White Balance is one of the most feared topics among beginning photographers. It’s a subject many avoid learning, but there’s no getting around the fact that it’s important to understand if you want to improve your landscape photography.

Like many of you, it took me a long time until I looked into what White Balance is and how to use it. I always left it on Automatic (AWB/ Auto White Balance) and didn’t think twice about it. After years of this, I decided to start exploring the different settings, and to my disappointment, the results were horrible!

Why? Because I had no idea what I was doing.

I quickly built up some courage to read and dive into White Balance in photography. It didn’t take long until I realized it wasn’t nearly as scary (or difficult) as I thought for all those years.

In fact, it was pretty straightforward, and it didn’t take long until I saw a drastic improvement in my image files.

You might be one of many who find this a scary subject, so I’m going to keep this article as simple as possible. At the end of it, you’ve learned how to master White Balance techniques and use them to improve your photography.

Neutral White Balance in Photography
An image with a neutral (and slightly cold) White Balance

What is White Balance in Photography?

The short answer is that White Balance controls the overall color cast of an image. That wasn’t too difficult, was it?

I promised to keep this article simple, but we need to get a little more technical to understand what it is and how you can take advantage of it in your photography.

The actual color, or temperature, of light, is extremely variable, so our eyes constantly adjust how we perceive it.

A camera, however, does not perceive light in the same way as us. That’s where White Balance plays a role in photography. We need to adjust it based on the light surrounding us.

Take indoor photography as an example. I bet you’ve at some point noticed that these images tend to have a heavy orange color cast. You don’t necessarily notice this with your eyes (as they adapt), but the camera picks it up.

We can easily neutralize this color cast by adjusting the White Balance in the camera. However, applying the wrong settings may worsen things, so it’s important to understand what values to use at what time.

And yes, creative White Balance techniques can make great photos. The purpose isn’t just to neutralize color. Many photographers like having a color cast and will adjust the White Balance values for that purpose.  

The Relation Between Color Temperature and Kelvin

When talking about White Balance in photography, it’s important to understand the relation between Color Temperature and Kelvin; Color Temperatures are described using the Kelvin (K) scale.

In most digital cameras, the Kelvin scale ranges from 2500 to 10,000. Each of these numbers represents a warmth in color temperature. Temperatures over 5000K are considered a cold, or blueish, color, and anything beneath is considered warm or yellowish.

Warm White Balance in Photography
An example of a warm White Balance

Connecting Kelvin and White Balance is where it gets confusing; using a Kelvin such as 8000K will, in most situations, result in a heavy orange color cast. Shouldn’t it be a cold cast when all temperatures over 5000k are considered blueish?

This is because the camera uses the opposite color temperature to compensate for the surroundings. A cold color temperature of 8000K is neutralized by adjusting the camera’s Kelvin settings to the same value. In other words, the camera applies a warmer cast (the opposite of 8000K) to neutralize the cold tones.

That means that using a low Kelvin in the camera introduces a cold cast, while a higher value introduces a warm tone.

Are you still with me? Good! That was the trickiest part.

Let’s take a closer look at how to change the White Balance in the camera and how you can use the different fixed modes to improve your photographs.

How to Change White Balance in Camera

Exactly how you adjust the White Balance depends on your camera. Each brand and model has their own ways of doing it. Most cameras have either a WB button or a WB setting that is accessed from the shooting information menu.

In other cameras, typically entry-level cameras, the White Balance settings are found somewhere in the camera menus.

I suggest you look in the camera’s manual to see how it’s done for your camera.

White Balance in Nikon D750
The White Balance can be changed by using the WB button on this Nikon D750

The White Balance settings themselves are similar in the majority of digital cameras. Here, you will find a list of seven semi-automatic modes, one automatic mode, and one manual mode.

These settings are used to neutralize colors in specific lighting scenarios using a pre-set combination of Kelvin and Tint. They do a good job in most situations, but sometimes you have to adjust them manually.

Automatic White Balance Mode (AWB)

When using the Automatic White Balance Mode, you let the camera decide what color temperature settings to apply. It automatically adjusts the settings based on the light and color conditions surrounding you.

When I first wrote this article many years ago, I strongly recommended avoiding the Automatic Mode at all costs. It could do an ok job in some situations, but quite often it struggled to deliver good results.

Camera technology has improved a lot since then, and I’ll admit that this mode has gotten a lot better. I still recommend learning how to use the manual or semi-automatic modes, but for most standard situations, you’ll find that this mode works just fine.

However, using automatic modes means you have no control over the result. You simply leave the color temperature decision up to the camera. If you’re okay with that, you can keep using this setting for daytime photography. If not, I suggest using one of the next options instead.

The Automatic Mode struggles more when dealing with low-light situations; in these cases, I don’t recommend using it.

Semi-Automatic White Balance Modes (Presets)

Most cameras have seven Semi-Automatic White Balance Modes that are used for specific light and color conditions. These presets work great for most scenarios you’ll be photographing.

