Digital Camera World - UK (2022-02)

94 DIGITAL CAMERA^ FEBRUARY 2022 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com

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Photo Answers

Snow temperature

Q

Which white balance

setting should

I use while I am

photographing snow?

Carol Lemon

A

Snow is a wonderful subject,

but it’s impossible to suggest

one specific white balance

setting you need for it. The

conditions are going to vary a lot, and

it very much depends on what kind

of look you want for your shot.

Typically, I’ll use Daylight WB, although

this often gives a bluer hue to the shadows

than some people might like. As cold

is associated with the blue end of the

colour spectrum, this does feel more

appropriate. But if you want to lose some

of the blueness, then go for a Cloudy WB

setting to warm it up slightly – but make

sure that it doesn’t look unnatural.

The important thing with snow is to shoot

raw, as this gives you the option to tweak

both the white balance and the exposure

afterwards, just in case you get either

slightly wrong at the taking stage. Changing

the white balance in post-processing is easy.

In fact, as a quick fix, just selecting Auto WB

will often warm up the scene sufficiently.

Failing that, manually move the slider to

get the look you want. I find that generally

the white balance that looks right falls

somewhere between 5,500 and 7,500

Kelvin, but there will be times when going

lower than 5,500K works, because it

accentuates the sense of cold as the image

gets bluer. Equally, you might want to go

even warmer with your white balance when

you have evening or morning light falling

on the snow. It’s all about the temperature

that gives your image the mood you want

and looks natural for the conditions.

Andrew

James

Andrew is a highly

experienced writer

and photographer –

if you have a problem,

he is here to help.

Andrew James

AWB

Cloudy White Balance Auto White Balance Daylight White Balance

Try choosing the Daylight White Balance

setting in your camera to get an

appropriately chilly colour palette.