TAOP - Assignment 3 - Colour

TAOP - Assignment 3 - Colour

Introduction

The objective of this assignment is to demonstrate my command of colour in photography, being able to find and use different colours in deliberate relationships.

I need to identify at least two kinds of colour relationship in the following categories:

1. Complimentary (colours that face each other across the circle)
2. Similar (those near each other, as in a cool or warm range of colours)
3. Colours spaced about a third of the way around the colour circle; very different from each other but not quite complimentary
4. A relationship where one small area of colour sits against a larger background of another colour as a spot or accent

Part of my tutor feedback for Assignment 2 included the advice for simplicity in some of my images as opposed to busy and sometimes distracting elements that could take the viewers eye and mind away from the photographer’s visualisation of what the image should convey. This is sound advice and I found when thinking and pre-visualising what I wanted to create for this assignment, this desire to create simple images has invited me to slow down and think more. The assignment has been worth it if this was the only thing I learnt. However I believe I’ve learnt much more.

Much like the exercises prior to assignment 2, it has helped my eyes and mind become more aware of shapes in what I saw around me, the exercises prior to this assignment have invited an awareness of colour and colour relationships I did not previously have.

This particular time of year and its weather have encouraged the majority of images to have been taken indoors. Again whilst not for all images, as part of my desire to create more simple images for the assignment I’ve followed a theme to help create simple images, this is explained in the annotated images section. This feel will allow the viewer of my images to focus primarily on the colour and colour relationships in my images and the images not be distracted by the other elements they contain.

My response to this simpler and approach was for the majority of images to be taken using a macro lens. A macro lens will give the photographer the challenge of much smaller depth’s of fields and this invited research and experimentation with taking multiple images with varied focus, image stacking, layers and image flattening. The advantage of using a macro lens and its small depths of field is that I can easily eliminate background distraction by blurring it as part of the magnificent bokeh that macro lenses can create and emphasis colour so much more

I’ve also looked at the work of Bryan Peterson, watched many of his on-line tutorials, and read his book “Understanding Close-Up Photography”. Close up photography is a fascinating world and something I’d like to experiment more in.

I’ve researched a few items on Google including this piece by David Peterson:

http://www.digital-photo-secrets.com/tip/2857/how-contrast-affects-your-photos/

My tutor recommends use of a tablet to assist my post processing and to develop it further. My valentine kindly got my a WACOM Bamboo on Valentine’s Day and though I’ve not used it for the processing of any images for this assignment it will be used in the future.

Images with Annotation:

For each image I've also added an image where the original has been processed with the Photoshop “palette knife” filter to allow me to demonstrate more easily the way colours work in the image and I've used MS Paint to add lines to demonstrate colour contrast and movement.

Colour harmony through complimentary colours – Image 1

This image was taken using a macro lens. With the lights on I used a candle to secure the match vertically then I’ve used my camera’s live view option to manual pre-focus on the match head. I had bought special cooks matches for their size and hopefully size of flame. This pre-preparation is key since once the match is lit I will have little time to focus the lens and take the image as the match burns. These pre-preparation techniques were identified as a result of a series previously taken images where the results were a bit disappointing.  Once I’m ready I’ve switched off the lights in the darkened room lit a second match and then lit this match from it and then taken several images. The best images were always the ones nearest to the lighting of the match head. There is enough of the match stick to tell the viewer what the subject is. I’ve captured the dark orange of the match head, the orange of the flame and the blue of the match as it burns. The temperature of a wood flame like a candle is what creates the orange colour and the blue colour at the bottom of the flame is the hottest part of the flame and hence its colour.

The temperature of a wood flame like a candle is what creates the orange colour and the blue colour at the bottom of the flame is the hottest part of the flame and hence its colour. This image more clearly shows that as the flame rises it cools to the orange colour. Orange is normally associated with warmness and blue coolness but in this instance are both the result of combustion and extreme heat. Movement is implied upwards as heat rises.

I personally find this colour combination pleasing and it reminds me of the attractive Mexican style stucco buildings against a blue sky.

