So you just had your first digital SLR, congratulations. Now you want tips on how to use your digital SLR, specifically how to understand the White Balance settings…

First off, White Balance is simply adjusting the color you want under different lighting. The color of your image has 2 bases, the white balance of your camera and the lighting of your subject (example- when the sun is high, when it’s cloudy, when you’re indoors, etc). So when you look at your camera’s LCD and you don’t like the color of your photo, you can easily improve it by tweaking the white balance of your digital SLR.

The White Balance setting of your digital SLR is the reason why your photos can look orange, blue or green. The digital SLR adjusts the color tone of your images automatically based on the light setting you provide it. Example if you tell your Nikon D40 that it’s a sunny day, the Nikon D40 will acknowledge that it’s sunny through the white balance. So when you take pictures the images will come out warm and vibrant and not bluish or green. Try setting the White Balance of your D40 into cloudy even when you’re actually shooting at a sunny 12 noon, the result will be a saturated looking photo with more orange tones.

White balance settings may be altered for deliberate creative purposes, exactly as we do with exposure.

The main problem of the White Balance is when you shoot indoors or under your regular light bulbs at home. If you review the image you’ll find it to have a yellowish or greenish or blueish color cast. Also automatically your camera is set to Auto White Balance which works well outdoors on a sunny day but is useless when shooting indoors. So you really have to adjust your White Balance setting for different occasions.

3 Tips from Professional photographers on how fixing White Balance problems.

1. Obviously adjust the White Balance of your camera – Go to the camera and choose a preset white balance setting that matches the lighting you’re shooting (it’s easier than you think – just go to your camera’s white balance section and choose either incandescent (for regular indoor lighting) or Flourscent (for typical office lighting).
2. Create a custom white balance- First buy a neutral 8 to 10 inches gray card (available in photo stores). Go to your digital SLR’s custom white balance setting and choose customize white balance. Aim the camera lens at the grey card and take a shot. (Consult your camera manual which you hopefully didn’t throw away)
3. Pro Photographers shoot in RAW file – The pros shoot in RAW file so they don’t have to worry about the white balance. RAW format allows you to alter the white balance of an image with Adobe Photoshop RAW Processor. Sound like cheating but hey, they are called professionals.

Practice makes perfect photos and it helps you understand that expensive digital camera you bought. Once you get it right though, you’ll love playing with the images and revel on the fact that in photography, you have creative control.