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Photography vocabulary · Camera Parts & Settings

White balance

Meaning in photography, with examples

/ˌwaɪt ˈbæləns/nounCore term

In photography, white balance means: A setting that corrects for the color of the light so that white objects look white, not too orange under bulbs or too blue in the shade.

In Turkish: beyaz ayarı, beyaz dengesi

How it is used

Abbreviated WB. You set it to auto, choose a preset such as daylight or tungsten, or enter a value in kelvin (daylight is roughly 5500 K). With RAW files you can fix the white balance later. Photographers say a photo is too warm or too cool.

Example sentences

  1. The skin tones look orange. Did you leave the white balance on daylight indoors?

  2. I set a custom white balance with a gray card before the product shoot.

Common collocations

  • auto white balance
  • custom white balance
  • set the white balance
  • correct the white balance
  • RAWAn image file that keeps almost all the data recorded by the sensor, without the camera's processing. It must be edited and converted before sharing.
  • color gradingAdjusting the colors and tones of photos to create a particular mood or style, for example warm highlights with cool shadows.
  • natural lightLight that comes from the sun or the sky, including light through a window, rather than from flashes or lamps.
  • editTo improve photos after the shoot by adjusting things like exposure, color and cropping, and to choose which images to keep.

More terms: Camera Parts & Settings

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