Assignment 2 - colour

This second assignment is all about colour and, although this is all around us, it was not an easy assignment to produce examples of the different colour relationships. I have tried here to vary the subject matter and not to forget the lessons learned previously about design and composition.

All photographs for this assignment were taken in Raw and I have used the Raw plug-in for Photoshop Elements 7 to process them and crop to size/straighten the horizon where required. At this stage of my learning, I haven't used any other tools in Elements 7 ( with the exception of the perspective tool!).

Colour harmony through complementary colours

Complementary colours face each other across the colour circle and their juxtaposition is striking and very pleasing.

This first example was taken on a recent visit to Seville and is a simple shot of some stacked green cafe chairs next to some folded red umbrellas. This was a hand-held shot taken with my Canon 1000 DSLR with Tamron 18 - 270mm lens (as with all the shots in this assignment unless indicated otherwise), ISO 400, shutter speed 1/400 secs and f/11 @55mm. Unfortunately, the chair on the right is a little over-exposed because of the strong sunlight.

Another example of the red and green colour is this local hand-painted road sign, somewhat overgrown with green leaves which form a very attractive border around the red circle and makes the whole road-sign

really stand out. Again the shot was hand-held at ISO 400 at shutter speed 1/125 secs and f/5.6 @ 168mm.

A third red/green shot is this taken at the old port of Sancti Petri. I love the texture of the wall with the faded green 'P' sign and the more modern red Coca cola 'flag'. The long shadow cast by

the flag indicate that this shot was taken about an hour before sun-set. ISO 400, hand-held shutter speed 1/400 secs and f/11 @ 65mm.

Another colour relationship, and probably my favourite, is orange/blue. I spotted this collection of road barriers on the local promenade that were in readiness for an event the following day.

I like the composition but there is an interesting vertical blue tube in the centre which contrasts with the prevailing orange colour. Hand-held, ISO 400, shutter speed 1/200 secs, f/6.3 @ 100mm.

A more striking example is this shot of a Japanese tourist in Seville. The deep blue of the shoulder bag complements the orange of the shopping bag (its a pity I couldn't get more of it!).

The green of the bush adds to the harmony of the shot with the orange and green being contrasting colours a third of the way around the colour circle. Hand-held at ISO 400, shutter speed 1/1000 secs, f/11 @ 168 mm.

Finally, a violet/yellow combination in this photo of a gourd against the background of my wife's violet jumper gives a very pleasing combination.

This shot was taken using a tripod at ISO 100, shutter speed 3.2 secs, f/13 @77mm.

Colour harmony through similar colours

This section relates to colours that are 'similar' i.e. near to each other in the colour circle.

The first shot I have chosen shows the 'cool' combination of blue and green. This collection of

fishing baskets taken at the port of Sancti Petri are predominantly blue with several green sections, as shown, and the odd yellow piece has crept in at the top of the shot. This was a much bigger pile of baskets but I decided to focus in to get right amongst them. Hand-held using a Canon 18 - 55mm lens @ 35mm, shutter speed 1/2500 secs at f/4.

I hope that my second choice is acceptable although the varnished wood is a very dirty orange colour in contrast to the less-saturated orange of the revealed wood and archway. Anyway, I saw this doorway in Chiclana and loved the colours and the peeling effect, and so decided to use it. The two 'oranges'

give a very warm combination. Hand-held, ISO 200, shutter speed 1/200 secs, f/5 @ 77mm.

This young couple with their toddler in a push-chair attracted my attention because of the light green colour of the mans t-shirt and the yellow/orange colour of the hood of the push-chair

This colour combination is very close on the colour circle but, for me, is neither a cold or warm combination, perhaps because of the unsaturated colours. Hand-held, ISO 400, shutter speed 1/200 secs, f/11 @ 59mm.

