topic Re: Playng with Kelvin in Share Your Photos

Playng with Kelvin

stevet1 — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:39:31 GMT

There wasn't a cloud in the sky, just the blue sky, so I thought I would play with the Kelvin setting for a bit.

This was shot at 2500K in Portrait. Best viewed if you turn your tablet or phone sideways.

Nice tiny little moon.

Steve Thomas

Re: Playng with Kelvin

Jkarl — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 12:49:13 GMT

Very interesting photograph, I like the cobalt blue. I wonder if you had kept changing the K level what the different outcomes would have been.

Karl

Re: Playng with Kelvin

stevet1 — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 14:33:11 GMT

Karl,

As you start increasing the Kelvin temperature, that blue would start fading away and get lighter and lighter. Eventually, it would start introducing an orange cast.

If you want to emphasize the cooler blues and yellows, you can use a cooler or smaller Kelvin number. If you want to emphasize the warmer greens and reds, you can use a warmer or higher Kelvin number. That's why, when taking pictures of sunsets and you want to bring out the oranges and reds, some photographers will up their Kelvin numbers.

When taking a picture of a person on a cloudy day, and you want to bring out their warmer flesh tones, a photographer might use the Cloudy preset, which has a Kelvin temperature of about 6000..

The Daylight preset has a Kelvin temperature of around 5200, and is a kind of average, which balances all of your blues and yellows and reds and greens.

Steve Thomas