Photo Tip #121: Light Photography: The Color of Light

Greetings Fellow Photographers!
Last time I wrote about different ways to use natural light in your photos. Today I will focus on the color of light and how it affects your photography. The human eye is an amazing thing in so many ways, and cameras work so hard to try to replicate it. However, no matter how much money you invest into your fancy new camera, the truth is that it will never equal the versatility of the eye. No matter what color of light nature throws us, the human eye converts it into a seemingly white balance. Of course, extreme color shifts are noticed, but more subtle shifts in color go pretty much unnoticed. For instance, we can be in our living room at night with only light bulbs to light the room and our eye sees that light as white. In reality, the color is very red (warm). We can walk on a beach before dawn and our eyes will once again balance to white, but if you took out your camera and took a picture, the scene would be very blue (cool).

Color Temperature
This all has a very technical explanation, but for the sake of simplicity, just know that the basic color temperature (Kelvin scale) runs from red to white to blue. So what light sources tend to the warm (red) side? Candlelight, tungsten light bulbs, sunrise, and sunset. White? High noon and electronic flash. What about cool (blue) tones? Overcast days, open shade, early morning or evening, and indirect window light. That is the color scale for most light; however, there are artificial light sources that will turn all sorts of funky colors. Vapor lights will glow greenish yellow. Some pulse green and magenta. From a photographer's perspective, all these variables are tricky.

Your camera does have a white balance, similar to the human eye, and sometimes it does a pretty good job. However, if you get into a mixed light situation, you get some pretty bizarre color shifts. For instance, if you were in that room at night with only light bulbs to light the room and then you used your flash, you would see some rich colors. The flash is white, but the light in the background will be very red.

Color and Emotion
So how do you make all this work to your advantage? Color has all kinds of emotional tie ins. Blue tends to trigger a cold or moody feeling, while red and yellow are hot and full of hope. Your job as a photographer is to know how your camera will read those lights and make a decision how you want it to record. You can turn on your White Balance and try to bring it back to white. You can intentionally let that old tired building go blue to give a sense of cold and decay. You can let your portrait session go reddish to play up the heat. Don't ever let your camera make the call for you. Be in control and create your own work of art.

Look Around
As an experiment today, try to really watch the color of light as your day progresses. Pro photographers get very good at reading the subtle nuances. You can too. Notice the warm glow of morning and the white hot quality of high noon. See how blue it looks in the deep shade and watch it creep back to deep blue at twilight. You will be surprised at how good you can get at it. Besides, it's a nice way to look at the world around you. Take the time to notice, and you will be that much better as a photographer.

Digi's Site Tip
Ever had red eye ruin a great photo? Well, don't let that happen again. Use our red eye removal tool to restore people's eyes back to their natural color. In your account, click "My Web Photos," select the image to edit, click the "Edit" button, and choose "Edit/Crop Photo" from the list. This will open the editing tools. Choose the "Red Eye" option from the left and adjust the red eye as needed.

"Hi! I recently joined and love the photo sharing idea. Here are a few pics I took that I entered into the county fair last summer. The sea of tulips was taken at the Sunken Garden at Phillip's Park in Aurora, IL. I liked the depth of field in this shot, almost creating an illusion of an endless sea of flowers. Thanks for letting me share!"
– Jeff

– Jacki

"We were skiing the Matterhorn and had blue bird days! That's not often the case in Zermatt. The view of the Matterhorn was from our hotel balcony, about 5 miles away. The view from the village of Zermatt over the river caught my interest due to the pedestrians strolling along the walkway juxtaposed with the magnificence of the ever present Matterhorn."
– Mike

"Spring Time in Chicago"
– Maggie