settings: white balance & iso

What is white balance?

White balance is the process of correcting or removing color casts in a photo so that colors appear true-to-life and accurate. If you don’t correct for white balance incorrectly set, the photos will appear tinted yellow, blue, green, orange. Color temperatures range from cool (blue tint) to warm (orange tint). Using the right white balance setting will eliminate unwanted color casts that can ruin your image and make it appear unnatural.

A scenario would be to take a photo of a food dish in the studio and adjust the white balance in order to get the correct color.

What is ISO in photography ?

ISO simply stands for the International Organization of Standardization, which is the main governing body that standardises sensitivity ratings for camera sensors.

Iso is a setting on the camera that  measures the sensitivity of the camera, this means determine how well exposed a photo will be by changing the sensitivity therefore how bright or dark the image is. For example, the lower the number is, the less sensitive your camera is to light and the finer the grain. A scenario where you would use ISO settings would be in the studio and you will have to use a darker setting such as 800. And another scenario where you would have to use a lighter setting, would be in an outdoor location daylight time such as 100.

The most common ISO camera speed settings are: 100, 200,400 and 800.