A method and apparatus for estimating a light source in an image obtained by an image device are provided. The light source estimating apparatus includes: a brightness-color correlation calculator which calculates brightness-color correlation data from an image of an object generated from at least one image frame; a color balance calculator which calculates a color balance of an entire region of the image and a color balance of a neutral gray region of the image having an average color of gray; a characteristic data generating unit which generates characteristic data of the image based on the brightness-color correlation data, the color balance of the entire region and the color balance of the neutral gray region; and an identifier which determines a type of a light source in the image, based on the characteristic data of the image.