What is colour temperature and white balance?
Every light source whether sunlight, flash, incandescent, fluorescent or tungsten halogen lamps has a ‘colour temperature’ which describes its overall colour within the spectrum. Although some lighting may appear to be white, when photographed the camera may record a yellowish, reddish or bluish cast to the light. This affects how ‘true’ the colour appears in the finished image and explains why colour reproduction of paintings and fabrics is often very approximate. Colour temperature is measured in °K degrees kelvin. Although we can compensate for this by manipulating the image with photo editing software, it is often much easier to understand the colour temperature of the lighting being used and adjust the digital camera white balance to suit. Household lighting and halogen is yellow, while daylight fluorescent is whiter. You can adjust modern digital cameras to take account of the bulbs you use so that the photos do not appear yellowish and colour reproduction is more accurate. 2700°
