Different images with different color-temperatures evoke different moods. While an image of a scarlet or tangerine sunset can make you feel warm and fuzzy, an image of the sullen twilight can calm you with its hushedness.

Today’s Toecabulary will bring you more images that illustrate ‘white balance’, which sets the mood of an image. Watch out this space for more!

When the colour-temperature is high, you will be able to bring this cloudy, orange or amber warmth to an image. This image of an elephant charging in the forests of Kabini is rendered warm with the white balance of more than 6500K.

With colour-temperatures much lower than 5000K, images with cool blues can be made. This African lion was thus captured in the gloaming hour in Kenya.

Based on the mood you want to set to a scene unraveling before your eyes, you can choose the white-balance presets in your camera or adjust the colour-temperature manually. And if you are shooting in raw, you can also change the white balance during post-processing.

Here is a silhouetted image of a giraffe rendered in warm and cool colors. Let us know what color-temperature you would choose if you were to make this image? Leave a comment below!

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