Is it the light, or is it a camera setting?

[maggie922]

I've noticed that a lot of my outdoor shots have a bluish cast to them that I find myself having to fix in post. I have provided sample images below (a before-and-after) of a random snapshot of my idiot dog.

Before:


After:


It was taken in the late afternoon, and if the trees (and a giant hill behind them) weren't in the way, I would have been staring right into the sun. There was plenty of ambient light and, the aperture was wide open (though I know this doesn't affect the temperature of the light). Is the cool light temperature because the sunlight is being filtered through the trees, or because of the Auto White Balance (I have other photos with other WB settings that still show a blue cast)? Or, does my camera (Sony Cybershot DSC-H1) just shoot cool? This is my first step away from Fujifilm cameras, which I've always felt reproduced color very well.

Any suggestions would be welcome!

[autofocus]

Try setting your white balance to cloudy or even shade and see what your results look like. Midday light or bright overcast light is pretty cool on the Kelvin scale, but late afternoon should be warmer.

[OsmosisStudios]

Definitely a white balance issue. Light in the shade has a distinct blue hue, where as light out in direct sunlight is very yellow. Our eyes and brains do this shift automatically, but the camera has to adjust itself. It's not always perfect.

[RecurrentNerve]

Shoot RAW, problem solved.

[autofocus]

Originally Posted by RecurrentNerve

Shoot RAW, problem solved.

RAW is not supported in this P&S Camera

[Vagebond]

Originally Posted by RecurrentNerve

Shoot RAW, problem solved.

BS, why? The colour corrected in post looks good to me.

[maggie922]

Thanks for the input, guys!

Yes, shooting RAW is not an option with this camera (though I do have a P&S camera that does), but even if I could, I probably wouldn't -- I don't have a big memory card for this camera (it takes an original memory stick) and RAW would eat up what memory I do have very quickly. Besides, based on my admittedly limited experience with RAW, I'm not sure that would solve anything. I have been monkeying around with manual WB with varying results, and I think that with practice, I'll come up with something I won't have to play with too much. And that's really the fun of it, isn't it?