First of all, thanks Jay for inviting me to join this forum. I have been learning a lot from everybody and getting inspired by all your pictures. Great shots guys!

Now, for my white balance inquiry. Can I rely on my auto white balance setting indoors? Or do I need to make it a habit that if I am about to shoot indoors with mixed lighting, like in a birthday party or any event, that I need to set the rpeset WB?

The reason I ask this is that I am preparing and practicing to shoot my brother's wedding and I might need to use JPG instead of RAW.

Thanks for any help.


- Doy

Hi Doy,

Well, it is a must to set the correct WB whenever you shoot to ensure precise colors in ur photos especially if you are after true colors or close to true colors in your images. Using the autoWB gives satisfactory results, but sometimes not so good as well, especially in mixed lighting like the one you're going to face.

Using the presets is a better solution, but sometimes, the actual color temperature of the scene may still be "too high or too low" for the most appropriate WB preset, and therefore may not come out as close to real colors as you expect it to be. The problem is compounded with the fact that in your case, there will be other light sources present in the scene. Adjusting the WB in Kelvin in this case gives you the capability to fine tune the WB settings of your camera.

You can use some WB setting aid such as the ExpoDisc. If you don't have it, you may simply set the appropriate WB preset and that would depend what is the dominant light source inside the church. If there are other light sources inside the church that has a different color temperature, assuming their intensity is not as strong as the light source you are using for exposure, these lights will just simply add some colorful touches and splashes in your images.

Take note that there are times, you can take advantage of color shifts by deliberately using the color cast to help deliver the right mood in your pictures.

See also "Color Balance in Different Lighting Conditions" thread in this forum.

Will check out expodisc. Thanks, Jay.

- Doy

Sir Jay,

if we use the preset WB, will there be any effect on our shots if we combine it using the flash...? or do we really need to set the WB to flash mode if we use flash?

Using preset or custom white balance would be ideal but only practical if your light source is consistent. As mentioned, if there are varying light sources, which is often the case in events, then I would suggest sticking with Auto White Balance. That way, you have a better chance of getting more pleasant shots as you encounter varying lighting conditions.

The advantage of automatic white balance is that it at least tries to get correct white balance based on the actual lighting conditions present. So if there is a mix of various light sources, it attempts to take that into consideration. If, for example, you set your white balance to Flash and you use flash but there is a strong mix of ambient light at the same time, the color temperature of the ambient light is not factored in. If you use AWB, it can at least factor in both.

Take note that it is not only the light sources that make a difference but also the ambient colors that might be dominant in a location. Let's say there is a huge orange wall in the area you are photographing, chances are some of the light bounces off that and affects the subject. With AWB you have a better chance of neutralizing that orange cast.

Bear in mind though that AWB works by looking for a white point in the scene and adjusts the colors so that it becomes a neutral white (equal values of red, green, and blue). So, if there is no white in the scene it can yield less than desirable results. Let's say you take a photo and the closest thing to white is a yellowish off-white shirt one of the subjects is wearing. AWB will use that as the white point to based its color temperature adjustment on. It will read the light hitting it and make necessary adjustments. Unfortunately, since it reads excess yellow in the shirt, it will try to neutralize it by increasing blue. Thus, the result is a bluish cast on the whole image. Understanding how AWB works and its limitations can help us determine how we can deal with particular scenes. In such cases, where the AWB would be severely fooled, then preset or custom white balances would be the best alternative.

Sir Louie

Very well explained!

Appreciate it....