فهـــم الألـــــــوان .. العناصر الأساسية للصورة .. كتاب التصوير الضوئي

Understanding Colors.. The Basic Elements of an Image.. The Book of Photography

Understanding Colors

Color and shade are closely related. When combined with form, they become elements that give it its strength and substance. Of course, color has an influential meaning: the reds, greens, and blues in our daily lives entice or repel us depending on the way they are connected. Color provides information about the environment and creates an atmosphere. We feel color according to our experience and the connection of our ideas: a black tree in winter and a green tree in spring.

We can create very striking images with a little color in a wide range of color values. We do not believe that color photography requires correct colors, the correct color does not exist, even if you read the opposite, and daylight has shades of color that change without stopping and we accept it easily in nature: the red light formed by the setting sun, which sometimes tends to violet: the pale pink color of dawn ...

The feeling that we can put at the service of our images can only be fully expressed if we move away from the precise rules. This feeling develops with practice and personal attempts.

Color photographs should usually have a main subject and a dominant color tone to which the rest of the colors are related. Thus, a dominant color divided into several ripples and values ​​suggests depth to the image.

We often obtain harmony between colors by using different values ​​of a single color, and a specific group of color tones can have an effect equivalent to the effect of the contrast between opposing colors. Additional colours, especially if they are light, make the picture disturbed, as you will notice in the pictures on the opposite page. In general - without making it a fixed rule - a saturated colour balances better with a less bright shade: a bright green blends well with a pale pink. However, the use of colours is mainly a matter of personal taste and the rules here are only instructions.

Colour Harmony

The light haze and soft morning light are created using a specific set of shades here - shades and values ​​of green - bring a harmony in colour. Pay attention to the correct exposure. To determine this exposure, measure the high lights and shadows.
Leica 1/125 sec. Aperture 11 Actachrom EX.

Harmony within the colour wheel

Isolate any quarter of the circle - as shown in the picture - the hues of the colours within this sector will be harmonious with each other.

The colour wheel

The circle on the left is made up of colour pigments, the primary ones being red, yellow and blue, and the secondary ones being orange, green and purple. We can break it down into smaller sectors containing intermediate shades such as blue-green, yellow-orange, etc. Each sector of the colour wheel forms a pure and saturated colour tone: a colour that contains neither grey nor white, nor all of these shades represent the range of the solar spectrum.

Dominant color image

Images in which a color dominates need a very stable composition: this barrier can be interesting if it is blue or green. The colored area must be homogeneous with the drawing. If we want to succeed in images of this type, we must pay great attention to the frame. The red bars here are balanced with the dark areas and the differences in color tones.
Pentax 1/125 sec. 11 Aperture Actachrom EX.

Color contrast
The contrast of colored tones in a simple, almost opaque drawing - left This image has a strong impact because the geometric shapes and red spots of the plane contrast with the two green areas of the ground. The view from above and the flat lighting eliminate the feeling of space and movement and emphasize the linear appearance of the contents of the image and its composition.

Discordant and inconsistent colors
Pure, intense colors are called saturated colors. In the image to the right, the juxtaposition of saturated and contrasting colors makes the image disturbed. Perspective alone suggests depth and this is evidence that the combination of lines and contrasting colors eliminates the feeling of volume. To maintain depth in vivid colors, for example, a large area of ​​blue was required that corresponded to a small proportion of yellow.

Leicaflex 1/250 sec aperture 16 Octachrome HS

Complementary colors

A primary color (red for example) and a secondary color composed of a combination of the other two primary colors (blue + yellow = green) are opposite each other and are called complementary colors. They are opposite each other diagonally on the color wheel.

Temperature, saturation and intensity.

All the color tones shown here return to the same degree. From left to right, white, gray and black were added to this red in different proportions. The maximum intensity of the color appears to the left and its minimum intensity appears to the right. A 100% saturated color does not match white light.

Primary and secondary colours

The primary colours (above) are separated on the colour wheel by the secondary colours (below).

Gradient colours with great contrast

This picture is made up of grey-blue tones which strengthen the whole range of tones from white to black. Here we have a feeling of protrusion and volume. This feeling prompts the eye to accept the sculptural quality of the stone.

Leicaflex 1/125 sec. 16 Aktachrome EX.

Soft colours with low contrast

The misty atmosphere has completely drowned out all the vivid tones in the view of Norwich church (left) so that the picture is composed mainly of coloured ripples. These subtle differences often give a more dramatic effect than the vivid and strong colours. The weather and lighting conditions discourage many amateurs, but are accepted with pleasure by more experienced photographers. Consider the number of tones and details that colour film can record.

Hasselblad 1/60 sec, 5.6 aperture, Acta Chrome EX.