Becoming a Student of Light and Color

Part 2, Light, Color, and Composition

“That color can evoke moods is undeniable”.

ost discussions about composition, talk in terms of arrangement of objects in a scene. Subjects such

as rule of thirds, leading lines, and negative space come up. All of these are valid and help us in our thought process of selecting and arranging the elements.

Light and color are equally important considerations for selecting and arranging elements, and are more important for establishing the mood of a image. I would speculate most people feel they don’t have control over light and color. Actually, we have quite a bit of control. As mentioned in Becoming a Student of Light and Color Part One, we can control the light by choosing the time of day, and the sky and cloud conditions, to capture our images. We can also control the light and color of the compositional elements by being aware of a few color compositional rules.

Contrast

Before we discuss the color aspect we will take a look at light or the luminance of objects in a scene. When viewing an image the eye is always drawn towards the contrasting elements. In an image of mostly dark tones the eye will be drawn to the light elements. And in an image of predominately light tones the eye will be drawn to the contrasting dark elements. In the black and white image leaves in the lower right hand corner dominate the scene because they contrast to the darker surrounding area.

Color and Mood

That color can evoke moods is undeniable. Colors affect us emotionally and psychologically. We make statements about ourselves with the colors of our clothes, the color of the car we drive, and the color schemes of the rooms we live in. So why should we not choose the color scheme for our images, or at least be aware of the colors and their associated moods as we make compositional decisions.

Hot verses Cold Colors

As a basis to understanding color theory divide colors into Hot; those derived from red, and Cold; those derived from blue. Just as light and dark contrast each other, hot and cold colors contrast each other as well. Think of hot colors as fire, powerful and stimulating. Think of blue colors as ice, meditative and slowing. The image of the boat is anchored in cool blue colors. The colors evokes a mood of quiet and peacefulness. One can almost feel the leisurely rolling waves. Contrast the mood with the image of the machine and its mood of power and aggression.

Light verses Dark Colors

Just as a black and white images are made up of a tonal range of lights and darks, colors can be light or dark as well.

Light colors are those which have white added to them, often referred to as tints of a color. Images consisting of light colors have a sense of expanding space and conveying an open airy feel. The image of the barn has an air of the great wide open spaces, a mood greatly enhanced by the light colors. Very light colors sometimes referred to as pastels, are often associated with establishing a mood of innocence, gentleness, and romance.

The Barn

Dark colors are those that have black added to them, often referred to as shades of a color. Dark colors condense rather than expand space and can be thought of as strong, traditional, and restrained. The Prescott Room image based in dark colors has an age old traditional mood.

Prescott Room

Color Models

Color Schemes are models that helps explain color relationships. The models are based on the color wheel with its twelve basic colors or hues. The color wheel is derived as follows:

• The primary hues are red, blue, and yellow (colors that cannot be made mixing other colors). See primary color wheel.

• Secondary hues are green, orange, and violet, derived from combining each two adjacent primary colors. For example red and yellow combined to create orange. See the secondary color wheel.

• Tertiary hues are derived by mixing each primary with the secondary color next to it, for example yellow and orange. See the completed color wheel.

So what does all this mumbo jumbo mean to a photographer? Well, it provides us with a set of color compositional rules or color schemes. Each color scheme sets a mood and establishes colors as compositional elements.

Color Schemes

Monochromatic the most basic color scheme, consist of only one hue (one slice of the color wheel) and its tints and shades. Lacking color contrast, the mood is restrained and collected. In nature this is difficult but not impossible to find, sunsets and sunrises are some of the more common exceptions. Black and white are perfect examples of one hue and its tints and shades.

Analogous is similar to monochromatic with just enough added color diversity to maintain its harmonious nature. An analogous color scheme is one in which any three adjacent hues on the Tertiary color wheel dominate the image. This adjacent arrangement insures the colors are from the same general color family.

Guidelines

Most people prefer warm colors over cool colors. It is why I pursue the warm light of early morning and late afternoon. Place warm colors against cool colors, also complimentary colors against each other, because they enhance each other. Warm colors bring elements closer, cool colors push them away. Also dark colors (shades) bring elements closer, light colors (tints) push them away. This concept creates the feeling of depth in the image.

