Chapter Three | CompositionBeyond the Basics 77

Color Temperature

Color temperature, along the scale of degrees Kelvin, helps us understand what color
the invisible light is. It is measured in the thousands of degrees (roughly 1000 to 20,000
degrees Kelvin). Without going into all the science behind it, you should just understand
that there are two main colors of concern along the Kelvin scale for lm and video
shooting: reddish amber and blue. The numbers associated most commonly with their
color temperatures are 3200 and 5600 degrees Kelvin, respectively. Film lights gener-
ally emit 3200 degrees Kelvin light, and noontime daylight (from the sun) is roughly
around 5600 degrees Kelvin. The lower the number of degrees Kelvin (04000-ish), the
more reddish, or warmer, the light will be. The higher the number of degrees Kelvin
(400010,000 and above), the bluer, or cooler, the light will appear (Figure 3.19).

Color Temperature

FIGURE 3.19 The Kelvin scale showing various examples of common color temperatures.