Exploring these modes is a good way to learn how different White Balance settings impact an image. I recommend starting here before moving on to Manual Mode.

Tungsten (3200K)

This tends to be the best option for photographing indoors, especially under warm tungsten lighting. The Tungsten setting is often symbolized by a little bulb. It’s used to cool down the Color Temperature in your image.

Fluorescent (4000K)

The Fluorescent setting is typically used when photographing in cool, fluorescent light and adds a slightly warm color to it.

Flash (5500K)

This setting is often used when the photographer is using a flash. It adds a slightly warm cast as the flash tends to introduce some cool light.

Daylight (5600K)

The Daylight setting isn’t available in all cameras but is used for photographing outdoors in normal daylight. It’s quite a neutral setting.

Cloudy (6000K)

A favorite amongst many landscape photographers. The Cloudy setting adds a slightly warmer cast than the Daylight setting and is used to add a little “kick” to the image.

Shade (7000K)

The final Semi-Automatic Mode is Shade. It introduces even more warmth than the previous settings. It’s commonly used in shaded environments as they are slightly colder.

Mountains in the Italian Dolomites
Different semi-automatic modes react differently in various conditions.

How to use Manual White Balance Modes

The two main modes of manually adjusting the White Balance are Custom White Balance and Kelvin Mode (K).

I find that the automatic and semi-automatic modes do a good job in the majority of outdoor situations, but it’s still essential to know how to use manual White Balance settings. To be honest, I use Kelvin Mode for 90% of my photography.

Even photographers who mainly use the semi-automatic modes can benefit greatly from understanding how this works.

Custom White Balance

The first manual mode is Custom White Balance. This is more commonly used among studio photographers, requiring extreme color temperature accuracy. A neutral white card is used to achieve this accuracy.

Let’s walk through this step by step:

  • Choose the ‘Custom White Balance’ or ‘Pre’ mode.
  • Place a neutral white object in front of the camera. A 50% grey card can also be used.
  • Take a picture. You haven’t actually taken an image, but the camera uses this information as a reference when adjusting the color temperature.
  • Voila! Your White Balance is now set.

Some photographers swear by this method, but I find it more efficient for studio photographers who require extreme accuracy.

Kelvin Mode (K)

The Kelvin Mode (K) can be considered partially manual and partially preset. It doesn’t require the use of a neutral white card, and you don’t give the camera a reference to base the settings of. Instead, you choose the Kelvin and Tint to be used.

This mode works well when used in conjunction with Live View. You can stay in control through the entire process and will see exactly what happens when you make an adjustment.

Cold White Balance Kelvin Mode
A Kelvin of approximately 4000 was used to capture this image and to preserve the cold atmosphere.

This is what I use for the majority of my photos.

Remember what we discussed earlier in this article: a high Kelvin equals a cold color temperature in reality but applies a warm color cast in photography.

It’s a bit counterintuitive, but you’ll quickly get the hang of it after some trial and error.

When to Use Manual White Balance

With most cameras’ powerful automatic and semi-automatic modes, when do we need to adjust the White Balance manually? Is there a point in learning this at all?

Yes. Semi-automatic modes might work well in most situations, but many require manual adjustments too.

Remember that White Balance in photography is used to neutralize the color casts surrounding us. When photographing outdoors, the light and tones change quickly, so the White Balance is adjusted accordingly.

It’s not uncommon to have a big change in color temperature for every few images. In other words, there’s no consistency.

The most common situations where a manual White Balance should be used are for:

  • Night Photography
  • panoramic photography
  • HDR or other scenarios where you bracket images
  • time-lapse photography

Automatic modes tend to struggle at night and often give an unnaturally warm cast to the images. I prefer using a cold Kelvin, such as 3500K, to keep my night images more natural. This is particularly the case for photographing the Northern Lights.

White Balance in Night Photography
A Kelvin of 3200K was used to capture this image of the Northern Lights

When photographing panoramas or bracketing multiple exposures, it’s essential that the images have the same color temperature. For that reason, you should be using the manual mode in those scenarios.

White Balance when Photographing in RAW

Adjusting the White Balance is a critical part of working with colors in your photography. Applying the wrong settings can have a negative impact, but that doesn’t mean there’s no hope.

Color temperature settings aren’t embedded in the image file when photographing in RAW format (which you should be doing). A RAW file is an uncompressed file containing minimally processed data from the sensor. That means that while the White Balance settings are attached to the file, they’re not embedded in such a way that they’re irreversible. In fact, it’s a setting that you don’t even need to care about in-camera.

That being said, I recommend that you aim at getting the image files as close to the finished product as possible. Using the ‘wrong’ White Balance might not harm your file, but it looks a lot better when importing a better-looking file. Perhaps you even find it easier to process?

Unfortunately, this isn’t the case when photographing in JPEG. These are compressed and processed files with integrated settings such as the White Balance. You are able to make small adjustments in post-processing, but not as much as with a RAW file.

How to Adjust White Balance in Post-Processing

There are many photographers who choose to ignore the in-camera White Balance settings as they aren’t integrated into the RAW file.

