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Colour Temperature & White Balance Workshop
What is Colour Temperature and How is it Measured?
Colour temperature is a scale that measures how 'warm' or 'cool' the light from a particular source is. A 'warm' colour temperature typically shows up as a yellow light. A 'cool' colour temperature tends to show up more as a white or blue light.
Colour temperature is measured in 'Kelvins' in the 'Kelvin Scale'. The number on the scale indicates where the light falls within the colour spectrum.
For example, orange candlelight would be about 1,000 kelvin and more yellow lighting would range from 2,000 kelvin to 3,000 kelvin. In comparison, direct sunlight would be about 5,000 kelvin and produce a white colour temperature. A colder light that produces a blue colour temperature would range from 8,000 kelvin to 10,000 kelvin.
An Example of Colour Temperature in Natural Light
An Example of Colour Temperature in Artificial Light
Why is it Important to Set WB Before Shooting?
The way human eyes see colour is very different from the way a digital lens receives it. While we can continually adjust to changing light conditions, a camera can not. Therefore, you must tell your camera what colour light is cast on your scene, and this will need to be adjusted each time the lighting changes.
You tell the camera this by adjusting your white balance/colour temperature setting. If you are recording any format, other than RAW, this white balance/colour temperature setting will permanently determine the colour balance of your recorded image.
It is very hard to change this in post-production so you need to ensure you have the correct white balance set on your camera before you start shooting.
Guess the Colour Temperature Task
Lightbulb
Lightbulb
The light appears quite yellow so it would be a warm colour temperature and a about 3,000 kelvin.
Moonlight
Moonlight
The light is bluey white so I'd say it is a cold colour temperature and say it is 6,000 kelvin.
Interestingly I had a look online and moonlight is warmer than daylight and has a kelvin of 4,100.
Daylight
Daylight
This light appears very white so I would put it at 5,000 kelvin and say it is a cold colour temperature.
Phone Screen
Phone Screen
Light from a phone is called 'blue light', so I guess that the phone screen will have a cold colour temperature and be around 7,000 kelvin.
Candlelight
Candlelight
The candlelight is very orange so I would say it is a warm colour temperature and about 1,000 kelvin.
Sunset
Sunset
The light produced is very yellow. It is a warm colour temperature and about 4,000 kelvin.
Auto-White Balance and Why You Should Avoid It
Auto white balance means that the camera automatically adjusts the white balance for you, based on what it thinks the scene should 'naturally' look like. While this sounds pretty cool and seems like a way to make life easier and quicker, it is not actually all that helpful in the long run.
This is because auto-white balance has such a wide range on the kelvin scale as shown in the image and therefore it cannot give you the specific effect that you are looking for, you can only get this by setting the white balance yourself.
Furthermore, auto white balance can create and overexposed effect on your film, as shown in the image example, and can create colourations that you don't want in your film. For example, if you are filming a scene with lots of pink auto white balance will often try to 'fix' it by making some of the pink in the scene green, but this isn't what you want. Also, if you have a panning or tracking shot, setting your camera to white balance will mean that you will be able to see the camera readjusting the white balance as the camera moves. This is because auto white balance will constantly try to readjust the white balance with changed in lighting; and if you are outside changes in lighting can happen even without movement.
White Balance Practical Task
Examples from Inside
Warm Light
Warm Light
Cloudy | Shutter Speed 1/50 | Aperture f/4.5 | ISO 100
This white balance setting has created a slight warm, yellow glow around the subject. I think this was successful in creating a warm effect, but I feel it is a bit subtle so next time I would adjust the setting to create a slightly more obvious yellow glow around the subject.
Natural Light
Natural Light
Sunny | Shutter Speed 1/50 | Aperture f/4.5 | ISO 100
This white balance setting has created a sort of grey tone over the image. This image was successful at portraying a natural lighting.
Cold Light
Cold Light
Fluorescent Light | Shutter Speed 1/50 | Aperture f/4.5 | ISO 100
This white balance setting has created a very blue hue over the subject. I think this image was successful in showing a cold lighting.
Examples from outside
Warm Light
Warm Light
Shade | Shutter Speed 1/250 | Aperture f/6.3 | ISO 100
This white balance setting has created a slight warm, yellow glow around the subject. This image is successful because it has a warm yellow tint which compliments the brown in the frame, however it is slightly overexposed.
Natural Light
Natural Light
Sunny| Shutter Speed 1/250 | Aperture f/6.3 | ISO 100
This white balance setting has created a sort of grey tone over the subject. This image was not successful because it is overexposed, next time I need to remember to check the exposure of the shot before taking it and adjust the settings.
Cold Light
Cold Light
Fluorescent Light| Shutter Speed 1/250 | Aperture f/6.3 | ISO 100
This white balance setting has created a very blue hue over the frame. This is mage was quite successful, but next time I would have adjust the settings to have the blue hue much less exaggerated.
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