Night photography tip: Choose the right white balance

Thursday 9 December 2021, 20:10 by Nando Harmsen | 5,115 views | 0 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

White balance is very important for a photo. Simply choosing auto white balance for night photography is no guarantee of the right colour temperature.

Anyone who shoots in raw can always adjust it afterwards. Even so, it can be very useful to set the white balance as accurately as possible on location for night photography, even if you can adjust it afterwards.

The right white balance is important if you shoot in JPEG format. Adjusting the white balance afterwards will often lead to a loss in image quality. This is one reason why raw format is so useful. The white balance of those images can be adjusted afterwards without any penalty.

As well as the fixed white balance settings, you can set the colour temperature very precisely on many cameras.
I always recommend setting a fixed white balance, especially for night photography. This ensures that all your images have a consistent colour temperature. Auto white balance will choose a different value for each photo.

For the JPEG photographer, this makes sense, but why should the raw photographer do this too? After all, they can adjust everything afterwards. The reason is simple. You can then judge the result on your screen much better after taking the photo, in terms of sharpness, exposure and composition. With an unusual colour, this is much more difficult.

An incorrect white balance makes it much harder to judge the quality and sharpness on the camera's screen.
Give it a try. It will be much more pleasant to see and assess the result on the screen while you are still on location. In principle, auto white balance could work too, but then you are dependent on the camera's judgement, and that is not always correct. It will also be different for every photo.

Decide for yourself whether you like working this way. It is never compulsory, but simply a way of working. If you try it and do not like it, you can always go back to your own familiar way of setting the white balance.

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