Because cameras do not have a perfect ability to adjust for the overall color of a scene, most have a button to help make the adjustment.

Here’s how to use the white balance button: First, find something white in the scene (a shirt, a piece of paper, whatever). Zoom in until this white thing fills up at least 20 percent of the viewfinder. Then, push the white balance button. On most camera, you hold the button down until a light stops flashing--typically about 3 seconds or so. What you are doing is telling the camcorder "This is white!" Once the camcorder understands white, it can get all the other colors correct.

Professional video camera operators take a white piece of cardboard along wherever they go, so they always have something to white balance with. A friend of mine who shoots videos for the Green Bay Packers once forgot his "white card." This was a real problem because EVERYTHING in the Packer’s stadium is green or gold.