Summing up....colour

Having just posted my third assignment on colour, I'm mulling over what I've enjoyed and what I've learnt during the completion of this part of TAOP. Revisiting Jay Maisel's website (jay.maisel.com) reminded me how much I enjoy his kind of photography..the wonderful work captured in his print portfolio and recent work shows how rich,vibrant and thought provoking colour images can be. I  also regularly look at the daily Guardian online picture section which throws up a whole range of images that I try to 'critique' with what I'm learning as I work my way through this course. So I'm very interested in not only trying to capture  strong pure colours but also combinations of colour, shade and texture whether found in street detail or other uncontrolled situations.

I came to this assignment less certain of capturing colour harmony in still life and in nature.
On balance, I feel that the assignment has particularly challenged me in these areas ; also in my analysis of colour and certainly in my ability to reproduce the image that I can see in front of me. I feel that I'm on my way here  now but that it is a steep learning curve...(I'm still intrigued by black and white photography but reckon that this is an even steeper learning curve).That said, I think my observation skills have really begun to be honed by this work. I had little understanding of colour harmony before I started and now feel able to approach what I do in the future with a better understanding .. also a better grasp of what my camera and Photoshop can do in this respect.
And my enjoyment of the assignment? Though it has been a frustrating exercise at times I have really enjoyed the work..and certainly lost none of my love of colour or appetite for a challenge ! 

Assignment 3 : colour

This assignment is designed to show command of colour in photography. Probably the most challenging assignment to date combining as it did a constant search for colours and situations to represent the relationships and challenging my perception of colour ( primary and secondary ). While I had long realised the vaste range of shades of green, I soon realised the wealth of other colour ranges around me  posed both a challenge ( not always in the right place or in the right combination ) and a godsend ( plenty of opportunity to experiment ). If an assignment can be both frustrating and enjoyable then this one fits the bill so far !

To complete the assignment, I have chosen sixteen  photographs to illustrate different colour relationships and used a mix of still life and uncontrolled situations to create the colours and relationships desired. Most of the images  have been taken with a Canon EOS 500D, three with a Canon IXUS 210 and where changes have been made to the original image to create the desired colour(s) Photoshop Elements was used and the changes indicated below.

 Colour harmony through complementary colours

P254: f16 @ 1/40  ISO 400  55mm +0.7exp. cropped

P254 : Though the hues are pale here, the violet and yellow work well together and emphasised by the mix of colour in some of the blooms. The proportions are within the range for violet and yellow as suggested by Goethe and the darker violet shade diagonally in the centre suggests movement. I like the sense of delicacy and lightness suggested by this combination of colour and subject.

P255: f5.6 @1/40 ISO200 18mm

P255: I adjusted the image in P255 to achieve the right shade of orange by slightly increasing the hue, saturation and slightly reducing the brightness. This resulted in the shade I was looking for. With hindsight, I feel I should have reworked the composition to reduce the area of blue as the balance of hue is slightly more than a ratio of one part orange to two parts blue.

P256: f8 @ 1/80 ISO200  22mm -0.3exp.

P256:  The red and green in this image matched the plant colour and needed no adjustment.The brightness of the red is slightly toned down by the distinctive green of the geraniums and the composition i.e. scattering of red across the image. I think the ratio of colour is a little more than 1:1 if the colours were blocked. I resisted cropping which might have improved the ratio but would have reduced the overall effectiveness of the composition. Some little movement comes from the positioning of the red blooms and angle of the image.

P257: f10 @ 1/800 ISO 400 22mm

P257:  For this image, I returned again to my favourite building to capture a combination of orange and blue. I think the ratio of blue and orange is roughly right and the intervention of the black paintwork contributes to the strong colour combination of the two colours. The strength and colour depth of the orange and the blue contribute well to the sense of vertical and horizontal movement and balance. The lighting was right on the day so I felt that there was no need to adjust the hues as I needed strong saturated colours to capture what I was seeing in front of me.

Colour harmony through similar colours

P258: f5.6 @ 1/250 ISO 200 40mm

P258:  I  really like this warm colour combination of red and orange blending through to yellow. Here the colours are rich and lend a sense of vibrancy to the dynamic shape created by the shape of the flower heads and petal shapes.

P259: f5 @ 1/250 ISO 200 11mm

P259:  While the colour of the blue here is lighter than in other images it works well with the various shades of green ..the impression created by this combination of blue and green is one of cool shaded tranquility despite the central focal point being a wheel (with its implied sense of movement ).  Despite the size of the wheel, the amount of blue in the picture is much less than the green thus working with the green rather than against it.

P260: f18 @ 1/25 ISO 200 55mm cropped

P260:  I like the way the lilac and red in this image work with as opposed to each other..it maybe that the lilac petals are placed against the red is the reason or the fact that the more obvious proportions are two parts lilac to one part red...either way I feel the outcome is a harmonious one. 

P261: f2.8 @ 1/320  ISO 125  4mm

P261:  In this image as often happens with these colours in nature, the ratio of green and yellow is probably 1 : 1. It works  well on the eye here as the two colours compliment each other. The composition is enhanced by the angle of image and the black railings which lend a dramatic nature to the image.

Colour contrast

P262: f5 @ 1/20  ISO 100 18mm  -0.3exp.

P262:  Interestingly,I found it harder to capture colour combinations through still life that other found situations. Admittedly you can manipulate the colour ratios but finding the actual colours proved quite hard. Here I have resorted to the sports cap again  and warmed to this theme with some additional items calculated not to detract from the key colours of red and blue but create interest. I did increase the saturation here to achieve the richness of colour that I was seeking. I feel there is balance here and the colour contrast works well to draw the eye in.

