Color temperature sounds like a difficult to grasp, science-based, complicated theorem. While color theory and temperature and how your camera interprets them is a complex subject, the basics of color temperature are not that difficult to grasp and you only need to know a bit of it to make better pics.
The colors of the rainbow are helpful when explaining the theory behind color temperature. On one end of the rainbow is red and orange, like a warm sunset or sunrise. This is the lower end of the color spectrum seen in the chart above going to around 3,200K. Then you have orange and yellow which is what most indoor lighting is temperature wise. Incandescent bulbs are mostly 3,200K. After that you get towards your blues. Outside in the day time the light can vary wildly, but as an average you are usually around 5,600K. On those bright blue days the color can get into the deep blue section and be anywhere up to 10,000K or above.
Cameras see differently from our eyes. Our eyes are great at adapting to different colored lighting. Cameras, on the other hand, need to be told what temperature light they are looking at in order to determine how to map the colors of the images they capture. White balancing your camera is mostly used to try to accurately capture the true look of the colors from a scene. Your camera uses very sophisticated software to try to figure it out using the auto white balance setting, and while it may get it bang on a lot of the time, it can get confused. Some of the situations I find that the auto white balance doesn’t do the colors I’m seeing justice is in forests, when there is a lot of white, such as a snowy field, and during sunsets and sunrises. It is during these times as well as in controlled environments that you may find setting the white balance yourself will yield much more accurate colors.
Another use for setting your camera’s color temperature yourself is to get creative. Sometimes warming up a photo, like I have done below adds a nice pop to the image. The original image on the left had a color temperature of 7,800K. While this was a relatively accurate depiction of the colors as they were, I felt the colors were a little bit flat. As I shoot all my images in RAW I was able to change the color temperature without degrading the image. This is one of the great benefits of shooting in the RAW format. I increased the temperature to 10,000K and warmed the colors which make the tone of the image more pleasing.
There are several tools that you can use to help you get accurate color in camera. Below are a couple tools that will help you get the color you are seeing to match the images you are capturing.
The ExpoImaging ExpoDisc 2.0 comes in a few sizes for different sized lenses and will help you quickly set your white balance. You place the ExpoDisc on the front of your lens, then take a picture to use as a custom white balance. For multiple lenses it is best to get the biggest size you need. The larger sizes can be used with smaller lenses, but the opposite doesn’t work well.
This is a great tool for use either in a studio or when you are on the go. This target allows for accurate metering as well as white balance. You fill the screen with it, take a picture and set a custom white balance. This works well when the lighting will remain consistent. It also folds down to much more portable size.
