Tempering Chocolate

I've always heard you have to temper chocolate if you're going to melt it for dipping, and I wanted to give it a try. I used the Joy of Cooking method which is a little different from the one described in the link above, but close enough. These came out pretty well: the chocolate is shiny and smooth. I tested a few without tempering, ie just spreading chocolate as soon as it was melted on the cookie. Once both were dry, the untempered chocolate was not as attractive and somewhat sticky to touch.

About the photo: Interesting how changing the white balance has an impact on how the cookie seems to be made. The photo here is taken in "cloudy" mode. The chocolate seems less dark, the cookie more golden, than the photo taken in "automatic white balance" above. And yet today is a cloudy day. I took the photo near the window. I think the "cloudy" setting is really a way to make it seem like the sun is shining when it's not. It definitely gives a warmer hue. (Is hue the right word? I have to learn the difference between hue, color, tone, saturation etc...)