Colour Temperature and White Balance

Colour temperature is crucial in filmmaking and photography. It will determine whether something white is recorded by the camera as white. The cooler the light source, the more orange the light becomes. This is why candles are very orange. The hotter the light source the bluer the light becomes such as an overcast day. The scale below will help you see where certain light sources fall.

As you can see colour temperature is measured in Degrees Kelvin, so when we refer to a colour temperature we usually add a 'k' to the end of the number, i.e 3200k or 5600k, sometimes this is shortened to 32k or 56k. Most cameras will have white balance presets build in. These are usually 5600k and 3200k which is roughly for outdoor and indoor filming.

To get the optimum looking image it is always best to manually white balance the camera. This can be done by holding a white piece of plain paper or card in front of the camera so it fills the frame, but making sure it is reflecting the light source you are shooting under. Correctly expose the paper or card and press the manual white balance button. This will then allow the camera to pick the best setting for the current lighting (check your cameras user manual if you're unsure).


Mixed Lighting

If you are shooting in a location with both daylight and tungsten fixtures then you will need to correct one of the sources so that they match. Unless you are using the colour difference for creative reasons. i.e. a warmer backlight to enhance the colour of a characters hair.