An Experiment with White Balance

I probably take more photographs in tungsten light and at high ISO (1600) than in any other conditions.  I assumed that shooting RAWs I didn't need to bother with the white balance because what I got off the sensor was unmediated.  Not true!

Here's a picture of me under tungsten light, ISO 1600, taken with White Balance set to Auto on my Canon 1000D.  No explicit changes were made as the image was tramped through Adobe Camera Raw and Photoshop Elements.

And now, with White Balance set to Tungsten (3200K), again with no explicit processing:

Of course, White Balance can be adjusted in ACR, but when doing this the apparent brightness is reduced and exposure has to be increased to compensate.  This results in an increase in noise, already a problem at high ISO.

The lesson learned is to not to trust Auto White Balance on the camera, but be in control of it.
And perhaps to change out of my pyjamas before conducting tests!