How To Set White Balance For Fall Colors

Setting White Balance For Fall Colors. These photos, captured in Branch Brook Park, Newark, New Jersey shows a sample of the beautiful fall foliage adorning this park come autumn. Often, aspiring photographers find that the colors they capture when shooting outdoor scenes like this are dull and washed out. One of the most important techniques used to insure that colors are bright and accurately captured is to manually set custom camera White Balance controls.

White balance is the method used by your camera to adjust for the color temperature of the light that illuminates your subject. Visit this website (kenrockwell.com) for a good explanation of White Balance. This can be done with DSLR and better point-and-shoot digital cameras. Here is the technique I use to set accurate White Balance to obtain the most pleasing color:

I use a piece of plain bright white paper that is large enough to create a solid white image when held about 3-5 inches fom the lens. A standard 8.5×11 letter size is perfect. Generally, white paper intended for use in inkjet printers has the neutral white surface (no tint) needed for obtaining an accurate white balance.

Find a location in your setting where the brightest light is. Generally, in an outdoor setting you want to measure the light where it is strongest. Hold your white paper so that the sunlight is reflecting on its surface. Take a picture of the white paper, making sure that it fills the frame without your finger or other colored items being seen. You may need to turn off your cameras autofocusing for this one image. It does not matter if the image is blurry, you are only concerned about capturing light, not the details of the paper. Be sure to turn your autofocus back on after taking the image. Next, follow your camera’s instruction for using that image for a Custom White Balance.

Take a new white balance at least once an hour or so to insure that it remains accurate. This will help you to capture the vivid colors in both the foilage and sky accurately.

Camera used for these photos: Canon 10D, Tokina 19-35mm lens, custom white balance, polarizer and tripod.