How best to white balance for candle light

[Terence Morris]

Curious how members might approach this to achieve a warm looking low-light candle-lit scene. Should I balance accurately in camera then boost the color temp towards daylight in post, or balance for daylight in camera so that the warm orange shift is baked in. Using a C100MkII and candles motivated gently with LED light set to 2700k. Thanks.

[Robert Olding]

I’d bake it in. Candles and incandescent bulbs should look warm to the eye. But I wouldn’t balance for daylight, the warm tones from the candles would probably be too strong. If you trust the on-set monitor, play around with the balance until it looks good to your eye. I suspect it will be somewhere between 3600k and 4500k. This will also give you a bit more latitude for adjusting it in post.

[Terence Morris]

Thank you, Robert. I did a dry run, pretty much as you described by eye. Had the camera WB around 5000k, probably too much and I need to experiment. Thanks for you input.

[Mark Smith]

Candles are much warmer than incandescent light. If you go for a 3200K white balance your candle light should look about right warmth and color