11
Color, Colour, Couleur
Hot Air Balloon
David M. Spindel
Early Morning
Arnold Drapkin
| Warm Colors | |||||||
| Cold Colors | |||||||
| Soft Colors | |||||||
| Strong Colors | |||||||
| Complementary Colors | |||||||
| Color Harmony | |||||||
| Abstract Color | |||||||
| Exercises | |||||||
Warm Colors: The elements in this sunset photograph of the opera house in Melbourne, Australia, are serene on one level and competitive on another. If the photograph were taken at night or during daylight, the building would have commanded full attention. But the oranges of the sky and reflections in the water, along with the contrast of silhouetted landmass, compete for attention with the internationally recognizable shape of the opera house. Instead of becoming just another photograph of a well-known landmark, the photographer’s timing in shooting this image makes the sunset the subject and the famous landmark a supporting player. The boat moving from right to left and leaving behind a wake provides an interesting lead line.
All of our knowledge has its origin in our perceptions.
Leonardo da Vinci
Blue Boat
David A. Page
Cold Colors: The analogous cool colors in this photograph create soothing harmony. However, most interestingly, this photograph is given a touch of drama with the ever-slight inclusion of complementary red. Though the bright blue boat grabs our immediate attention, the red draws the viewer into the composition’s foreground. Additional interest is conveyed by the tonal variations in the seaweed, which add depth and detail to the composition. The placement of the boat in the frame is at an angle and follows the rule of thirds. Lesser diagonal elements in the seaweed direct the viewer’s attention from the lower corners to the boat.
The whole world, as we experience it visually, comes to us through the mystic realm of color.
Hans Hofmann
Muted Colors
David A. Page
Soft Colors: The beauty in color lies not just in its intensity but also in its delicious subtleties, as in this landscape. The gold and small touches of orange of the tree and the minimal greenery offer delicate contrast against the neutral foregrounds and backgrounds, instilling a feeling of peace and calm. There are times when shouting is the correct thing to do and times when a whisper can actually speak louder. If this image had the same color contrast as the very successful image on the right, the image would have failed. The soft and finely detailed background of this image allowed a tree with little color contrast to stand out strongly from that background. The viewer in time seeks out details passed over at first glance.
Mimi’s Window
Vicki H. Wilson
Strong Colors: This photograph’s combination of complementary primary colors in large proportions makes a clearly bold statement. While the viewer sees the window, the way in which the photographer cropped the image says that the composition is not about the window—it’s all about the colors that just happen to take the shape of a window.
You’re working with composition and the colors. The subject is not everything.
William Eggleston
Cirque de Soleil
Michael Geissinger
Complementary Colors: The complementary bright yellows in this blue composition adamantly define the subject. The viewer perceives immediately that these are colorful circus tents with a host of international flags flying and the French flag to the far left. The yellow trash cans easily connect with the yellow strips of the tent, which are well positioned in the frame providing a feeling of balance.
The people in the dark foreground give scale to the tents. The contrasting bright yellow and blue tents against the lighter blue tones in the sky project a feeling that something fun and exciting is taking place, regardless of whether that’s really happening.
Color! What a deep mysterious language, the language of dreams.
Gauguin
Watercolors
David A. Page
Color is a strong compositional element. Water is in itself colorless, but is great at reflecting the colors of the sky and surrounding leaves, which perform as natural filters. In this photo, the original colors reflecting off the water were in the shade and therefore subdued. Lightening and restoring normal contrast using appropriate software makes the image “pop.”
Color is a means of expressing light.
Henri Matisse
St. Petersburg, Florida
Vicki H. Wilson
Color Harmony: Harmony describes the color interaction in this photograph of the St. Petersburg pier on a clear Florida day. In addition to the colors, the photographer was attracted by the lines and shapes within the composition.
Throughout the image, shapes, and colors play against one another: the arched windows of the tram and the rounded tops of the painted concrete abutments in the foreground, the yellow sports car and the shirt of the man standing next to the tram, and the angles of the neutral tones of the building and sea wall railing. Even the purple half-sphere complements the glass globes atop the lampposts.
Abstract
Lydia Zakia-Fahey
Abstract Color: This photograph is interesting on several levels. It incorporates the complementary hues of red and green with tonal variations and saturation. The shadows emphasize the highlight streaks, effecting a three-dimensional look, while the red wispy area conveys a sense of motion. But consequently, it’s left to the viewer’s imagination to identify the subject matter, if even so desired. It’s certainly not necessary. Color triggers both emotional and psychological responses in all of us. Red, for example, can represent both love and danger. We tend to interpret cool colors (blues, greens) as soothing and calming, and warm colors (yellows, reds) as inviting and energizing. Bold colors impart a sense of strength, power, and drama; subtle colors convey quietness, solemnity, and tranquility.
For me form is never abstract. It is always a sign of something. It is always a man, a bird, or something else.
Joan Miro
EXERCISES
Looking
1. Pete Turner has been a master in the realm of color photography over the past 50 years. Look over and study his dynamic use of color and composition on his web site, http://www.peteturner.com, and in his books. His recent books are African Journey and The Color of Jazz Album Covers with a foreword by Quincy Jones.
I’ve always been inspired by geometric shapes.
Pete Turner
2. Rick Sammon is an outstanding photographer, author, teacher, and lecturer. He works primarily in color and across cultures, and reminds us that “Cameras don’t take pictures, people do.” Spend time on his web site, http://www.ricksammon.com, and look at his photos in many of his books. Two of his most recent books are Rick Sammon’s Digital Photography Secrets and Face to Face, a book on how to photograph people.
3. Additional books you may want to check out are The Color of Wilderness by Eliot Porter and William Eggleston’s Guide by William Eggleston, with an introduction by John Szarkowski.
Photo 1. Direction.
Pete Turner.
Photo 2. Carnevale, Venice.
Rick Sammon.
Photographing
Contrasting Colors
1. Photograph two objects in close proximity that have strong contrasting colors, such as yellow and blue. The yellow should enhance the blue color and vice versa.
Similar Colors
2. Create a still-life photograph using colors that have similar or adjacent hues, such as those found on a color wheel. Consider some of the warm colors—yellow bananas, lemons, oranges, and red apples, and so on, as well as flowers and other things of similar colors.
Dominant Color
3. Have one object stand out among other colors, such as a child wearing a bright red cap in a landscape of green, or a red boat against blue water.
Fireworks
4. Try photographing a burst of colors against a dark sky at the peak of the burst so as to capture an interesting pattern of colors, or the shape of a single color, such as the heart we see here. A slow shutter speed was used so that several of the burst “blossoms” could be captured as one image.
For other images by Page, go to http://www.david-page-photography.com.
Photo 3. Valentine.
David A. Page.