Colour harmony through complimentary colours – Image 2

I’ve taken a thin slice of plum, attached a peg and then used sellotape to secure the peg against the door handle of my French doors using back lighting from behind the glass to enable the texture of the plum’s flesh to be seen. The very small depth of field has allowed the grass in the background to be completely put into a bokeh and therefore simplified the image. This also has the result that the plum slice is also not in complete focus. Had the subject really been the plum then focus stacking technique could have been used. The curves of the plum skin give energy to the image but the cool shade of the key complimentary colours of red and green to stand-out.

Colour harmony through complimentary colours – Image 3

I’ve taken some inspiration here from Bryan Petersen in the taking images of the ordinary and creating something different in the world of close-up photography. This is a packet of a well known savoury snack. I’ve used the camera’s live view to get a sharp manual focus before taking the image, especially as I had wanted to crop in closer during post processing. This is what I’ve done and the individual colour dots are now visible and remain in sharp focus. At the time of taking the image I experimented with different creases in the packet so that the view doesn’t get a flat image.

The orange in this image is more dominant than the orange in image 1 above and likely 4:1 orange which is in contradiction to what is the normal ratio of 1:2 for these colours. However these colours and the colour ratio are no doubt the result of marketing executives with a view to being attractive to potential buyers of the product. The excess of orange used in the packaging is also a suggestion perhaps of the colour of the product to be found inside.

Colour harmony through complimentary colours – Image 4

I found this colour combination rather difficult to find but nature always provides. In this image I’ve used a small aperture to keep more of the flower in focus but to put into bokeh the green stems. An observation I have made of this image that without the flowers stem in focus and giving the viewer the confirmation the flower is supported by a stem the flower head itself is not stable in the image and perhaps almost appears as if it’s falling through the frame. This is something I will be more aware of in future.

With texture less of a distraction in this image the colour combination of the flower is more obvious and adheres to the more recognised relationship of Violet 3:1 against yellow. It’s interesting to note that nature has the 3 yellow elements of the flower making a triangle and draw the viewer into the centre of the flower. I expect this is another of nature’s wonderful features as is likely almost landing lights directing insects into the centre of the flower where the pollen is located.

Colour harmony through similar colours – Image 1

Manually focusing through live view I’ve specifically focused on the green stamens of the flower. I wasn’t able to use the natural light for this images as well as I had in others and so produced some images that weren’t quite right. Eventually I’ve used the camera flash through a diffuser to give soft light to the image and this has resulted in the appealing light reflections on the green stamens. 

Yellow is the dominant colour in this image at a ratio of about 3:1 compared to the green circle shaped stamens but it’s a very harmonious relationship. The composition of the image though using and even rather than odd number of subjects still creates an implied triangle with the base at top left and point bottom right.

This colour relationship we will see shortly in a month or so when spring begins with yellow daffodils and their green foliage but in a reversed but still appealing colour ratio to the image above.  Yellow and green play an important part in life on earth with the yellow of the energy giving sun and the green of growth in the foliage that covers much of the earth's land mass. Two very reassuring colours and in this instance gives an assurance of life and health.

Colour harmony through similar colours – Image 2

I’ve cut a slice of lemon, attached a peg and then attached the peg to a French door handle with sellotape so that I can back light the lemon so that it appears to radiate light. Using a macro lens I’ve composed the lemon with grass in the background with the intention of blurring this as bokeh using the narrow depth of fields a macro lens produces. Sharp focus of the lemon isn’t what I want to create, instead this image is about harmony between the two colours and my approach has created the simple image I wanted. I took multiple images, positioning the lemon slice at different angles and also had it fall off a few times!

Movement is implied in the image by the curve of the lemon slice. The drip of lemon juice initially wasn’t intentional but in looking at the images later I preferred it with the drop and this creates an element of tension in the image as it initially resists the pull of gravity. Additionally it tells the viewer that it’s a fresh lemon. This is important in this image as the harmony the colours create are cool and fresh, the lemon flesh back lit show the lemon segments almost as rays, similar to the sun.