The fourth shot is another blue/green combination but it doesn't seem a cold combination here, perhaps because of the blue sky which implies warmth (well it does in Seville in September!). It shows the cupola of a small shrine on the Triana side of the Isabel II bridge across the River Guadalquivir in Seville. The colours of the blue tiling and the green miniature columns are wonderful and this is made even more intense by the blue sky (yes!, it really was that colour!).

Hand-held, ISO 400, shutter speed 1/500 secs, f/11 @ 77mm.

As an extra photograph, I have included this misty landscape of the distant hills from the highest point in Chiclana, the Santa Ana church. The shot was taken on a very cloudy morning over the rooftops of nearby buildings towards the east and I was trying to see how much detail I could obtain of the very distant mountain range. The result exceeded my expectations and I obtained

this very surreal image with subtle bands of colour distinguishing the different ranges of hills into the distance. There is a gradual change from the blue of the foreground to a more grey colour in the far distance but I have included it here for that reason. Hand-held, ISO 200, shutter speed 1/400 secs, f/7.10 @ 270mm.

Colour harmony through contrasting colours

The relationship here is between colours spaced about a third of the way around the colour circle e.g. blue/red, orange/green, red/yellow.

My first example is a portrait of two girls wearing red and blue tops. This was taken during a portrait session with my local camera group using a tripod, flash, ISO 200, shutter speed 1/125 secs, f/5.6 @77mm.

Secondly, this photo shows grandmother and her granddaughter having fun in a park in Cádiz.

I was really pleased to get this action shot and the orange of the woman's dress is great against the green leaves of the bushes behind. Taken hand-held, ISO 400, shutter speed 1/80 seconds, f/5.0 @ 70mm.

This photograph was taken from the shore at Sancti Petri. The red of the windsurfer and the yellow of the buoys are contrasting colours. Hand-held, ISO 400, shutter speed 1/160 secs, f/11 @ 270mm.

I came across this window display in Seville and I love the intensity of all the colours but particularly the contrasting orange of the bedspread and the green of the cushions. These window display people obviously know something about colour combinations!

Hand-held, ISO 400, shutter speed 1/30 secs, f/11 @ 109mm.

Colour accent

I found this the most difficult of the four sections to find suitable photographs. What I have come up with is a mixture of arranged and 'uncontrolled' situations.

This first is another use of a marker-buoy in the channel at Sancti Petri. The 'spot' of colour on the blue sea made by the buoy, and the reflexion in the very calm water, shows the relationship between the red and blue very well and I like the reflexion of the mast of a sailing boat which crosses the centre of the frame.

Hand-held, ISO 400 in early morning light, shutter speed 1/250 secs, f/5.6 @ 142mm.

Secondly, this close-up shot of an hibiscus flower in our garden has a very pleasing colour combination. I went for a shallow depth-of-field by focusing on the yellow stamen and leaving the petal out of focus and this works well, in my view.

Taken with a tripod, ISO 100, shutter speed 1/25 secs, f/10 @ 270mm.

Thirdly, when an Alaskan circus came to Chiclana, I couldn't resist taking some shots of their large blue and white tents with their wonderful flowing shapes. I chose the angle for this shot to include all three tops of the large tents and the two red stars was an added bonus. I think that the blue of the sky and the predominantly blue of the tents make a good background for the

'accent' of the red stars. Hand-held, ISO 400, shutter speed 1/1250 secs, f/11 @ 168mm.

Finally, this arranged photograph of a 'fit-ball' on our lawn is not quite as boring as I thought it might be. I like the texture of the grass and the slightly different greens but the blue ball stands out here. The shadow made by the ball also draws the eye towards the centre of the frame.

Hand-held, ISO 400, shutter speed 1/15 secs, f/5.6 @ 25mm.

Conclusion

There is no doubt in my mind that I have gained a greater appreciation of the role of colour in the composition of photographs and, although many of the photographs for this assignment would not be numbered amongst my favourites (although some are), I believe that they show a good use of colour relationships. In reviewing the technical data, I believe that I should have made greater use of my tripod for greater sharpness and I will address this in the future.