Camera Labs

First I want to say hello and share how much I have learned from the tutorials on here, Gordon does a great job explaing all the details in a way that is very understandable.
I just recieved my canon rebel and I have watched all the videos shared on here...I have not seen or heard any mention of the (white balance) WB button on this camera..what exactly is it for and when do i need to use it?

For a technical explanation of white balance you can read this wiki article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_balance

A less technical explanation of white balance is, settings that will try to correct colours depending upon the ambient lighting. For example a sheet of white paper will look different when lit by a filament light bulb, fluorescent lighting or natural sunlight. So most cameras have white balance settings for these different situations (or an auto setting so you don't have to worry about it).

If you shoot in RAW and not JPEG you have more options to modify the colour temperature (white balance) in post processing.

_________________
Nikon D90
Nikkor AF-S DX; 18-105 f/3.5-5.6G VR, 55-300 f/4.5-5.6G VR, 35mm f/1.8G
Speedlight SB-700

http://keystrokesukimages.com

Welcome Nancy - keystrokeUK has exlained it perfectly!

I'd use Auto WB most of the time, but when the results aren't coming out right or you fancy experimenting, I'd also recommend shooting in RAW, as this lets you choose the WB setting after the event on your computer.

Auto WB is the correct answer for 99% of people I'd say. Personally, unless I'm shooting indoors, I always have mine set to cloudy as I like my images a little warmer.

_________________
Jason

Just a new guy learning his way

Film: Olympus XA2
Digital: Nikon D3100 w/SB-600: , Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G, Tokina 12-24MM F4 Pro II

My Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jkmcdonald/

My Blog: http://jmcdonaldphotography.tumblr.com/

Auto WB is good for most situations, but it gets fooled it there is a lot of green in a scene, like a sunny day outside. You should set the white balance to daylight in those situations. Also in many indoor situations the auto WB makes the images too warm, but I haven't found much help in the presets here. I shoot RAW so I just correct it in PP anyway

_________________
Canon DSLRs: 5D Mark III, 7D
Canon lenses: 17-40/4L, 24-105/4L, 24/1.4L II, 50/1.4, 85/1.8, 100/2.8L Macro, 70-200/2.8L IS, 100-400L
Other stuff: Canon 580 EX II, Canon 430EX II, Velbon Sherpa 600R
Apple: MacBook Pro 15", iMac 27", iPad III, iPhone 4S, Apple TV

My deviantART