Colour Theory From Academia to "Gut Feel" Unlike painters, most photographs have little if any training in colour theory. This is a pity, since unless one understands the physiological as well as psychological basis of formal colour theory it's hard to understand why some photographs work and some don't, except on a "gut feel" basis. I find it remarkable, but over the years I have never seen a comprehensive article in any photographic magazine about colour theory. This is not a simple topic. I've used coloured text wherever the name of a colour is used. The Colour Spectrum Discussions about colour (British spelling) always begin with a colour wheel (above) and a discussion of the Primary Colours. RGB (Red / Blue / Green) CMY (Cyan / Magenta / Yellow) YRB (Yellow / Red / Blue) RGB is used by most electronic and transmissive-light technologies such as TV and film, and CMY (actually CMYK including Black) is used with reflected light technologies such as printing inks. First and Second Order Colours
The Importance of Color in Photography: An Interview with Mitchell Kanashkevich A Post By: Darren Rowse Since launching our Captivating Color eBook last week I’ve had a few questions from readers on the topic of color, its importance and why we created a whole eBook on a topic like this. I thought there was no better person to ask than the eBook’s author – Mitchell Kanashkevich. Mitchell, why did you decide to write a whole eBook to color? The main reason is that there’s a real lack of understanding when it comes to color. I wrote the eBook in large part to help those who already understand some of the photography basics to get to the next level, but also to make those who are just starting out aware, right from the beginning of how important color is. So why exactly is color important? There are two main reasons. It’s true, emotions can be a vital part of photography, please expand a little on this topic. Emotions are vital. Could it be because we don’t think that we can control color in any way? We can actually do a number of things to control color.
How To Use Colour Effectively To Enhance Your Digital Photography A Post By: Darren Rowse The following tip on using Colors in Digital Photography was submitted by Amy Renfrey – author of the Digital Photography Success ebook. Digital photography has a lot of fantastic opportunities. The first thing I recommend to start with if you are a serious digital photography enthusiast is to understand how colour works. Colours such as blues, greens, mauves, etc are introverted colours and can often give your photo different feel to reds and yellows. Colour such as yellows, red, oranges and pinks can often instil an energetic feeling. This is another reason why not all things look as good in black and white, and why some things in fact do look better in black and white. In a very simple sense if you want to create a sense of stillness and calm in your digital photography then aim for subjects that have these colours. Contrasting colours in digital photography work very well too.
Color in photography - Color theory Color is everywhere. We take them for granted. Sometimes we are stunned by them. Color theory is relatively new in the world of photography, but in the world of art there has been centuries worth of research and thinking gone into the subject of color. This is the first in a series of articles concerning color in photography. Back in the days Sunny autumn colors... by Marius Waldal of black and white film, photographers were able to extensively process their photos in the darkroom, which was a science and art in itself. Now in the digital age, the power is back with the people. But color in photography is not just about the power of digital post-processing tools. Three parameters to color Color actually encompasses three parameters, or properties, which you might be familiar with from dabbling in Photoshop or other photo manipulation software: namely hue, saturation and brightness (HSB), that can all be measured. Hue Hue is what most people actually mean when they say “color”. Saturation
Creative Photography: Colour Theory Computers and digital cameras are able to create the vast range of colours by mixing different proportions of the three additive primary colours – these are red, green and blue. If there are any artists reading this and thinking the authors of this book don’t have a clue what they are talking about – read the section below on Red-Blue-Yellow. Red, Green and Blue (often abbreviated to RGB) are the additive primary colours of light – the ones that your camera sees and that every computer monitor and TV throughout the world uses to display its images. Mixing all three additive primaries together gives you white. These three colours enable your camera to capture a vast array of colours (but by no means all colours). Subtractive primaries are the colours used by most printers – usually cyan, magenta and yellow (and abbreviated to CMY). Here are two colour charts I am sure you are familiar with from art classes when you were in school. Colour Models and Colour Spaces Colour Modes (Photoshop)