' the camera what white should look like under any given lighting conditions.If white looks right in your shots without any unsightly casts, then the balance of all other colours falls into place too. Hence the white balance setting. Basically it's the same as if you were using film... in sunlight or daylight use that setting - under tungsten light use the tungsten setting . If you're using electronic flash then regardless of whether your'e shooting in daylight or indoors under tungsten light , the correct setting is 'Sunlight' or 'Flash'

Most digital cameras enable you to have 'Auto' selection of WB, but it doesn't always hack it to be honest, especially under artificial light, and you're better off often making the WB setting manually, or taking a custom white balance shot to set the white balance. Your camera manual will tell you how to take and use a custom white balance shot.

If you shoot in RAW format then you need not worry about any of the foregoing as the white balance can be adjusted for all conditions at the processing stage.

[ppuga]

Very usefull info! CT! As always, thanks.

[evilowl]

Yeah good stuff!

I find the D70 takes pretty accurate readings in Auto mode -2 but RAW rocks for post processing!

[AquilaEagle]

I'm learning stuff Ced! thanks :thumbup:

[CT]

That's cool Ian. Let's be seeing some pics from you then!

[AquilaEagle]

I've nothing good enough to show yet!!

Actually i should put some up for the critique got some I quite like from Goodwood last June when i first started, and Arran, will get onto it this weekend!