White Balance

Can anyone explain white balance in an understandable way?

In the simplest terms I can think of...

White balance is a balance of your colors. Meaning when you have it right your yellows look like the original, your reds like the original, etc.

The thing to keep in mind is that depending on the lighting the setting to get the colors right is different. For example, flourescent light casts a green hue to things so you need to set your wb setting accordingly so the camera can compensate.

Hope this helps, ok guys beat me up..

Keep in mind that books are writen on WB.

White balance is what you use to make white look like white, that is, you "balance" the white.

Every light source has a "color temperature," expressed in K (Kelvins, not degrees Kelvin). Higher values are said to be "bluer" or "cooler" and lower values are said to be "redder," "yellower," or "warmer."

Your camera has several preset color settings that may be used:

Daylight sets a color temperature of about 5200K. This is the color temperature of direct sunlight.

Shade sets a color temperature of about 7000K. This is because open shade is lit by the blue sky.

Cloudy, Twilight, or Sunset sets a color temperature of about 6000K, cooler than sunlight, but not as cool as open shade.

Tungsten set a color temperature of about 3200K. This is because tungsten lamps (incandescent lights) are very warm compared to sunlight (definitely yellowish).

White Fluorescent Light sets a color temperature of about 4000K, which is warmer than Daylight but cooler than Tungsten. This is a compromise, as fluorescent lights are not a continuous spectrum, like the others mentioned her, but consist of a series of sharp spikes. They also cycle in brightness 120 times a second because of the U.S.'s 60 Hz power (100 times a second where 50 Hz power is used). This means that short exposures often produce strange results.

My suggestion is to take a few pictures in raw mode, one in direct sunlight, one in open shade, one with incandescent lighting, etc. Have something white common to all your pictures (like a person in a white shirt).

Then use Digital Photo Professional (DPP) software (comes with your Canon) to set the white balance to different values. You will be able to see the effects for yourself.