White balance adjusts the color temperature of our photos. If we shoot with our mobile, it is very important to adjust it as precisely as possible to have the highest quality. So let’s learn how to do it with our mobile phone.
The goal is to compensate for color casts, that is, to control whether our photo comes out warm or cold (or green). It is not more than a setting to try to adjust the color of the lightits temperature, through a simple calculation of the camera processor or the development engine of our application or program.
Something so apparently simple can greatly worsen the technical quality of our photography. It is so important that it influences the exposure. AND can mean the difference between a perfect photograph and a burnt image. For this reason it is essential that we adjust it as precisely as possible.
How white balance works
White balance is a direct translation of white balance and it is not correct. Balance comes from French and is the movement of a body to one side and to the other. So we should try to use white balance, much more accurate and easy to understand.
The camera sensor captures the brightness of the image. The light passes through the Bayer matrix (RGBG), in such a way that each pixel only reaches the luminosity of one color: red, green or blue. Remember that there are twice as many greens as either of the other two colors.
If we looked at the original RAW it would be gray-green. So there is to interpret the color, and in the camera this work is done (to see the image on the screen):
- First, each pixel is given a primary color based on its position in the array.
- Then through the demosaicing (color interpolation) information of the other two colors is added.
- To approximate the colors we saw, a white balance is applied that consists of an underexposure or overexposure of at least two of the primary colors.
Light always has a color cast. It is measured in Kelvin units. In any camera we can choose any white balance to accurately capture the color temperature of the light that is present at that moment. The midpoint is the light of a clear day in the central hours, the famous white light (5000-5500 K).
How the color changes, of course, and the exposure when adjusting the white balance
From there we have the cold lights -below 5000 K- and the warm lights -above- in nature… If we go into artificial light we can see dominants of all kinds, from green to magenta. When taking a picture we have three options in our camera:
- Adjust the AWB (Automatic White Balance) and forget about it.
- Choose an option that fits the light of our photography.
- Adjust it manually.
The different white balance options in Adobe Lightroom
And all this as long as our application allows us to adjust the white balance. In my case I always use Adobe Lightroom camera in Pro mode.
The best of all is that if we use the histogram we can see on the left side which is the dominant color… The color that stands out will give us the solution.
Adjust the white balance on our mobile
The problem, from a technical point of view, is to do the white balance once the photograph is taken, especially if we work with jpeg or HEIC files. The image quality, so fair in many mobile phones, can be compromised.
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Therefore it is best to adjust the white balance before taking the picture. It is the only way to get all the quality that our mobile phone can give us.
The center jpeg image with extreme white balance correction. Loss of information, color and detail is noticeable
If we want we can do it as usual, but I imagine that you have not come this far to reach this conclusion. In addition, everything gets complicated when we are indoors or the lighting is out of the norm.
Corrected jpeg photo vs. corrected DNG. Color is lost and light is overexposed
But if you want more quality, the best advice we can give is buy a gray card and adjust the white balance with it:
- We select White Balance>tailored.
- We place the gray chart so that it covers the entire selected surface. It is important that the light is uniform.
- We validate the setting.
- We take the final photo.
If we shoot in RAW we could save all these steps. But some mobiles still do not allow it, or the light is so low that it is not recommended. But if you want to get close to perfection, there is no other choice but to work as we have described. In the end it depends, as always, on our needs and objectives.
