colour

Colour

"the property possessed by an object of producing different sensations on the eye as a result of the way it reflects or emits light.". In photography, colour has the power to both take a good image to great, or take that same image, and absolutely ruin it. In the visual arts, color theory or colour theory is a body of practical guidance to color mixing and the visual effects of a specific color combination. There are also definitions (or categories) of colors based on the color wheel: primary color, secondary colorand tertiary color.

• Secondary - a colour resulting from the mixing of two primary colours i.e. blue and yellow make green with blue and yellow being the primary colours and green the secondary .

• Vibrant - bright colours that are bold and stand out from others

• Complementary colours - are pairs of colours which, when combined, cancel each other out. This means that when combined, they produce a grayscale colour like white or black. When placed next to each other, they create the strongest contrast for those particular two colour, on the colour wheel, complimentary colours are always opposite to each other 

• Analogous colours - groups of three colours that are next to each other on the colour wheel, sharing a common colour  with one being the dominant color, which tends to be a primary or secondary color, and a tertiary. An analogous color scheme creates a rich, monochromatic look, the analogous colours are usually similar shades or complimentary shades on the colour wheel. 

• Warm colours - any colour that is vivid or bold in nature. Warm colours are those that tend to advance in space and can be overwhelming these colours tend to be more yellow tones.

• Cool colours - any colour that is calm or soothing in nature. Cool colours are not overpowering and tend to recede in space, these colours tend to have blue tones.

Colour and emotion

Different colours can convey different moods and emotions;

• Green - In its positive mode, green suggests nature (plant life, forests), life, stability, restfulness, naturalness. On the other hand, green in some tones or certain contexts (such as green skin) might instead suggest decay (fungus, mold), toxicity, artificial. green is also connotated with illness and the feeling of being disgust (being green in the face often associates with throwing up etc)

• Red - Light red represents joy, passion, sensitivity, and love. Aswell as romance, love, and friendship. Dark red is associated with willpower, rage, anger, leadership and courage. Also associated with royalty as a red cape etc.

• Orange -  Orange is associated with joy, sunshine, and the tropics. Orange represents enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, creativity, determination, attraction, success, encouragement, and stimulation.

• Yellow - On one hand yellow stands for freshness, happiness, positivity, clarity, energy, optimism, enlightenment, remembrance, intellect, honor, loyalty, and joy, but on the other, it represents cowardice and deceit.

• Blue - The color blue can show calm and serenity. Yet as a cool color, blue can sometimes seem icy, distant, or even cold, blue can also show a feeling of sadness and worry.
• Purple- Purple combines the calm stability of blue and the fierce energy of red. The color purple is often associated with royalty, nobility, luxury, power, and ambition. Purplealso represents meanings of wealth, extravagance, creativity, wisdom, dignity, grandeur, devotion, peace, pride, mystery, independence, and magic. Occasionally connotated with the feeling of fear.

How are colours used in Music videos?

In this Coldplay music video. it is shown that the low light and dark colours to help convey the sad, depressing theme of the song. As the photo below shows, the deep, dark blues and black colours are conveying the miserable atmosphere to the viewers.


                                     

However, in this photo you can see the contrast in the two music videos. Amy Winehouse's song is upbeat and cheerful and is backed up by a music video which contains bright, bold colours. These colours help to convey the lively feel of the music and the mood of the lyrics.

Robert Cartwright- English photographer who uses colour in his work, still an active photographer

These photos display a good use of colour as objects are placed on dark backgrounds which compliment the bold colours of the object being photographed

Contact Sheet
These images were all taken on my Fujifilm camera I shot most of these when I had first got my camera, so in some photos the focus is wrong or the exposure or light needs to be edited, which is what i will do to my best images as some aren't worth editing, the images of the sunset were taken out of a window at around 6 in the morning, some from the from of my house and some from the back, the others were taken later on within that day, hence the change in settings, my favourite images of this set are the second one in the top row, of the line of droplets, which show a gradient in blue which i created my self using a watercolour palette, the two images of the eye are also my personal favourites, they were taken with different apertures which is why one is more exposed than the other, i also like all the images from the sunrise as even when unedited they capture the natural beauty of a sunrise.

Best Images/ improved images

Here I have added some of my best photographs (unedited and then edited). i tried to take these in the style of Cartwright but also add my own individuality to them.

          

Final Image

Photographs that require improvement

In all the photos included below I feel that the colours need enhancing or needs to be sharpened. Some were taken with the flash, meaning that they are too bright and need darkening however others were taken whilst it was dark.

AO1: Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding.

(Here you will discuss how you developed your work based on your research of e.g. artists/photographers, etc).

The artist research was very useful during these shoots as I had some inspiration on how to tackle the subject from a range of subjects. My research of Cartwright helped me to focus on the details of the objects. I found this helpful because where I live I have a lot of opportunities to photograph different mediums including a range of naturally occurring colours.  maybe

The research on colour was helpful to this study and I feel that I shot some good photos that had enough colour to draw the viewer's eye to the object.

(It is important that you show a progression of your work… which may mean revisiting a subject area and adding additional images showing a development of your ideas or refinement of the final images through).

AO3: Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions, reflecting critically on work and progress.

My idea for recording colour was to photograph the finer details in nature, like Cartwright, and to focus on isolating the boldest colour or capture multiple colours at one time. I was inspired by the work of Robert Cartwright, by his method of taking photos, and by what he captured within some of  his photos. 

      With reference to my best images, I feel that although I could not create photographs exactly like Robert Cartwright's photos, I did create a set that was in the style of his work (centering the main subject/object within the composition, use of strong (saturated) colours. I am happy with the overall outcome of my images and feel that they all show the many ways that colour can be captured within a photograph both with and without editing.

With regards to some of the images that did not come out as I expected, I struggled to adapt my camera settings as I was unfamiliar with how the camera worked.   Some images lacked focus, whilst in the case of others I struggled to use the cameras exposure meter.   I believe I can overcome these issues through more practise.

AO2: Explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, reviewing and refining ideas as work develops.

I used a FujiFilm for all the shots taken. I tried to increase the aperture setting to as high as possible so that I can have a sharper picture with a wider depth of field, however in some cases this was not possible as the lighting was poor and the images ended up over exposed.

i feel i need to develop my understanding of how my camera works in manual mode by independently adjusting the shutter speed and aperture of my camera instead of relying on the automatic mode like i have been before, i could also improve my images by using a tripod which eliminates the risk of having a blurred image due to restricted movement.

AO4: Present a personal and meaningful response that realises intentions and, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements.  

(At the end of the entry you will discuss whether you have produced a personal and meaningful response, this means  (are my images creative/relevant to the subject area studied/connected and influenced by any research undertaken). 

I believe that I have produced a strong series of images inspired by my research of colour and the artist Robert Cartwright. The final images were refined by developing the contrast and changing the brightness.