Have you ever taken a photo indoors that looked strangely yellow or orange? Or perhaps a picture on a cloudy day that had an unflattering blue tint? This common problem isn’t a flaw in your camera; it’s an issue with white balance. Our eyes are amazing at automatically adjusting to different types of light, but a camera needs a little help.

To fix this, you need to understand “color temperature.” Every light source, from the sun to a lightbulb, has its own color. We measure this color temperature on a scale called Kelvin (K). For example, candlelight is very warm and orange, while the light on an overcast day is very cool and blue. White balance is simply the process of telling your camera what “true white” looks like in your current lighting. Once your camera knows what white is, it can render all the other colors in your scene accurately.

Getting your colors right is a fundamental skill, and it’s a key concept we introduce in our photography guide for beginners. This guide will show you exactly how to take control of your camera’s white balance settings.

The Power of Shooting in RAW

Getting your white balance right in-camera will save you a lot of time later. But what if you make a mistake? The best safety net is to shoot in the RAW file format.

Because a RAW file contains all the original, unprocessed sensor data, you can completely change your white balance after the fact with zero loss in quality. This is a major advantage we cover in our guide, RAW vs. JPEG: What’s the Difference?. A JPEG file, on the other hand, has the white balance “baked in,” and major adjustments can damage the image.

Of course, getting your settings right in-camera is always the goal. Just like mastering the exposure triangle, ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed, setting a correct white balance will give you a much better starting point for your image. If you do need to make adjustments later, nearly all of the 10 best photo editing software on our list provide simple sliders to perfect your white balance.

Your Camera’s White Balance Presets (The Easy Way)

The good news is that your camera comes equipped with several presets designed to handle the most common lighting situations. Using these presets is the easiest way to start getting more accurate color in your photos. You can usually find them in your camera’s quick menu, often represented by a small icon.

Here are the most common presets and what they do:

• Auto (AWB): In this mode, the camera analyzes the scene and makes its best guess. Modern cameras are very good at this, and AWB works well in a wide variety of situations, especially when lighting is mixed.
• Daylight/Sunny: This setting is calibrated for direct, midday sunlight. It’s your standard, neutral setting for bright, clear days.
• Cloudy: The light on an overcast day is much cooler (bluer) than direct sunlight. The Cloudy preset adds warm tones to your image to counteract this blue cast, resulting in a more natural look.
• Shade: Light in an open shady area is even cooler and bluer than on a cloudy day. The Shade setting adds even more warmth to your photos to prevent people from looking pale and washed out.
• Tungsten/Incandescent: This is for the classic indoor lightbulb, which produces a very warm, orange light. This preset adds a lot of blue to the image to cool it down and neutralize that heavy orange cast, making whites look white again.
• Fluorescent: Fluorescent lighting, often found in offices and stores, can create a greenish tint in photos. This setting corrects for that by adding magenta to your image.

Custom White Balance and Kelvin Mode

Once you are comfortable with the presets, you might want even more precise control over your colors. That’s where the advanced settings come in.

• Kelvin (K) Mode: This mode allows you to manually set the exact color temperature by dialing in a specific Kelvin value. It gives you ultimate creative control, allowing you to perfectly neutralize a scene or intentionally make it warmer or cooler for artistic effect.
• Custom White Balance: This is the most accurate method. It involves taking a picture of something neutrally colored (like a white piece of paper or a professional grey card) in your current lighting. You then tell your camera, “This is what true white looks like.” The camera uses that reference photo to calibrate a custom white balance setting for perfectly accurate colors in that specific environment.

Start Experimenting for Better Color

Accurate color is a hallmark of professional-looking photography. It ensures that skin tones look natural and that the mood of your scene is conveyed just as you intended. The best way to learn is to start experimenting. The next time you are out shooting, switch your camera’s white balance setting away from Auto. Cycle through the different presets in various lighting conditions and observe how they change the color and feel of your images. This simple practice will quickly make you more confident and intentional with your color.