Colour harmony through similar colours – Image 3

This image has been taken with a Nikon D80 that has been converted to infrared using a 665nm IR filter. A recent purchase of a second hand camera and IR conversion really has emptied my piggy bank. An unprocessed IR image will always have an initial red tint before any post processing changes are applied so this encouraged me to take images in the knowledge of a capturing an image with reds and oranges in the unprocessed image. The assignment brief suggested use of filters and I think here I will have used an IR filter for the colour assignment that no-one has perhaps used before in this assignment. I have performed no colour adjustments of this image.

There is harmony in this image between the 2:1 sky/landscape split as highlighted by the green line. The sky contains a red orange colour which is harmonised in contrast with the similar port coloured darker tree foliage. Despite this initial divide of colour within the top and bottom sections of the image further variations in the colour can be seen as the light affects the colour of the clouds and trees.

At this point I would like to thank a lady who is I think quite well known within the OCA, see link:

http://www.weareoca.com/education/award-for-norma/

I often participate in conversations with other OCA Photography students including those on the same module and those who are much further progressed. A lot of information, inspiration and encouragement can be found here. As a result of a post asking for recommendations of Infrared books, Norma got in contact with me and very generously sent me a selection of 4 IR books that she had read as part of her progression through the Photography modules and achievement of earning her degree. I was very touched by this generosity and we keep in touch; I do think Norma has a wealth of knowledge both of IR and of photography and I’m hoping she will continue to share this with me.

I have always enjoyed looking at IR images and I hope to explore this medium much more both as part of my degree and for my own interest. I am currently progressing through several photographic books and of the four Norma sent me I am currently reading Digital Infrared Photography by Cyrill Harnischmacher. This is most certainly an area of photography I will enjoy working more in and I hope to continue to receive advice from Norma J

Colour harmony through similar colours – Image 4

A lemon slice with a lime slice in soda water with added sugar to help create extra fizz and bubbles - all in a glass. These 2 slices have been pegged to the side of the glass. This is an interesting shot because it contains both the deeper yellow and green of the citrus fruits skin and also the yellow and green tinted flesh of the fruits. I’ve used a macro lens here with the camera in live view to focus solely on the bubbles understanding many elements of the image would be out of focus. Again I’ve not wanted the structure of the fruit to be the significant element in the image; it’s the colour I want to take centre stage. I’ve composed the image to capture the curve of the glass which acts as a lead in line to the fruits slices and their colours, each also having curves and implied movement, show in the image below.

Colour contrast through contrasting colours – Image 1

This is an abstract image that takes inspiration from Bryan Peterson but with my own twist. This is kitchen grater where I’ve used Christmas wrapping paper to reflect the colour on to the grater. I took a larger number of shots as I developed the image until I’ve created something much better than I had originally intended. 

Again using a macro lens in a diagonal framed position on the tripod I’ve focused using live view capturing focus on the diagonal line of holes. With lots of experimenting by moving the wrapping paper around I’ve created an initial left / right divide of colour between red and blue. The colour reflections have meant that the colours are not strong and the reflected nature of the colours on the metal has meant the red and blue colours have blended in the middle. Whilst the colours strongly contrast at the left and right far edges of the frame harmony has been created in the middle where perhaps they have combined to make purple.

Colour contrast through contrasting colours – Image 2

Though perhaps not initially striking as an image in its own right when the contrast of the strong and vibrant red and yellow colours are considered and how they have been constructed in this image an appreciation for this composition may then become understood.

The left side of the image displays the yellow centres of the chrysanthemums in isolation to the red petals and the red tissue paper in a ratio of about 4:1. The right side of the image then shows the red of the petals in some isolation to the bigger expanse of yellow from another flower, the ratio again about 4:1 but in reverse. Though the image contains significant contrast between the two colours in differing ratios there is balance between both red and yellow colours.

Colour contrast through contrasting colours – Image 3

Though this may initially appear a weak image, thought has gone into this in terms of the lead in line, composition of the flower on a zing point and use of vertical and horizontal lines, and the contrast of the flower against reds and browns within the image.

At this time of year we begin to see the contrast in the emerging bright and vibrant colours of spring against much of the drab colours we’ve seen during winter and it’s this contrast of colour that I’ve attempted to capture. The diagram above demonstrates the vibrancy of the yellow in the image in contrast to the reds and browns in the image and this gives rise to thoughts of new life and growth which is a big lift to many people as we begin to enter the spring season.

