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With most digital cameras I've had the opportunity to shoot with -- and that's a lot of cameras -- I've been very impressed with the ability of the camera to render accurate color from the scene. Part of this has to do with the internal processing of the image, while a large part of it is a matter of the camera accurately determining (and compensating for) the color temperature of the lighting under which the picture is taken.

However, there are certainly situations where the image as the camera created it is a bit off in terms of color balance, or where the color is accurate but not exactly what you envisioned for the scene. In those situations, you'll need to adjust the color balance of the image to obtain the best colors possible.

In a general sense, bad color balance is present in any image where the color just looks "wrong". More specifically, it is often exhibited as a color cast over the image, where everything in the image has a particular color influence. Think of a color cast as a translucent sheet of colored plastic placed over the top of your image. This gives you an idea of the effect of incorrect color balance, in that the entire image is influenced by that color.

Correcting such a color cast can be accomplished quite easily with a Color Balance adjustment. With this adjustment, you are able to fine-tune the balance of colors along the three axes representing the primary colors. One axis adjusts the balance between red and cyan, another between green and magenta, and the third between blue and yellow. By adjusting the sliders, you can shift the color balance in the image to compensate for the color cast within the image, resulting in colors that are more true to life.

For example, if your image has a strong magenta color cast, you can correct for this by adjusting the balance toward green. The result is that every pixel in the image will be a little more green, which is the same as saying they'll be a little less magenta. As you're learning to adjust color balance, move the slider back and forth to the extremes to get a better sense of how the color shift affects various colors within the image, and to give you a better perspective on where the best color balance will be found.

Once you've found the right adjustment to eliminate the color cast -- which may require that you adjust more than one of the sliders in the Color Balance dialog box -- you should have an image with more accurate color. However, just because the colors are accurate doesn't mean your work is done. When making a color balance adjustment, the focus is often on eliminating a bad color cast. However, once you've neutralized that bad color cast, you may want to think about introducing a good color cast, which may in fact result in colors that are even more realistic than if you had simply removed the bad cast.

For example, the image of sand and pebbles here started with a strong magenta color cast, and that was eliminated by shifting the balance toward green. However, by adjusting the color balance toward yellow, the warm tones of the scene are brought out, and the image becomes more vibrant. It is a subtle difference, but one that results in a much more pleasing image.

Making basic color balance adjustments is rather straightforward, and with a small amount of practice you'll develop a better eye for achieving the most accurate colors possible. Start by trying to correct any color problems that exist in the image, but then consider fine-tuning the color balance to produce an even better image. Don't be afraid to experiment, as you can always click the Cancel button if you feel you've made a mistake. By spending a little more time and really focusing on what effect your adjustments are having, you'll soon feel totally comfortable adjusting your images to achieve perfect color balance every time.

Tim Grey is author of Color Confidence: The Digital Photographer's Guide to Color Management and co-author of Real World Digital Photography 2nd Edition and Photo Finish: The Digital Photographer's Guide to Printing, Showing and Selling Images. He publishes the almost-daily Digital Darkroom Questions (DDQ) e-mail in which he answers questions related to digital imaging. Tim also teaches courses at the Lepp Institute of Digital Imaging (www.leppinstitute.com) and makes appearances at other venues. You can visit his website at www.timgrey.com.

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