| Sometimes I need to hear the same thing told five | | | | 1's and 0's. Even on the most basic image there are |
| times or more by different people before something | | | | 256 different levels of brightness that your sensor can |
| sinks in. I remember having a difficult time | | | | record on each channel. Many cameras can record |
| understanding how the color photography thing ever | | | | over 65,000 or more different levels of brightness per |
| happened. This is a perfect example of not knowing | | | | channel. That's a lot of information. |
| the technology but still being able to use it. Now my | | | | When each channel is isolated on your computer you |
| simple mind can understand black and white | | | | can see that each channel is a black and white image. |
| photography because it is just varying degrees of | | | | Each channel just records brightness. The black and |
| white or lack of white made when light excites little | | | | white image looks different for each channel because |
| granules of silver. I guess I could understand how there | | | | each channel is recording a different color, either reds, |
| could be different dyes on film that responded to | | | | greens, or blues. The color image is made by |
| different colors of reflected light but how can a digital | | | | combining the varying degrees of brightness from |
| photograph be in color? I mean isn't a digital photograph | | | | each of the red, green, and blue channels and |
| just a bunch of 1's and 0's? How is it possible to get a | | | | electronically projecting them on your review screen or |
| colored 1 or 0? | | | | computer monitor in the color they represent. It is mind |
| It is a good thing that there are smarter people figuring | | | | boggling to understand that all this happens when you |
| these things out than me. Well, just like in film | | | | click the shutter. Click, there it is! Technology. |
| photography there are red, green, and blue dye | | | | One of the biggest gripes about consumer level |
| couplers in the color film emulsion, there are red, green, | | | | cameras is the lag time between pressing the shutter |
| and blue channels in digital photography. The digital | | | | and the time when the picture is taken. Be patient, the |
| sensor has an array of red, green, and blue specific | | | | camera is doing a whole lot of work with a whole lot |
| sensors that record varying brightness of each color. | | | | of information. |
| Each different color is recorded on your memory card | | | | So is it really necessary to even have a vague |
| much like different colors are recorded on the dyes in | | | | knowledge of this to take good pictures? Of course |
| the film emulsion. | | | | not. I don't think about this stuff while I'm shooting. But |
| So here's the kicker; each channel records a black and | | | | just like a carpenter has to know how to figure out |
| white image. Each channel only records if there is a | | | | how to cut a set of stairs even though he or she |
| certain intensity (tone) of light present. yes=1, no=0. Do | | | | might only do it once in a while it's important to |
| this with every level of brightness of each color (red, | | | | understand as much of the big picture as possible. |
| green, and blue) and you have a color image made of | | | | |