Colour

Colour

Definition & Theory

The property possessed by an object of producing different sensations on the eye as a result of the way it reflects or emits light.

Saturated colour - Refers to the intensity of a colour, it is colour in its purest form. They are bright and stand out, especially when set against complimentary colours.

Analogous Colours - A group of related colours that are near each other within the colour wheel that show a graduation of colour, with one being the more dominant colour (for example: red, orange and yellow). These are more harmonious colours.

Complimentary Colours - Two colours on the opposite side of the colour wheel that contrast each other.

Muted Colours - Typically colours that have a lack of vibrancy or saturation. Colours such as earthtones: greys, browns, tans and coppers.

Hue

Hue defines pure color in terms of "green", "red" or "magenta". Hue also defines mixtures of two pure colors like "red-yellow" (~ "orange"), or "yellow-green" (limitations to this statement will be addressed later). Hue is usually one property of three when used to determine a certain color. Hue is a more technical definition of our color perception which can be used to communicate color ideas. Hue ranges from 0° to 359° when measured in degrees. Hues can refer to the set of "pure" colors within a color space. 

Examples of Colour in Photography

Saturated Colour

Analogous Colour

Muted Colour

Complimentary Colour

Comparison

David LaChapelle

Nadav Kander

There is a significant difference between the photo taken by David LaChapelle and the photos taken by Nadav Kander. The colours used in LaChappele's image are very saturated and convey feelings of happiness and contentment. As well as this, it shows that the people in the image are happy and are having fun, and this is conveyed using the bright colours such as yellow and red. In contrast to this, the images taken by Kander illustrate a very different mood. Both the above images have a blue tone to them and their use of shadow is done well to portray the feelings of the image. For example, blue connotes feelings of sadness and depression, which could be what the photographer is trying to show in these images. The use of shadow could suggest an element of mystery within the images. The first image above shot by Kander is an album by John Coltrane and because of the colour, it could suggest that some of his songs have a sad element to them.

Research (of artists and techniques) 

ROBERT CARTWRIGHT

All of the above images were photographed using bright and saturated colours. They are all similar and it is clear that he has his own photographic style when it comes to creating images and putting together his compositions. Most of the images that I have selected as examples were taken in an abstract way. The use of bright and saturated colour could have possibly been used to make the audience feel joyful and content, as this is what the connotations of saturated colours are. The contrast between the muted colour background and the saturation in the centre of the composition makes the colour stand out and allows the audience to feel the effects of the different types of colour.

MARTIN PARR

Martin Parr (born 23 May 1952) is a British documentary photographer, photojournalist and photobook collector. He is known for his photographic projects that take an intimate, satirical and anthropological look at aspects of modern life, in particular documenting the social classes of England, and more broadly the wealth of the Western world. His major projects have been rural communities (1975–82), The Last Resort (1983–85), The Cost of Living (1987–89), Small World (1987–94) and Common Sense (1995–99). Since 1994, Parr has been a member of Magnum Photos. He has had around 40 solo photobooks published, and has featured in around 80 exhibitions worldwide.

I gained inspiration from this by producing my own images based on analogous and, saturated and complimentary colours and taking images from various different angles, and then further editing them to enhance colour using Photoshop.

Image Bank

The following images were added as part of my visual research.

The above pictures are a collection of photographs that represent the visual element of colour. These are also images that I felt that I could recreate well myself. These images convey various different types of colour such as analogous, complimentary and saturated colours. They are also taken with a variety of different angles and styles which I hope that I am able to do within my own work.

(AO1:  You must ensure that several of the visual ideas/inspirations within the image bank are pursued.)

Selected Images

Contact sheet(s)

My Best Images (target 4 - 6)

I selected the following as my best images:

Images that require improvement. 

(AT LEAST 2 IMAGES)

There were two images that I selected that needed improvement for a variety of reasons. The first image that I selected I decided needed improvement because I felt as though I needed to take the shot from inside the facility rather than through a window as it would have accentuated the colour and shown the detail in a better way. Due to the fact that I took the shot from through a window, the reflections of me and other people are present within the composition and blocking a lot of the colour. If I was to improve on this image, I would enter the facility to take a more detailed photo and this would then prevent the reflections blocking most of the shot. It would also bring the colour into light and make it the centre of the composition.

The second image is an image that I felt needed improvement for various reasons. One of these reasons is that I felt as though the image is way too blurry and therefore does not capture the saturation of the colour in a good way. The angle at which I took this image also does not make the colour the focus of the composition, which was my aim when attempting to take this image. If I was to improve on this image, I would stand in a less busy place and take the time to get the right shot that accentuates the saturation of the colours within the composition and to also bring to light that the colours are complimentary colours. If I was to do this, I feel as though I would create the best possible image.

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

The main idea that I had and the main reason for creating images with colour was that I felt that throughout Harlow, there are various different places and shop signs that convey colour in an interesting way that is beneficial to me when photographing images with colour. Some images are more traditional and some images are presented in a much more abstract way, and I felt as though this fit with my artist research and I also felt I was able to recreate these images well.  I feel as though some of the images I created reflect the style of both Robert Cartwright and Martin Parr, as I have tried to use a variety of different types of colour and a lot of my photos contain the sky, which Martin Parr often included in his photographs.

The images that I retrieved from my time exploring Harlow turned out well and I felt that overall, I captured the visual element of 'colour' well. However, due to this being the first time I have used my camera for a long period of time, there were certain aspects of my work that I felt could have been improved due to not knowing a lot of the camera settings.   

With reference to the Best selected images... 

