Color Temperature is another one of those terms that is used on a daily basis in the photographer's world, but is rarely understood. Whether it is fluorescent or halogen, people want to know the color temperature of their bulbs.
I am not going to be outrageously technical in this post, so if you are looking for an explanation of Planck's law, or Maxell's color triangle... maybe next week. : )
When you are buying photographic lighting, the color temperature of a bulb is almost always rated in Kelvin. Kelvin is a scale of temperature, and thermal energy. The relationship between heat and color is used to explain how these bulbs glow. Typically the Sun at noon is scored at around 5500K. Halogen light is typically around 3000K. Candle Light is a lot "warmer" at 1500K. You will notice that the "warmer" the color is, the smaller the number. This is very important, if you are looking for "cooler" lights with a "cooler" color, make sure the temperature rating is higher! I remember this by thinking that a blue flame is the hottest flame around... The image in this post will show an exaggerated gradient as an example of how this is seen by the eye.
I am not going to be outrageously technical in this post, so if you are looking for an explanation of Planck's law, or Maxell's color triangle... maybe next week. : )
When you are buying photographic lighting, the color temperature of a bulb is almost always rated in Kelvin. Kelvin is a scale of temperature, and thermal energy. The relationship between heat and color is used to explain how these bulbs glow. Typically the Sun at noon is scored at around 5500K. Halogen light is typically around 3000K. Candle Light is a lot "warmer" at 1500K. You will notice that the "warmer" the color is, the smaller the number. This is very important, if you are looking for "cooler" lights with a "cooler" color, make sure the temperature rating is higher! I remember this by thinking that a blue flame is the hottest flame around... The image in this post will show an exaggerated gradient as an example of how this is seen by the eye.