P263: f4.5 @ 1/500 ISO 100 9mm

P263:  I was attracted to these strong primary colours and the contrast they create. I chose to have more yellow than red as I feel this creates more balance in the picture

P264: f8 @ 1/80  ISO 200  18mm cropped

P264:  I thought hard and long as to how I might capture lilac and orange  together and have to admit that this still life image does favour a very dark lilac verging on purple. That said the darker colour contrasts very well with the strong orange lending a degree of intensity to the relationship. Very much manufactured colours but I felt there was no need to adjust them for this image other than cropping it.

P265: f22 @ 1/60  ISO400  55mm

P265:  From manufactured contrast to one in nature.. here I used a blue filter and increased the saturation to get as close to the 'real' image as I could.

Colour accent

P266: f10 @ 1/250 ISO 400  22mm  - increased hue

P266:  While not strictly keeping to primary and secondary colours as such , I was attracted to this stone work, particularly the brickwork ( admittedly not a pure colour but a rich mix of reds/ oranges ) and its relationship with the blue disabled notice.  I increased the hue slightly to ensure the impact of the blue colour 'spot' . Possibly an indulgence but I feel the relationship between the two colours in this image intensifies them both.

P267: f4 @ 1/60 ISO 100  28mm

P267:  Amongst the lilac and green, the strength of the red petal stands out disproportionately to the space it occupies. It draws the attention and I think intensifies the green and lilac. I found that the green of the leaves in the original image when printed came out a rather bright almost unnatural green ( the difference between the screen and printed images). To correct this and get nearer the colour of the real plant, I used a red filter.

P268: f14 @ 1/30  ISO 100  34mm

P268:  These oranges caught my eye in a busy street demonstrating in practical terms how the eye can be drawn by a colour accent. I spent some time looking at the colours and trying a number of filters to achieve the colour of the original scene  - a red filter was my final choice. Again the accent strengthens the colour of the much larger leaf area.  I think the colour  relationship works well against what could be a distracting detail of  buildings.

 

P269: f5.6 @ 1/200 ISO100 54mm

P269:  I first increased  the saturation and level of brightness in this image to capture exactly how it appeared to my eye and opted for a blurred background to enhance the picture. The more I looked at the image, I realised that the colour was carrying more 'red' than I needed - a blue filter corrected this and the colour is much nearer to the original flower. I like the way the vibrant yellow of the centre of the flower - the accent - really brings out the lilac colour and detail of the petals. I think the balance  here works well.

Colour into tones in black and white

For this exercise I took one still life photograph in colour using a digital camera ( Canon EOS 500D ). Then using Photoshop Elements. I converted the image to create five monochrome versions using all the various 'filters' available.



P249: f8 @ 1/125  ISO 3200  43mm



P250:  neutral black and white

P251 : red filter

P252: yellow filter



P253: green filter



P253a: blue filter

Colour relationships

This exercise looks at colour relationships. The idea is to produce a photograph for each combination of primary and secondary colours i.e. red : green ( 1:1),  orange : blue( 1:2) and yellow: violet ( 1:3). I found it very tricky to do as trying to capture images using the ratios above whether still life or found situations and in the particular colour combinations was no mean feat. In the first part of the exercise I have tried  to keep to the exact colour combinations :

Red : green  

P242: f13 @ 1/640 ISO 400 47mm -0.7exp.

Orange : blue

P243: f18 @ 1/60 ISO 100 30mm

Yellow : violet

P244: f14 @ 1/100  ISO 200 27mm

The following images are colour combinations that particularly appeal me ....

P245: f5.6 @ 1/500 ISO 100 54mm -0.3exp.

P245:  This simple colour combination struck me as quite dramatic in that the dark green of the foliage pushes out the yellow of the flowers and enables the two shades of yellow to stand out clearly.

P246: f14 @1/40 ISO 200 209mm  -0.7exp. cropped.

P246:  I spotted this restaurant sign in a side street. I really liked  the contrast of the combination of a purple and red background to the pale yellow lettering stood out clearly on the bright yellow wall.

P247: f5.9 @ 1/125 ISO 160  22mm cropped

P247: When I started to look more carefully at colours and their various combinations and uses, I began to realise how how often red and yellow are used together to attract attention. Interestingly, more by way of emergency vehicles and working vehicles than high streen signage where combinations of blue and orande are more common, often within the 1: 2 ratio as well. The above Macdonalds sign is an exception ...I rather like the strident clash of colour softened a little by the textured red backround which almost shouts out at you... it serves its purpose well. However, the red and yellow combination below comes over more comfortably to the eye..artificial flowers echoing nature..

P248: f10 @ 1/25 ISO 400  34mm

Primary and secondary colours

This task is all about producing images to match the six primary and secondary colours closely. With each colour whether primary ( red, yellow and blue ) or secondary ( green, violet and orange ), I took three images adjusting the exposure from the metre reading given by the camera to half a stop brighter and half a stop darker. What seems on the face of it fairly straight forward proved a real challenge as I wanted to find a range of images not relying totally on paint sprayed surfaces.... Having looked at all 18 images, I have chosen the six that best represent the colour of the original subject :

Red

P224: f13 @ 1/400  ISO 400   38mm  -0.7 exp.

Yellow

P227: f14 @ 1/40 ISO 200 21mm  0 exp.

Yellow was an interesting colour to try to capture as there were so many different shades around. This version is more of an egg yolk colour than say a 'lemon' colour but has a richness that I like.

Blue

P232: f8 @ 1/125  ISO 200  43mm  -0.7exp.

Green

P233: f14 @ 1/60 ISO 200 18mm +0.7 exp.

Violet

P237: f6.3 @ 1/125 ISO 200  38mm -0.7 exp.

Orange

 

P241: f14  1/30 ISO 200 18mm -0.7exp.