Colour Temperature and White Balance
Written by Abin Alex and Anu Joseph.
Abstract
Light has its own colour, and colour temperature, measured in kelvin, describes it: low kelvin light is orange and high kelvin light is blue. White balance tells the camera what colour the light is so that white objects look white. This guide explains why pictures look orange or blue, the white balance presets, custom white balance, mixed light and creative white balance, and how cinematographers handle colour temperature. It is written for photographers and cinematographers.
Keywords: white balance; colour temperature; kelvin; colour cast; custom white balance
Why do my photos look orange or blue?
Short answer. The light that falls on a scene has its own colour. Your eye and brain correct for it, but a camera does not unless it is told what the light is.
- We see an object because light reflects from it. Sunlight, tungsten bulbs, fluorescent tubes, LEDs and flash each give light of a different colour.
- A sheet of white paper looks yellow under a tungsten bulb and blue under a blue LED, but we still read it as white. The brain adapts to the light (Hunt and Pointer, 2011).
- A camera records the light as it is. Pictures indoors under bulbs often look very orange.
- The fix is white balance: telling the camera the colour of the light so that white things are recorded as white.
- A colour cast is not always a mistake. A warm cast at sunset is part of the mood.
A photograph of a family indoors under a yellow bulb looks orange on the camera. Set the white balance to tungsten or correct it from RAW, and the faces look natural again.
On a set the light is chosen on purpose. The cinematographer decides if a scene should look warm or cool and sets the camera to match or to push that look.
Cham tipWhen a picture looks too orange or too blue, ask first which light was on the subject.
Cham taskPhotograph a sheet of white paper under three lamps in your home. Note the colour of the paper in each.
Check yourself: Why does an indoor picture look orange?
The tungsten light is orange and the camera records it unless white balance is set.
What is colour temperature?
Short answer. Colour temperature describes the colour of a light by the temperature, in kelvin, of an ideal glowing object that gives the same colour. Low numbers are orange and high numbers are blue (Hunt and Pointer, 2011).
- The idea comes from heating an object. At low temperatures it glows red and orange, and as it gets hotter it turns yellow, white and then blue-white (Hunt and Pointer, 2011).
- The unit is the kelvin (K), named after Lord Kelvin. Light of 3200 K is warm and orange. Light of 6500 K is cool and blue.
- This is the opposite of the everyday words. A warm, orange light has a low kelvin number.
- Daylight changes through the day and with the weather. Sunrise and sunset are warm, midday is near white, and an overcast sky or open shade is cooler.
- The mired is a second scale: mired equals one million divided by kelvin. A filter always shifts the same number of mireds, however warm or cool the light.
| Light source | Approximate kelvin |
|---|---|
| Candle flame | 1800 to 2000 |
| Household tungsten bulb | 2700 to 3000 |
| Studio tungsten lamp | 3200 |
| Sunrise or sunset | 2500 to 4000 |
| Electronic flash | 5000 to 6000 |
| Midday sun with a clear sky | 5000 to 6500 |
| Overcast sky | 6500 to 7500 |
| Open shade | 7000 to 10000 |
Table 1. Rounded colour temperatures. Real values vary with the lamp, the sky and the time of day. Fluorescent tubes and LEDs come in many types, so check them with a meter or a test shot.
Open shade on a clear day is bluer than direct sun. A portrait in shade looks cooler, so many photographers warm it with a Shade or Cloudy setting.
Tungsten film lamps are balanced to 3200 K and daylight film to 5500 K. Cameras let the operator type a kelvin value directly.
Cham tipLow kelvin is a warm light. High kelvin is a cool light. Say it aloud until it feels natural.
Cham taskLook at four light sources in your home and guess which has the highest kelvin.
Check yourself: Does a higher kelvin number mean a warmer or a cooler light?
A cooler, bluer light.
What is white balance?
Short answer. White balance removes the colour cast of the light so that things that are white in life are white in the picture.
- The camera adjusts the strength of its red, green and blue channels so that a neutral object comes out neutral.
- Auto white balance (AWB) lets the camera guess the light. It often works well outdoors and can fail in mixed or coloured light.
