White balance ensures that colors in your photo look the way they should — not too blue, too orange, or too green. It adjusts for the color temperature of the light in your scene, which can vary from cool daylight to warm indoor bulbs.
Your camera uses white balance to decide what “neutral” looks like. If it gets it wrong, your image may look unnaturally tinted.
Common White Balance Presets
- Auto (AWB) — Let the camera decide (works well most of the time)
- Daylight — For sunny outdoor scenes
- Cloudy — Adds warmth to offset grey skies
- Tungsten/Incandescent — For warm indoor lighting
- Fluorescent — Adjusts for greenish or bluish tones
When to Adjust White Balance
- Your photo looks too yellow or orange (too warm)
- Your photo looks too blue (too cool)
- You’re shooting in RAW and want more control during editing
Tips
- Use Auto White Balance unless you see clear color issues
- Set white balance manually for consistency across multiple shots
- Shooting in RAW lets you fix white balance later without loss