Beginner Photography: White Balance

This week I have been practising changing the white balance when I take my photos.

Most cameras have several settings for white balance.

Auto: the camera figures it out for you.
Tungsten: useful when shooting under light bulbs indoors.
Fluorescent lights: this can come with other sub-options, including Daylight colours, Daylight White and White light. It is useful when shooting under fluorescent lights indoors.
Cloudy: warms things up to daylight.
Flash: for use when you are using your flash, it will warm up your shots.
Shade: will warm up your shot.
Manual: your camera lets you hold up a piece of white paper to show it what white is which gives the colours a better presentation.

It took me a while to figure out how to adjust the white balance on my camera. I would have read the manual....if I could find it!

But I eventually figured it out. On the settings dial, there is a B, which stands for Bulb. Simply set the camera to B (I am sure it is probably different for other cameras though) and then you can use the function menu to select the type of white balance adjustment you want to use.

For this exercise I enlisted the help of my little man.

I am undecided as to which one I like, I am leaning towards the Cloudy which has warmed up the shot.

Do you like a cool shot (blue shades) or a warm shot (orange shades)?

Do you use the white balance options on your camera?