- When you set a kelvin value on the camera, you tell it the colour of the light. Setting a higher number makes the picture warmer, because the camera adds more orange to balance what it assumes is bluer light.
- White balance has two axes. The first runs from blue to amber, which is the colour temperature. The second runs from green to magenta, often called tint.
- In RAW files the white balance can be changed later with little or no loss. In JPEG files it is built into the picture.
- In Lightroom, Temp moves the picture from blue to yellow and Tint from green to magenta. Click the eyedropper on something neutral to remove a cast.
If you shoot RAW you can fix a wrong white balance in editing. If you shoot JPEG, set it correctly in the camera because the colour is baked in.
Cinema cameras record a chosen white balance as metadata with the footage, or bake it in. A DIT checks it against a chart on the first shot.
Cham tipShoot RAW when the light is hard to judge. Then white balance is a choice you can make later.
Cham taskShoot one scene on Auto and on Daylight. Compare the two.
Check yourself: What do the two white balance axes control?
Blue to amber (colour temperature) and green to magenta (tint).
What do the white balance presets do?
Short answer. Presets are shortcuts for common lights. Each one adjusts the picture to cancel the cast of that light. Names and values vary by maker, so check your manual.
- Daylight is for direct sun. Many cameras set it near 5200 to 5500 K.
- Cloudy warms the picture a little more than Daylight, to cancel the cool light of an overcast sky.
- Shade warms it more than Cloudy, because open shade is bluer still.
- Tungsten, shown as a bulb icon, cools the picture to cancel the orange of bulbs. Used under daylight, it makes the picture very blue.
- Fluorescent warms the picture and removes a green cast.
- Flash gives a slight warm shift, to balance the cool light of a flash tube. Custom or Preset uses a measured reference, and Kelvin lets you type a value.
| Preset | Use it for | Effect on the picture |
|---|---|---|
| Auto | Simple or changing light | The camera guesses |
| Daylight | Direct sun | Neutral in sun |
| Cloudy | Overcast sky | Warms the picture |
| Shade | Open shade, sunsets | Warms it more |
| Tungsten | Bulbs indoors | Cools the picture |
| Fluorescent | Tube lights | Warms and reduces green |
| Flash | Electronic flash | Slightly warms the picture |
| Custom or Preset | Any light, with a grey card | Matches that light |
Table 2. Common white balance presets and what they do.
Shoot a landscape at sunset with Cloudy or Daylight. Auto removes much of the warmth and makes the sky look flat.
A cinematographer usually does not use presets. The white balance is set to a number in kelvin and kept the same through a scene.
Cham tipFor a warm sunset keep the camera on Daylight. Auto balances away the colour you came for.
Cham taskShoot one scene on every preset and compare the histograms and colours.
Check yourself: Why shoot a sunset on Daylight and not Auto?
Auto removes the warm colour of the light.
How do I set a custom white balance?
Short answer. Photograph a neutral reference in the light you will shoot in, then tell the camera to use that picture. A grey card, a white card or an ExpoDisc all work.
- Fill the frame with the grey card in the same light as your subject. Focus does not matter for this shot.
- In the menu choose the custom white balance option and select the picture of the card. Then set white balance to Custom.
- On some cameras you hold the white balance button until the display flashes, or use a Preset and Measure option. Follow your manual.
- An ExpoDisc goes on the front of the lens and measures the light that falls on the scene.
- A colour checker target holds many patches. Software can build a camera profile from a shot of it (X-Rite, n.d.).
- White balance shift, with A and B for amber and blue and G and M for green and magenta, lets you fine-tune a preset.
At an indoor event with mixed lights, take a grey card shot once in each area. In RAW you can then copy the white balance from the card to the other pictures.
A DIT or camera assistant shoots a grey card or chart at the start of a set-up. The colourist uses it to match shots later.
Cham tipLight changes. Reset the custom white balance when the light changes.
Cham taskMake a custom white balance with a grey card indoors. Shoot the same scene on Auto and compare.
Check yourself: What do you photograph to set a custom white balance?
A neutral reference such as a grey card, in the light you will use.
