Harris Shutter

The Harris shutter is a simple device which consists of a three-color filter strip. It was devised by Robert S. Harris of Kodak, for making color photographs with the different primary color layers exposed in separate time intervals in succession. The Harris shutter also means the technique applied to give a photograph a rainbow effect, which is produced by re-exposing the same frame of film through red, green and blue filters in turn, while keeping the camera steady.

The Harris shutter generates a rainbow of color around the photographic subject. Clouds hanging over a landscape, waterfalls, or a flickering flame, make good subjects for applying the Harris shutter tecnique. When capturing an image with a Harris shutter effect, the camera must be kept steady.The process has become a lot simpler with the arrival of digital photography. The photographer simply takes three color photographs on location, and then use software to take the Red channel from one exposure, combine with the blue and green channels from the other two photos to good effect. This even allows for correction of movement if the camera is inadvertently moved between exposures.

Harris Shutter Effect