We all know how important it is to prepare for the different amounts of light during a photo shoot. One aspect of this preparation is to understand the color composition of the light that is illuminating your subject. Our cameras have sensors that can sometimes detect this, but the result is not always perfect, as we know.
James Duncan Davidson, the official photographer for O'Reilly Media, has written an excellent article about measuring the color of light. It covers everything from the science behind the term "color temperature" to an understanding of the relative compositions of light from the most common light sources we use everyday. He is able to cover some of the nitty gritty science without losing you in equations and mundane details. And at then end I am left looking around thinking to myself, "It looks like it is about 5500K outside today."
Read the full article.