Adjusting the White Balance in post-processing is rather straightforward. In fact, it can be considered one of the easier adjustments you’ll make.

Let’s take a look at how it’s done in three of today’s most popular photo-editors:  

How to Adjust the White Balance in Adobe Lightroom

Adobe Lightroom is arguably the most popular and relied-upon RAW editor on the market.

There are three main methods of changing the White Balance in Adobe Lightroom, all of which are located at the top of the Basics Tab in the Develop Module.

White Balance in Adobe Lightroom
Use the Basic Panel to adjust the White Balance in Lightroom

#1 The White Balance Selector (W)

The White Balance Selector, more commonly referred to as the Eye Dropper Tool, is an easy way to change the color temperature based on an input value. The tool is used to click on a neutral color in the image, and Lightroom uses this as a reference to neutralize the color casts.

Ideally, your target area should be 50% Red, 50% Green, and 50% Blue, or as close to it as possible. The closer to this value you come, the more accurate (neutral) the results become.

Notice that the Temp and Tint sliders are adjusted directly after clicking the target point.

#2 Using White Balance Presets

The second method is to use the White Balance Presets in Lightroom. These are similar to the semi-automatic modes in your camera.

‘As Shot’ is the default preset and is based on the actual White Balance settings you used in-camera. Click on this text (or the up/down button next to it) to reveal the full list of presets.

Each of the presets adjusts the Temp and Tint sliders differently.

#3 Manually Adjust Using the Temp and Tint Sliders

The third way to change the White Balance in Lightroom is by manually adjusting the Temp and Tint sliders. This is arguably the most common method.

Pull the sliders towards the left or right to adjust the color temperature. Here, you can choose to neutralize the color cast or apply a creative look to your photo.

Lightroom has made the Temp and Tint sliders easy to understand by giving them colors. Use this as a reference and see how the colors in your photo are affected when moving the sliders around.

How to Adjust the White Balance in Adobe Photoshop

Adjusting the White Balance in Adobe Photoshop is slightly more difficult than in Lightroom. The tools aren’t quite as simple, but they are more flexible and can give better results.

#1 Use Adobe Camera RAW

The only ‘easy’ method to adjust the White Balance in Photoshop is by using Adobe Camera RAW. This tool is found by going to Filter -> Camera RAW Filter…

White Balance in Adobe Camera RAW
Use Photoshop’s Adobe Camera RAW to adjust the White Balance.

A new window opens, and here you’re met with a similar layout and the same tools as in Adobe Lightroom. Make your adjustments and click OK when you’re done.

#2 Use ‘Match Color’ to Neutralize Colors

While this isn’t directly a method to adjust the White Balance, it’s a very efficient method of removing color casts in Photoshop.

Go to Image -> Adjustments -> Match Color… and click ‘Neutralize’ in the dialogue box that appears. This automatically removes the color cast and gives a more neutral look.

#3 Use a Color Balance Layer

The third and final method is perhaps the most powerful, but it requires some practice in order to perfect. The Color Balance Adjustment Layer lets you alter the Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow tones in the Highlights, Midtones, and Shadows.

Combining this with the use of a Luminosity Mask can give incredible results when wanting to target specific areas of an image.

The Best White Balance for Landscape Photography

Many of you might be looking for the best White Balance setting that fits each and every purpose for photography. In the ideal world, that would exist, but unfortunately, that’s not the case.

Different light benefits from a different setting. Sometimes, that can be achieved using Auto White Balance; other times, it requires you to set a specific Kelvin.

But there are a few useful White Balance techniques:

Kelvin 3200-4000 is ideal for most types of night photography, whether you’re photographing the Milky Way or the Northern Lights. This range does a good job of eliminating city lights or orange casts caused by light pollution. It also keeps a natural cold feel to the night sky.

Kelvin 5000-6000 is ideal for most ‘regular’ landscape or outdoor photography types. This relatively neutral range gives a slight warmth to the photos.

Kelvin 6000-7500 tends to add a little too much warmth but can be used to enhance the colors of a warm sunrise or sunset. Some experimentation can be beneficial.


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Conclusion

White Balance in photography is an important subject to understand for photographers who want to improve their craft. Yet, it’s a topic that many fear looking into as it seems complicated at first glance.

Luckily, it’s not that difficult at all. After a little trial and error, you’ll see just how easy it is to apply the best White Balance settings for the image you’re working on.

The automatic and semi-automatic modes are great for most situations, but I highly recommend that you learn how to use Kelvin mode. There are many situations that require the use of a manual setting.

White Balance can be used in many ways, not only to neutralize the colors. You can take advantage of this setting to give your images a creative look. Color casts aren’t always bad!

I promised at the beginning of this article that I’d keep it as simple as possible. I know there have been a few tricky topics here, but I hope you’ve got a better understanding of White Balance now.

Over the course of the next few days, I challenge you to explore the different semi-automatic modes to see how the different settings work in a different light.