Quick Tip: Do your pictures have the Noon-time blues? Try using the cloudy white balance

High Noon is regarded as the worst time of day to shoot.  The high position of the sun produces deep shadows on subjects and the color of the light gives images a pale blue look.

Unfortunately, we don't always get to choose the time of day that events happen, so we're forced to find a solution to these problems.

The image below was shot when the sun was in a Noon-time position.  Using the daylight white balance setting, it produced color with a blue cast.  The auto white balance setting produces similar results.

By setting the camera to use the cloudy white balance setting, the camera adds a little warmth to the picture, and the color becomes more pleasing, as seen in the edited version of the image below.

Your tastes may differ from mine, and you may wish to add or remove some of the warming effect.  The amount of warmth can be changed by using white balance trims, if your camera has them.

If you're shooting film or don't have manual white balance settings and white balance trims, the same effect can be achieved by using a warming filter such as an 81a, 81b or 81c.  When using these filters, the amount of warmth is controlled by filter selection, with the 81a producing the least amount of warmth and the 81c producing the most.