Colour contrast through contrasting colours – Image 4

I continue to be inspired by Bryan Peterson in terms of his enthusiasm and encouragement to find abstract images in the close-up / macro photography world. I’ve not seen him take an image like this though. This image was taken in the kitchen using a macro lens. For some reason a Jacobs Crackers plastic box was temporarily left behind a plant we have in the kitchen. Michael Freeman has now helped my understanding of colour and ability to spot colour contrasts that previously I had not seen or thought of before, in this case the contrast between orange and green that sit 1/3 from each other on the colour circle. 

The original image had sharp contrast between the green of the leaf and the orange of the box but here I have muted it slightly applying a solarisation filter. There is an initial divide as shown by the diagonal line between the orange of the box and the green of the leaf. The light catching the undulations of the leaf in turn is creating slightly different shades of green as shown in the circle and boxes in the image above. This image would have worked well as a stand alone abstract image of just the leaf by itself but the different shades of the greens in the leaf appear to be given a much richer colour by the presence of the cool orange behind. Whilst an unusual image I believe it gives a feeling of warmth similar to that given by an orange sunset fading behind green hills.

Colour accent using any of the above – Image 1

I struggled in finding images for colour accent and have in this and in other images in this section used some “artistic licence” in creating this image. This was a hand held image of a sunset where I’ve exposed for the orange sunlight to put the hillside into silhouette. 

The small amount of the warming orange of the sky is in contrast to the black silhouetted hills though orange and black does create a colour harmony not found on the colour wheel. This colour combination is then in opposition to the grey of the clouds at the top of the image and the snow made grey from the fading light and camera under exposure. The only true colour in this image is then the “spot of orange” and feeling perhaps of some warmth against the cold greys elsewhere in the image.

Colour accent using any of the above – Image 2

I’ve continued the theme from image 1 where I’ve created an image where the colour is in isolation. I’ve used a macro lens, focused in artificial light using live view than taken whilst the room was in darkness. This is an image of the lit “on” button of a freeview digital TV box and its reflection from the black glass that it sits on. Taken in aperture priority the camera has determined a 15 second hitter exposure time.

This is a very abstract image and it’s interesting that this accent of blue coloured light actually varies in many shades of blue at this macro view where the eye from distance would have seen this as one consistent colour of blue.

Colour accent using any of the above – Image 3

This image has been taken with a 50mm lens at a wide aperture to create a wide enough depth of field to ensure focus on the hand and orange but to put the distracting background out of focus. I’ve used Google to find some help that allowed me to create an adjustment layer, select the orange, then invert the selection and desaturated the image with the exception of the orange. I’ve adjusted the contrast so that the lines in the skin of the hand are visible and can be compared to the texture of the orange.

I’ve seen a number a music videos where a similar process has been used so that the viewers’ attention is caught by the extreme contrast between colour and non-colour. It’s this contrast that I’ve wanted to create and though the small colour accent of orange is in a ratio of about 1:10 compared to the rest of the image in the image, it completely dominates the image. This image also contains a tension and implied movement in that the orange wants to fall to the ground and the energy of the hand and arm in maintain its position in the air of the ground.

Colour accent using any of the above – Image 4

These are the yellow / golden petals of a lily with its orange pollen stamens. Two of the stamens have been the focus point of the macro lens in manual using live view. The small depth of field has put the stamens in front the yellow petals behind into soft focus. Red/orange tissue paper behind the petals has also been put into soft focus.

The colour ratio between yellow and orange is about 5:1. The small amount of orange accent in the image can be easily focused upon in contrast to the much larger orange background. The careful cropping is able to use the border of petals identifiable as the shapes they are in contrast to the small accented orangey/red colour of tissue paper behind the petals and so allow the reader to identify what the abstract image is, even though it may not come straight away. The soft focus and harmonious colours give a feeling of warmth, the gentle diagonal curves of the petals imply a sense of slow movement and the stamens help the eye move from the bottom toward the top of the image.

The overall result for me is a soft and warm image with gentle and slow implied movement.