White Balance

One of the more difficult/confusing aspects of photography is this whole idea of white balance and achieving the correct white balance in your photographs. I know for me it has been a sore point at times the end result sometimes is my falling back to I will just fix it in post processing, which is of course the wrong view to have. The white balance of a photograph is basically about getting the colours in your image correct. Ever realized when looking at photos after taking them they seem, not like how your eye saw them? They have a noticeable red, blue or yellow tone. This is due to the different "temperature" of the light at the time of taking the photograph. You can compensate for these different temperatures by either using the automatic settings for White Balance in your camera, both Nikon and Canon have these settings. Or adjusting it manually. I will admit sometimes i forget about the white balance of the image and only after in post processing with Adobe Lightroom do I realize my error. I usually use the auto white balance setting in my Rebel T3i which typically works pretty ok, but using the other auto modes depending on the shooting situation will be necessary.

If you are looking for more details on White Balance you can check these two links:

Introduction to White Balance by Darren Rowse

White Balance Explained by Jeff Meyer