Colors are really important in photography, they can affect the feeling, create amazing images with color contrast. This article contains brief information about color temperature, colors of daylight and effects of colors on feelings.

Color Temperature

This term defines color quality of light sources in K° (Kelvin). Redness increase and blueness decrease as Kelvin value of the light decrease, vice versa. So low Kelvin values create a warmer picture, and high Kelvin values create cooler pictures. You can make your pictures cooler or warmer on purpose, to create certain feelings. As an example; a mother hugging her baby look better in a warmer light. Average Kelvin values of some light sources;

• 1700K : Match Flame
• 1850K : Candle Flame
• 2800-3300K : Incandescent Light Bulb
• 3350K : Studio (CP) Light
• 3400K : Studio Lights, Lightfloods, etc.
• 4100K : Moonlight, Xenon Arc Lamp
• 5000K : Horizon Daylight
• 5500 - 6000K : Typical Daylight, Electronic Flash
• 6500K : Noon Daylight
• 9300K : CRT Screen

Colors of Daylight

• Daylight contains more blue in winter comparing to summer, also in a day with cloudy sky the light is cooler than a light in a day with a clear sky.
• Direct sunlight is a warm light.
• Light in afternoon is reddish and early morning light is more yellowish.
• Color of light gets close to blue as climb up to higher grounds like mountains or skyscrapers.

Effects of Colors on Feelings

BLACK : symbolizes power, elegance, mystery and it also symbolizes death, sorrow and sadness.

WHITE : Purity, cleanliness, innocence and goodness.

BLUE : Blue symbolizes loyalty, trust, intelligence, truth, wisdom and confidence.

RED : Red symbolizes so many different things, It is best defined as color of fire and blood but alos it symbolizes; love, desire, passion, strength, power, war, danger and determination.

GREEN : The color of nature, it symbolizes; freshness, harmony and growth.

YELLOW : It generally symbolizes; fun, energy and happiness. As in smileys

ORANGE : Since it is a combination of yellow and red it contains the effects of the both colors. Orange symbolizes; joy, sunshine, tropics and creativity.

PURPLE : Purple is a combination of blue and red which symbolizes; wisdom, mystery, magic and gloom (especially dark purple gives gloom and sadness feelings)

How to Use Colors in Photography?

Actually it is up to you, the limit is your imagination. If you want a color to dominate whole picture than you should give the color to the picture by using light source. (Ex. A wolf picture in moonlight that dominated by blue color.) To do this either you should use the daylight or change the color of the light source that you are using. If you are shooing indoors so you can change the color of light by placing colored thin papers in front of your light source, it can be the flash or a continuous light source. I’m using papers to balance the light most of the time by placing a blue thin paper in front of a yellow (warm) light to prevent the picture being unnecessarily warm.

Or you can use objects, clothes, backgrounds with different colors in order to give a certain feeling. You can combine the colors and create color contrasts, such as a white subject in front of a black background. A model dressed red, with a black background can look more sexy while a model with a pink dress in front of a white background looks more innocent. To learn about more examine the good examples, get inspired and practice…

Good Luck.