The image of the neon lights was shot from a low angle and was shot using zoom so I was able to capture the best image that I could to show up the intensity of the colour within the lights. The colour that I managed to capture was very saturated colour, as the orange and pink lights were neon, so the type of colour they usually emit is saturated and intense. The two colours were analogous colours, as they are together within the colour wheel.

The image of the sky through the skylight was also shot from a low angle and I feel as though it captures the colour of the sky in a good way. I also feel that this image that I created was created in the style of Martin Parr, as a lot of his images include the sky and he also photographs things that are present within everyday life, which I feel that I have done here. The colours are analogous but the sky is very bright and I feel that with the use of photoshop, I could make the sky a lot more saturated.

I feel as though I captured the picture of the orange bins in the style of Martin Parr, as these are  very much everyday objects, but with the use of editing and colour, they stand out as being very vibrant and interesting objects. I decided to shoot this image as the brightness of the orange stood out to me and I thought I would be able to create a good composition with this image. With the use of photoshop, I feel as though I would be able to make the composition even better and more saturated in terms of colour.

The image that I captured of the lights I feel was created in the style of Robert Cartwright, as he is known for capturing images of colour in a very abstract way. Adjusting the camera settings allowed me to create this image due to the shutter speed and aperture being changed, giving me a longer exposure time to be able to create these images. I feel as though they came out well, and they do reflect some of the work of Robert Cartwright.

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

For all of the above images, I used a CANON EOS 1300D. I have not used my camera a lot before so I feel as though I could still learn a lot about the different settings and that this would improve on my image compositions in a hugely positive way. For most of these images, the flash was not on due to the fact I was shooting in the daylight. To capture more detail, I would shoot with a flash as I feel like this would capture more detail in the image. I did learn about aperture and shutter speed, so I was able to create the image with the lights, which I felt was an improvement on last time when I didn't know a lot about the camera and it's settings.

If I were to reshoot this image again I would use a tripod to hold the camera steady and try to improve on the sharpness of the image, as I feel that I would be able to create a better composition in terms of contrast and detail.

In order to improve on the images that I took, I decided to import them into Photoshop in order to enhance them and improve on their composition and the way that they have been shot. In order to do this, I decided to use various different techniques to accentuate the colour, which is the main focus of the composition. I used selective colour to only select certain parts of the image to have colour and the rest of the composition to be in black and white. I feel that this really makes colour the centre of the composition. I also increased the contrast and the saturation to make the images stand out better.

The screen grabs that I have selected show how I used Photoshop to create a high contrast black and white image. To do use this, I used the selective colour tool and the curve tool, gradually adjusting the colour sliders to get the clear contrast effect and to improve on the images saturation and colour composition.

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

The artist research that I did was extremely helpful in the fact that I was able to gain an understanding of the different artists and their different styles. Knowing about when they were born and where they were born helps me to interpret their work and understand what they were thinking when they took a certain image. Researching images that they have created helps me to try and recreate these images and then shooting my own images in their style. For example, my research on Martin Parr helped me to choose to take photos of very realistic things but then edit them in an abstract way. Additionally to this, I was able to get a better understanding of the visual element 'colour' and how different colours can convey different emotions and feelings.

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

Overall, I think that I have produced a good series of images inspired by my research of colour, composition and the images of both Martin Parr and Robert Cartwright...  The final images produced were changed by developing the contrast and increasing the saturation and using selective colour tools to enhance the images colour and make it the sole focus of the overall composition.

I feel as though I captured the picture of the orange bins in the style of Martin Parr, as these are very much everyday objects, but with the use of editing and colour, they stand out as being very vibrant and interesting objects. I decided to shoot this image as the brightness of the orange stood out to me and I thought I would be able to create a good composition with this image. With the use of photoshop, I feel as though I would be able to make the composition even better and more saturated in terms of colour. The fact that they are the only part of the image that is in colour and I edited the background of the image to be black and white allows the foreground of the image to stand out and the vibrant colour accentuates the fact that this is an everyday life object.

This image was taken in Harlow and I edited it in such a way that it would have a low saturation. I decided to do this as the image was filled with a lot of concrete and bland buildings, and I felt as though I could further represent this by lowering the saturation and contrast. By doing this, it gives a dull connotation to the image and could suggest that this part of the town is boring and that there is not much to do.

The image of the sky through the skylight was also shot from a low angle and I feel as though it captures the colour of the sky in a good way. I also feel that this image that I created was created in the style of Martin Parr, as a lot of his images include the sky and he also photographs things that are present within everyday life, which I feel that I have done here. The colours are analogous but the sky is very bright and I feel that with the use of photoshop, I could make the sky a lot more saturated. Saturated colours symbolise happiness and have positive connotations, and it also stands out from the rest of the image. 

The image that I captured of the lights I feel was created in the style of Robert Cartwright, as he is known for capturing images of colour in a very abstract way. Adjusting the camera settings allowed me to create this image due to the shutter speed and aperture being changed, giving me a longer exposure time to be able to create these images. I feel as though they came out well, and they do reflect some of the work of Robert Cartwright. This kind of photography could connotes someone's thoughts and feelings and how they are all intertwined and connected.

The image of the neon lights was shot from a low angle and was shot using zoom so I was able to capture the best image that I could to show up the intensity of the colour within the lights. The colour that I managed to capture was very saturated colour, as the orange and pink lights were neon, so the type of colour they usually emit is saturated and intense. The two colours were analogous colours, as they are together within the colour wheel. Neon lights are usually associated with fun events such as nightclubs and parties, so this image has positive connotations and could imply a fun activity such as a nightclub or party.