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INTRODUCTION

Objectives

• Explain where color comes from
• Describe what color balance is and how it affects images
• Explain how color balance is affected by the time of day
• Describe hjow color balance is affected by the weather
• Describe some of the important thinsg to know about photographing at night
• Explain how the direction of light affects images
• Describe how direct and diffuse light affect images
• Using Light & Color Creatively

Introduction

Image sensors in digital cameras are designed to produce colors that match those in the original scene. However, there is a lot of variation among sensors and among the circuits and software that process raw images into final photographs. The results you get depend, in part, on the accuracy with which you expose the image and the match between the color balance of the sensor and the color balance of the light illuminating your subject.

With film cameras, photographers usually explore a wide variety of films before settling on the one or two they like best. This is because each film type has it’s own unique characteristics. In some the grain is small, in others it’s larger. A film may have colors that are warmer than other films, or slightly colder. These subtle variations among films are slight but noticeable and photographers gravitate to one or the other. With digital cameras, you don’t have the same choice offered by film cameras. The "film" in the form of an image sensor is built into your camera. Whatever its characteristics are, they are the characteristics you have to live with until you buy another camera.

In this chapter, we explore the world of color and how you manage it in your photos.

6.1 WHERE DOES COLOR COME FROM?

6.2 COLOR BALANCE

6.3 COLOR BALANCE AND TIME OF DAY

6.4 COLOR BALANCE AND WEATHER

6.5 PHOTOGRAPHING AT NIGHT

6.6 LIGHT: ITS DIRECTION

6.7 LIGHT: FROM DIRECT TO DIFFUSE