What about mixed light and creative white balance?
Short answer. When two lights of different colours fall on a scene, one balance cannot fix both. Choose which light matters most, or change one of the lights.
- A room with a window and a tungsten lamp has two colours of light. Balance for the light on the face.
- You can change a light with a gel. A CTO gel warms a cool light to match tungsten. A CTB gel cools a warm light to match daylight.
- Or accept the difference. A warm lamp inside against a blue window can make a pleasing picture.
- White balance can also be a creative choice. A cooler value gives a warmer picture. A warmer value gives a cooler, bluer picture.
- Fluorescent and LED lights often give a green or magenta cast. Use the tint control to correct it.
A portrait by a window with a lamp behind the person is two colours. Balance for the face and let the lamp glow warm.
A gaffer puts CTB over a tungsten lamp, or CTO over a daylight lamp, so the lights match before the camera is set.
Cham tipMatch the lights first, then set the white balance. It is easier than fixing it afterwards.
Cham taskPhotograph one face by a window with a lamp on. Balance for the face, then for the window.
Check yourself: What does a CTO gel do?
It warms a cool light, such as daylight, to match tungsten.
How do cinematographers handle colour temperature?
Short answer. Cinema lights are chosen in two standard balances, tungsten at 3200 K and daylight at about 5600 K. The camera is set to match, and the setting is kept steady through a scene.
- Tungsten film is balanced to 3200 K. Outdoors in daylight a filter, the 85, is used, and the film is rated at a lower speed (Eastman Kodak Company, 2015).
- Today the white balance is a number set on the camera. Keep it the same across a scene so the shots cut together.
- Daylight lamps such as HMI and many LED lights are balanced near 5600 K. Tungsten lamps are 3200 K.
- Many LED lights let the gaffer set the kelvin and the green or magenta tint directly.
- Shoot a grey card or chart at the start. The colourist matches every shot to it.
If you also shoot video, learn to set the kelvin by hand. Fixing a changing Auto setting in editing is slow.
A DOP picks the colour temperature of the key light and the fill on purpose. A cool moonlight and a warm lamp can sit in one frame as part of the story.
Cham tipSet the white balance by hand for video and leave it there.
Cham taskRecord two clips of one scene, one on Auto and one fixed at 5600 K, while the light changes.
Check yourself: What are the two standard balances for film lights?
Tungsten at 3200 K and daylight at about 5600 K.
Questions beginners ask
What is colour temperature?
It describes the colour of a light by the temperature in kelvin of an ideal glowing object that gives the same colour. Low kelvin is orange and high kelvin is blue.
What is white balance in photography?
It is the camera setting that removes the colour cast of the light so that white things look white.
What white balance should I use outdoors?
Daylight in direct sun, Cloudy under an overcast sky and Shade in open shade. Auto also works well in simple outdoor light.
Why does a higher kelvin setting make my picture warmer?
The camera assumes the light is bluer, so it adds orange to balance it.
Should I shoot RAW to fix white balance?
Yes, when the light is hard to judge. RAW lets you change white balance later with little or no loss.
What is a grey card for?
It is a neutral reference. A photograph of it in the scene light sets a custom white balance or a later correction.
References
- Hunt, R.W.G. and Pointer, M.R. (2011) Measuring Colour. 4th edn. Chichester: Wiley.
- Eastman Kodak Company (2015) KODAK VISION3 500T Color Negative Film 5219 / 7219 / SO-219. Publication H-1-5219t. Rochester, NY: Eastman Kodak Company. www.kodak.com/content/products-brochures/Film/VISION3-500T-Color-Negative-Film-7219-TECHNICAL-DATA.pdf (Accessed 31 October 2026).
- X-Rite (n.d.) Creating DNG profiles for Adobe Camera Raw. www.xrite.com/service-support/creating_dng_profiles_for_adobe_camera_raw (Accessed 31 October 2026).
How to cite this guide. Alex, A., & Joseph, A. (2026). Colour temperature and white balance: A guide for photographers and cinematographers. Creative Hut Academy. https://creativehut.org/library/colour-temperature-and-white-balance/
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