Tints and shades have less weight visually than primary hues. Some colors are more powerful than others and will dominate an image. Red is the 1,000 lb. gorilla of colors and will dominate virtually any scene, even a very small area of red will command attention.

In the end a color only takes on importance when considered relative to the other colors surrounding it. Keep in mind the three basic color schemes, Monochromatic, Analogous, and Complementary, and their associated moods.

In conclusion take notice of the colors in a scene, their contrast to each other, their visually weight, and most important, the overall mood they convey.

Light, Color, and Composition, Field Studies

Example 1

The Cameron Lake image is another captured in the very early morning. The cool colors from the overcast sky, set the mood. Tammy and I had the lake to ourselves, we could not see or hear anyone else. The only sound was the soft lapping of the water touching the shore. But how to capture the solitude on film. I walked around for about 10 minutes looking for the missing element. The small lone rock in the foreground was the found piece.

Compositionally the small rock worked as well. The background of the scene had more detail and a deeper shade of blue commanding the eyes attention. The small rock draws the viewers eye to the foreground and because the tonality of the rock is approximately the same as the snow on the mountain it links the two visually.

Example 2

These two images of the Bubbles at Acadia Main, share the same background but have different foregrounds, the rocks and the boats. Notice, the boats because of their red color dominate the image. The color red gives them heavy visual weight so the amount of space they occupy in the image does not need to be that large. The camera position was approximately 15 feet back from the boats. A 35mm lens on a Nikon N90s was used.

The image with the rocks in the foreground required a different treatment. The rocks because of their neutral color have a light visual weight. The rocks need to fill more space in the image to balance with the background. To achieve the balance the camera was positioned approximately 2 feet back from the rocks. To further emphasis the rocks a 20mm lens was used. The camera was a Nikon N90s.

Example 3

The blue dawn image of the Grand Canyon shows that sometimes early morning light can consist of cools colors. Notice how the color starts out a fairly dark shade at the bottom of the image and progresses to lighter and lighter tints toward the top. This monochromatic color treatment is natures way of showing us the distance relationships, the lighter the tint the further away the element from the camera.

Complementary colors are from different color families, in fact, it means any two colors directly opposite each other on the color wheel, like red/green and blue/orange. Surprisingly, complementary colors are especially harmonious and as well as exhilarating, generating strong color contrast. The southwest US has long been a favorite location for photographers. Perhaps part of its appeal is the combination of orange rocks and blue skies two complementary colors.

Dark colors often serve to bring attention to light colors just as in the black and white example above. Notice how the boat in the field, and the buoy’s in the window stand out because of their light colors contrasting with the overall dark colors in the image. Notice also how these small areas contain bits of the hot colors, red and yellow. The hot colors contrast with the cool colors. The boat and the buoy’s in the window become significant because of their color contrast to the rest of the image. A color then only really become significant when it is considered relative to the colors surrounding it.

The Blue Boat

“Images consisting of light colors have a sense of expanding space and conveying an open airy feel.”

color wheels

Boat and Buoys

Analogous Colors

“Dark colors condense rather than expand space and can be thought of as strong, traditional, and restrained.”

Monochromatic Colors

Complementary Colors

Cameron Lake

The Machine

The color red gives them heavy visual weight so the amount of space they occupy in the image does not need to be that large.

Blue Dawn

Example 4

Complementary colors, those across from each other on the color wheel, exhibit strong color contrast. The contrast between the green boat and the red house bring life to the otherwise dull and muted light of an overcast winter day.

Complementary Red and Green Colors

Summary

Hopefully these examples have provided some insights as to how light and color affect our decisions on composition.

Previously I mentioned that working in the digital darkroom provided the tools to alter light and colors in images. The following are examples where the light and color has been changed to match our vision, and to instill our mood and emotions in each image. Roll the mouse over the top of each image to view the original.

Enjoy,

Mike and Tammy Rice

Primary

Secondary

Tertiary