Get creative with colour

Take control of colour settings to brighten up autumn and winter days

The first step to getting more creative colours is to begin with an accurate or neutral starting point. The white balance setting is key to this, as it allows you to remove colour casts caused by the camera’s interpretation of different light sources.

The white balance is an image processing setting that the camera applies before the image is saved as a JPEG or HEIF file. If you shoot Raw, then the white balance (WB) info is saved alongside the raw data from the sensor, rather than baked in, so you’re free to tweak or change the WB when you process the Raw file.

As white balance doesn’t apply to Raws, it might be tempting to just leave it set to Auto and correct any errors later. But setting it correctly (or intentionally incorrectly) does give you an accurate preview image on the camera – as well as a histogram that better reflects the end result you’re looking to create, enabling you to optimize the exposure when you shoot.

A lot of the time Auto White Balance gets things near enough bang on, but it can interpret strong colours incorrectly. It may try and cool down the hot tones of autumn, for example, by adding a bit more blue or green. To avoid this, choose a preset that matches the lighting, or set a Custom White Balance.

Setting the WB incorrectly is a useful creative technique. By selecting a preset that adds warmth to a scene shot in daylight (such as Cloudy or Shade) you can enhance autumn colours or sunsets. Choose a white balance that adds more blue (such as Tungsten) if you want to cool down a scene – this can work well with a shot taken at twilight, or a misty landscape.