Let us change white balance using WARMTH function on Instagram.
It’s easy. If you move the slider, the white becomes reddish or bluish.
If you move the slider towards the positive direction, white becomes reddish.
If you move the slider towards the negative direction, white becomes bluish.
This is the result.
It is easy to change white in your photo.
But, why does the white change to reddish or bluish one? Before fine-tuning white balance with a real photo, let us explain it and talk about Color Temperature.
Color Temperature
It represents the color of light. The unit is Kelvin(K). It corresponds to the temperature of a burning material.
Please see the chart below. For example, 1000K is the color temperature of reddish light. 9000K is the color temperature of the water blue light.
When a material burns, it emits light with color. The color varies because of the temperature of the burning material. As the temperature goes high, the color changes from red to yellow, white and blue in that order.
You might have seen such words when you purchased lighting fixtures.
Do you think the color of clouds changes in the different ranges of color temperature ?
The color temperature is used for white balance. Usually, we can change the white between the range of 1000K (Reddish white) and 11000K (Bluish white).
You do not need to think about it. WARMTH function does it well in the background. You just fine-tune white white moving the slider of WARMTH.
How to fine tune White Balance
If white in your photo is:
- Bluish, move the slider towards the reddish direction.
- Reddish or yellowish, move the slider towards the bluish direction.
This is an example. This photo is too yellowish. ( If you like such a golden colored photo, you do not need to do it.) In this case, as I explained, I will move the slider towards the bluish direction.
The photo did not change as I expected. So I used WARMTH function installed in iPhone. So it changed the white a lot.
Please compare the performance of WARMTH function between Instagram and iPhone.
iPhone, Android smartphone and other gadgets usually have WARMTH function. ( Or WHITE BALANCE or COLOR TEMPERATURE functions. The name is different but the behavior is the same. ) The performance is a bit different. Please try to find a good one.
This is another example. The photo is a bit bluish. So I adjusted white balance towards reddish one. The left side is the one I fine-tuned white balance. The right one is the original shot by DSLR.
This is another example.
It’s very simple. You just move the slider. Once you learned about White Balance, you can understand the meaning of white balance well. It can save your time to improve your photo more.
You can change the white your favorite one. I explained a conventional way. Now, you learned basics. Please make your photo your favorite one!
