How To Get White Balance Correct In Your Photos

White balance is often an overlooked aspect of photography that may just in fact be one of the most important! Knowing how to get white balance correct in your photos can really make or break the way your photo looks.

White balance is essentially the color balance of your photo. Incorrect white balance can cause your photo to look to yellow or too blue. Keep reading to find out a few things you can do to achieve correct white balance. Different photographers may or may not use one, some or all of these techniques. Try them out to see how you are most comfortable figuring out correct white balance!

Kelvin

By using the kelvin white balance chart you can select and set your white balance in camera based on you lighting conditions. Look at the chart to the right. You will notice that if you are shooting in shade, your white balance would most likely be set to about 7500. On the other hand, if you are in a classroom with florescent bulbs overhead, the white balance would be set to 3800. Determine the lighting situation a set your white balance accordingly.

A Grey Card

A grey card is a very inexpensive way to set your white balance. To use one, simply set it up in the area where you plan to place your subject. Focus on the grey area with your camera and this will give you the reference point as to where to set your white balance at. If you subject will be in the same area with the same light source, the white balance shouldn’t change from that reference point.

Related Article: The Easy Way To Use A Gray Card

An Expo Disc

An expo disc is similar to that of a grey card, but is said to have greater accuracy at pinpointing the correct white balance. Unlike the grey card, the expo disc is a filter on your camera. It is more expensive and needs to be the correct size for your lens.

Related Article: Learn How To Use The Expo Disc!

Correct it in Lightroom or ACR

You can easily shoot in auto white balance and then correct later using Lightroom or ACR. ( There are some photographers who think that this just requires extra work for you, while others find it much easier. I’m in the second group:) ) If you are moving around a lot while shooting and your light is constantly changing (like if you are chasing a toddler) this may be a good option for you. Watch below and I will show you how you can fix white balance using Lightroom.

Hope you learned how to get white balance correct in your photos! Comment below and let me know how you set your white balance! I’d love to hear:) Thanks for reading. Check out more from this free Lightroom mini training series here!