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What Is Color Temperature?by Jim Zuckermanauthor of Techniques of Natural Light Photography , Professional Photographer’s Guide to Shooting & Selling Nature & Wildlife Photos , Perfect Exposure: Jim Zuckerman's Secrets to Great Photographs ... and more
Kelvin, like Fahrenheit and Centigrade, is a scale for measuring temperature. Zero degrees Kelvin (this is defined as absolute zero where there is no molecular movement) corresponds to -459.67 degrees Fahrenheit. The relationship between color and Kelvin temperature is derived from heating a "blackbody radiator" (think of this as a piece of black metal) until it glows. The particular color seen at a specific temperature is the color temperature. When the blackbody is hot enough and begins to emit light, it is dull red. As more heat is applied, it glows yellow, and then white, and ultimately blue.
Color Temperature and Photography These numbers are used when purchasing photographic strobe equipment and film. For example, the color of the light emitted by a flash is rated at 5500 degrees; it is designed to imitate noon daylight. If the flash produces light that is 6000 degrees Kelvin, it has a slight bluish tinge. If it is rated at 4800 degrees, it is slightly warmer, or more yellowish, than white light. Similarly, film is manufactured to give you accurate colors indoors with tungsten illumination balanced for 3200 degrees Kelvin. Examples include Fujichrome 64T and Ektachrome 50. Both of these films are designed to be used in the yellow-white light of photofloods that are specifically balanced for 3200 degrees. Household lamps may vary slightly from this color temperature, especially if they are old. If a lamp is emitting light at 2800 degrees, a subject thus illuminated would be slightly yellowish.
Overcast Conditions and Twilight During the middle of the day when a cloud cover has obscured the sun, some of the red and yellow wave lengths of light are absorbed by the minute water droplets of the clouds. The colder end of the spectrum, the bluish wave lengths, pass through unimpeded. This is why daylight film produces scenics and outdoor portraits with a bluish cast even during midday. Sometimes this can be very interesting artistically. If the cool tonality is unappealing to you, place a warming filter, such as an 81A, over the lens. and the color balance will shift back toward a more acceptable value. Twilight appears almost blue-purple on daylight film due to its extremely high Kelvin temperature. When cityscapes are photographed at twilight, the contrast between the lights of buildings and the cobalt blue sky is very dramatic. I actually prefer to shoot city skylines at twilight rather than at night when the sky is black.
Digital technology uses these same traditional concepts but with a new twist. You can simply adjust your white point to change the color balance. For example, if you lower the white point to, say, 3200, you are telling the camera that you want yellowish light to be shown as white noon-type daylight. This means that daylight and flash (5500K) will be bluish, and overcast conditions and shade (about 7500K) will be exceptionally blue. Crossing Films and Light Sources When you shoot a film in lighting conditions that it was not designed for, interesting results await you. Tungsten-balanced films can be used with strobe units or during midday sunlight, but the color balance will shift decidedly toward the blue end of the spectrum. At twilight, the heavy blue shift is even more pronounced. In some situations, this deep, saturated blue can be very beautiful. At sunrise and sunset, when the ambient light is golden yellow, tungsten film brings the color balance back to a more natural, middle-of-the-day look.
A few years ago, I photographed the marble lobby of the opera house in Vienna. I used both daylight and tungsten film to capture the ornate interior, and I thought the daylight film rendition was better. The exaggerated yellow-orange color warmed up the entire lobby and made it more inviting. An understanding of color temperature helps you maintain greater control over your work. The more creative tools you have at your disposal and the greater your ability to pre-visualize the results, the better your photography will be. Notes on the photos (from top to bottom):
About Author / Instructor / Photographer, Jim Zuckerman
In 1970, I decided to abort my intended career as a doctor in favor of photography and have never regretted it. Photography has enriched my life more than I can tell you. My career has taken me to over 60 countries, and I've seen and photographed wondrous things. For 25 years, I shot a medium format camera, specifically the Mamiya RZ 67, for its superior quality. When I would lecture, I’d project the large, glass mounted transparencies, and it was really an incredible experience to see the brilliant color saturation and resolution of these slides. However, I went digital in 2004 because the technology finally equaled or surpassed medium format. I now shoot the Canon 1Ds Mark II digital camera with a variety of lenses. I am the author of 12 books on photography. My work is sold in 30 countries around the world, and my images have appeared on scores of magazine and book covers, calendars, posters, national ads, trade ads, brochures, and corporate promotions. For many years I've led photography tours to exotic places. These include Papua New Guinea, Thailand, Burma, Greece, The Czech Republic and Slovakia, Spain, Morocco, and Peru.
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