can someone explain what cool and warm is?

[haagen_dazs]

can someone explain in layman terms what a cool image or warm image is?

i know that if an image is cool, one can put on a warming filter...
but for the opposite, is there a cooling filter?

thanks alot guys !

 

[jumbocrab]

The common description for an image that has a bluish tinge is cool, and an image that has a reddish/orangy tinge is warm.

 

[Clown]

draw a vertical line x=3.5 and u'll have the cool colors on the left and the warm colors on the right.

a cool image will have a cool color cast and vice versa.


image taken from http://www.efg2.com/Lab/Graphics/Colors/MaxwellTriangle.htm

extra reading on color mixing: http://www.glasshaus.com/samplechapters/1159/default.asp

 

[candy]

its the same thing as ur light bulbs. all light has a colour temperature - which is measured in kelvins.

the higher the kelvin, the more intense the blue spectrum (till our eyes cannot differentiate and sees it all as white). the lower the kelvin, the stronger the red spectrum, hence a colour which is more orange/red (warm).

same in effect, ur FL daylight/whitelight tubes have a higher kelvin reading than ur warmlight tubes.

 

[haagen_dazs]

so if a photo is properly well exposed...
can one tell from the naked eye that it is cooler or warmer ?
what is the accepted norm? or is it more like what one really likes (a subjective view) when taking a photo?

i know that my 10D allows me to change the colour setting..
but i never really thought much about it.

however i would like to know what i can really do with it.

any advise on websites to read about this issue?