Ken Rockwell says "It's not hard, just use what looks good"[1], but to a colorblind photographer such as myself, that's not as easy as it sounds! I do all my W

Ken Rockwell says "It's not hard, just use what looks good"[1], but to a colorblind photographer such as myself, that's not as easy as it sounds! I do all my WB in post production. For this reason, it helps a lot to have a calibrated monitor and to shoot in the RAW format (WB isn't 'baked in' to the image, unlike JPEG, so you have far more control). It also helps to have a reference point in your image. Either someone wearing a white article of clothing, or you can use a grey card held up in an extra shot. White balance is used to correct the overall color in the photo such that color cast is removed so that neutral tones (white/grey/black) from the scene (or at least the focal point) appear to be neutral in the image. This increases the contrast between colors in the image--which can reveal details that couldn't be seen--and also makes the photo appear more realistic. [1] http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/changewhitebalance.htm http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/changewhitebalance.htm