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Photography Question 
Jane C. Youngberg

Please Explain the Kelvin settings.

When I set my white balance Kelvin setting to a high number, the image produced has the orange/warm color effect although the high numbers are considered cool. And then a low Kelvin setting creates a blue/cool looking image but the low numbers are warm. I don't get it ... does it do the reverse then? I need a physics lesson I guess.

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5/26/2011 1:51:34 PM

Gregory LaGrange
BetterPhoto Member Since: 11/11/2003
  Color temperature in Kelvin comes from when you heat a black body, or sometimes it's called a mantle, to a high enough range of degrees, it gives off light ... or glows from the heat and emits electromagnetic radiation. And light is electromagnetic radiation that's visible.
So you heat a mantle to around 3500K, it glows red-orange. Heat it to around 6000K, it's bluish.
If you can set the color temp on your camera, you match it to what the color temp of the light you're shooting in is. Overcast days, shade, fluorescent light has a blue to green tint. Regular daylight is close to 5200K. So you if shoot with it set to daylight, or with the color temp set to 5200K, your pictures get the green or blue tint to it.
So setting the color temp higher actually adds the orange-red color that's missing from the fluorescent light. Set the color temp lower, it's adding the green or blue color that's missing from incandescent light.
Got it?

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5/26/2011 4:12:21 PM

Jane C. Youngberg   I got it. Thank you. I like to play around with the true light and distort it so its helpful to understand how that's happening. Thanks again!

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5/26/2011 4:24:42 PM

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