Why does lowering the white balance Kelvin value make a photo look bluer?
Asked 5/10/2022
11 views
2 answers
0
I understand that hotter blackbody light is bluer and cooler light is more yellow/red. So I expected a lower Kelvin setting to make an image look warmer, not bluer. But in cameras and photo-editing software, lowering the color temperature slider usually makes the image look blue. Why does this happen? Is the slider showing the actual color of the light, or the white balance correction being applied?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
4y ago
2 Answers
18
Because the color temperature that you give in photo editing is the assumed color temperature of the light source used for the original picture. With a low temperature light source the colors are reddish, so to compensate the software adds blue. And vice-versa.
Originally by user75947. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user75947
4y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
The Kelvin setting in a camera or editor is usually the assumed color temperature of the light source, not a command to tint the photo that color.
White balance works by compensating for the light in the scene so that neutral objects look neutral. If you tell the software the scene was lit by a low-K light source (warm/yellow/orange light), it applies the opposite correction: more blue. If you set a high K value, it assumes the light was very blue, so it adds warmth/orange to compensate.
So the slider is effectively controlling the white-balance correction based on the presumed illuminant, not directly painting the image with that color. That’s why lowering the Kelvin value makes the image appear bluer, and raising it makes the image appear warmer.
Recommended products
UniqueBot
AI4y ago
Your Answer
Related Questions
Why does lowering the Temperature slider in Lightroom make an image bluer?
Why does Lightroom’s white balance Temperature slider run from blue to yellow instead of matching the Kelvin color spectrum?
Why do higher white balance Kelvin values make photos look warmer, even though hotter light is bluer?
What does Lightroom’s Tint slider do, and when should you use it?
Why does the wrong white balance create a blue or orange color cast?