Color Vision 5

Color Exercises

Let's take a brief break from the tips and techniques of the Color Vision series to do some color exercises you might like to try as a way to exercise your visual muscle. My suggestion is to first look for scenes or past images that fulfill these exercises, and of course use them to compose when you photograph now to see how they work.

 This hand tinted fall scene, adding pastels to embolden the print, was made along the Chama River in New Mexico and shows how color offsets, here the warm colors of the foliage set against the distant mountain and sky, create a feeling of distance and space within the frame.

*Look for complementary colors to offset dominant colors (those that take up most of the scene) or subjects with those colors.

*When shooting in color cast conditions (sunrise/sunset, fog, snow etc) look for offset and accent colors, such as warmer colors with an overcast sky or cooler colors when the sky turns warmer late in the afternoon.

*When working in color "families", look for complementary colors as accents.

While this scene would be characterized as "cool" in overall color cast, the red accent on the life preserver holder on the pole is a complementary color accent that catches the eye. 

*Create a color “shimmer” with equally valued complementary colors.

*Use exposure techniques to change color intensity--overexpose for paler colors; underexpose slightly for increased saturation. When shooting monochrome color scenes, vary exposure plus and minus by1 stop to explore color contrast effects.

*In a distant landscape, cool colors say "distance". Create scale and perspective with complementary colors in the foreground.

*If a foreground subject has a dark color, and the background is dark, seek complementary colors to increase contrast. The same holds true for a light foreground and background.

Photographed right after sundown under an overcast sky, a blue color cast dominates, but is offset by the complementary yellow of the building lights. Note how the lighter hue of blue in the building details offsets against the darker sky.

*A bright color will always dominate a more muted color. Use of complementary relationships will increase the visual energy of the background.

*Explore monochrome effects in different hues.

*In a scene with a family of colors, compose so that one hue dominates the frame, allowing the other hues to play supporting roles. 

Next in the series: How the eye and the camera "see" differently: color recording, color temperature and more.

Color Vision 2

Our Perception of Color

Light is colorless. In and of itself, it has no inherent color. As a child you might have noticed this, especially if you got your hands on a prism and held it to catch the rays of the sun and projected it onto a sheet of white paper. Miraculously, that ray of light breaks into bands of color. Rainbows are formed in similar fashion and offer a grander view of this phenomenon, the full menu of ROYGBIV (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet) colors that we can perceive.

This double rainbow resulted from the rays of the setting sun coming from low on the horizon after a storm. The diffraction of the light through water droplets in the sky acts as a kind of prism that reveals the spectrum of color. 

While rainbows inspire awe and wonder, they also offer a catalog of the color frequencies on the electromagnetic spectrum available to humans. That range is  "sandwiched" between ultraviolet and infrared, which are actually available to certain animals and insects, used for hunting and getting around in environments in which we would be blind. (One of the peskier examples are mosquitos, who see us as a glowing target.)

Taken with an IR-modified sensor in a digital camera, this image shows how some creatures "see" into the higher end of the electromagnetic spectrum. In days past photographers had access to IR and "near" IR sensitive film that could do the same, often enhanced via a red filter mounted over the lens.

Stretch that spectrum wider and wider and you enter the world of gamma and radio waves. We cannot, luckily I suppose, see all those waves (consider how driving around with the radio on with both visible sound and light waves coming from the speakers would affect the commute). Auditory nerves take care of sound perception and eyes the visual, both of which are sorted out by the brain. In short, we see color in a fairly narrow band of all the wavelengths around us.

The eye contains receptors that work in concert with certain frequencies, and we see those frequencies as certain colors. What we call "red" is actually a wavelength of about 680 nanometers (one billionth of a meter in frequency, or wave length); yellow light has a frequency of just under 600 nanometers, a narrow gap indeed, but one that indicates the subtlety of color perception. Blue light of the sky has a lower frequency, about 475 nanometers, caused by the scatter of shorter wavelengths by the air itself. If that scatter resulted in a few nanometers difference we might see a red sky above our heads!

(If one needed a rational explanation of how psychics see auras, it might be suggested that they are capable of perceiving color in different ways, or that they can perceive in the fringes of the spectrum that are invisible to the “normal” eye. Attributing physical or spiritual states to certain color emanations is probably more poetic than clinical, and speaks more to our emotional reaction to certain colors and shades than any diagnosis or proposed course of healing.)

Without the "filters" of our visual system we would see the world in interesting, though not very helpful, ways. We can emulate this disorienting visual world with photography using slow shutter speeds and camera motion during long exposures.

Describing color as a neurological reaction to wavelengths is in no way meant to denigrate its wonder, or reduce it to a mere scientific phenomena. Let the idea sit for a while, and begin to look around. This might open you up to seeing and appreciating the amazing energy that constantly surrounds us. Take the time to watch a full sunrise or sunset and notice how the sky shifts in color. Being open to that energy has lots of creative power. It’s a good way to explore ideas about how color can be used as a vital tool for visual expression, and perhaps guide you in choosing the decisive moment to snap the shutter.

Next posting: Color Absorption and Reflection

Color Vision Part 1

Seeing Color

There’s a reason people stand at water’s edge and look into the distance as the sun goes down.

Just after the sun sets, the light coming from just below the horizon reflects off the sky onto the water and back again, filling the world with a dazzling array of texture, color and tone. While those moments seem brief in relation to the rest of the day, they are a profound reminder of the passage of time, and provide a respite between the often hurried day and calm of night. That time of transition is, for some, a quiet contemplation, and a way to once again bathe in the refreshing beauty of pure color and light.

The effect of color on the eye, and the mind, is profound, and can influence both mood and attitude. We adopt color associations from our culture, or create our own through experience or subtle affinities. When we ask: what's your favorite color?, we are seeking clues that others might find by asking: what's your sign? In certain circles and parts of the world, color meditation is used to calm or excite the mind, even to heal the body.

We relate colors to virtually every aspect of our lives, and use them as an important indicator of time and place, of intimacy and space, even of fear and attraction. A calm deep blue sky, for example, is certainly more reassuring than a swirling green one. Deep within our subconscious, the oranges and reds of deep autumn, or the brilliant colors of spring, evoke more than just an understanding that the season is undergoing a change.

Painters study the influence of color on emotions and consciously apply it in their work. Compare the effect of the deep umber and ochre of Rembrandt’s portraits with the vibrant colors of Fauvist cityscapes; of Picasso's blue period with that of Renoir's golden light. Naturalist painters, like those of the Hudson River School, use color and tone as markers of distance and scale, juxtaposing complementary colors of different intensity to create shadow, line and form. Modern abstract painters such as Mark Rothko use "pure" color as vibrational fields that affect us on both a visceral and emotional level. Visit museums to view some of the artist's work mentioned here or, for a lesser though perhaps more accessible view, check out the work online.

While it could be argued that painters have more control over color than photographers, who often rely more on external than internal realities for their picture's content, a thoughtful consideration of the power of color by a photographer is well worth the time. Indeed, any photographer shooting color will do well to understand how color affects subject, scene, point of view, and personal expression and interpretation in their images.

The aim of this series is to explore and appreciate color as photographers, and to use that knowledge first, and perhaps most importantly, to open our eyes to the potential of color in the world around us and apply it to enhance our work. Since we operate through the machine of a camera and lens, that application is both emotional and technical, with each “side” reinforcing the other.

Part 2 of this series of posts will define some terms used and characteristics of color that will give us a common ground as we go forward.

Text and images copyright George Schaub 2018