White Balance

The white balance control of a camera allows you to adjust it for the varying color temperature of the scene you wish to photograph. (You'll find a full discussion of color temperature in Chapter 24, "Video Systems.") Although color temperature is a complex concept, the effect of white balance is easy to judge—scenes taken under incandescent lighting look abnormally orange. Whereas adjusting for color temperature with chemical cameras meant toting around a set of color correction filters, most digital cameras have automatic white balance systems that adjust to the available light. Some digital cameras also let you make manually settings for sunny, cloudy, incandescent, fluorescent, and flash lighting conditions.