ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Wratten number

The wratten number is a system that helps people choose the right color filters for different types of photography. It's like picking the right crayon to color in a picture. The wratten number is a code that tells you what color the filter is and how much light it lets through.

Imagine you have a bunch of crayons in front of you. Some are red, some are blue, some are green, and so on. You want to color a picture of a sunset, so you pick the red crayon because it will make the picture look more warm and orangeish. This is kind of like using the wratten number system to pick a color filter for your camera.

In photography, filters are pieces of plastic that you put in front of the lens of your camera. They change the way light enters the camera and can make your photos look different. For example, if you want to take a photo of a waterfall and make the water look all blurry, you might use a filter that lets less light into the camera. This is called a neutral density filter, and it has a wratten number of ND 0.3 or ND 0.6.

The wratten number system uses letters and numbers to identify different colors and strengths of filters. For example, a blue filter might be labeled B 8 or B 12, depending on how strong it is. The number after the letter tells you how much light the filter lets through. A higher number means more light gets through, while a lower number means less light gets through.

So, to sum up: the wratten number system is like a code that helps photographers choose the right color filters for different types of photography. It's kind of like picking the right crayon to color in a picture, except instead of crayons, you're picking filters that change the way light enters your camera.
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