…but I am here to help you sort it out.
I hear a lot of beginning (and some advanced) students who confuse white balance with exposure.
This confusion is not surprising, since both have something to do with “this picture of a white wall, say, is not white enough”, and they both occur together very often.
So here’s the summary:
- White balance is about the colour (it ought to perhaps be called “colour balance”).
- Exposure is about the brightness.
So ask yourself what you mean when you say “that white surface is not white enough”!
- If it looks too yellow, say, then it is white balance you need to adjust (the WB setting on your camera).
- If it looks too dark, it is exposure (the +/- setting, “exposure compensation”).
And of course since they occur together,you may well have to do both. Get the colour right first, then the exposure.
Confusion lessened?
