color theory Archives - Page 3 of 3

Graphing Color

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Graphing color can help you identify colors more specifically and understand relationships between color better. One way to graph color is to use the Color Sampler Tool in Photoshop in combination with the Apple color picker.
To access the Apple color picker choose Photoshop: General Preferences and change Color Picker from Adobe to Apple and click OK. To see the new the color picker click on Set Foreground Color or Set Background Color icon in the Tool bar.
Unlike the Adobe color picker, the Apple color picker is a color wheel. Creating and using color wheels to describe color and plot color relationships is a time honored tradition dating back to Leonardo DaVinci. Some of the most famous color wheels were created by Newton, Goethe, and Munsell. The Apple color picker is an additive color wheel where complements are defined as red and cyan, green and magenta, and blue and yellow.
You can sample any color in an image and find its position on the Apple color wheel. Using the Eyedropper Tool, sample a color in a composition. Then click on the Set Foreground Color icon. The Apple color wheel will appear and a small circle will plot the sampled color. You can make a record of this chart by taking a screenshot of the color wheel (caps lock, Shift, Command, 4). This will create a PDF document on your desktop, which can be opened in Photoshop.
You can combine multiple sample points into a single chart by taking multiple screenshots, opening them in Photoshop, and combining them. Drag the Background layer from one document into another and give it a meaningful title. Make sure the two layers are registered with one another. Then, mask off everything on the top layer except the circle identifying the color on the color wheel, the triangle identifying it’s luminosity on the slider to the right of the color wheel, and a portion of the color bar above the color wheel. You’ve just graphed the two colors on the Apple color wheel. You can do this with as many colors as you desire.
Once colors have been graphed you will be able to identify a variety of relationships between colors, both colors that exist in a composition and colors that do not.
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The Temperature of Color – Warm or Cool

Color - Psychology, Color - Theory Comment

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An essential quality of color is temperature. Temperature can be used to attain a color balance. Temperature can be used to enhance spatial relationships within an image. Temperature can be used to elicit psychological responses within the viewer. Understanding and exploring the dynamics of temperature in color can benefit any visual artist.

There are physical characteristics of color linked to temperature. The color temperature of light (Kelvin degrees) is determined by measuring a black body radiator (an object heated so that it emits light). As the physical temperature of the object rises, color transitions from red (long wavelengths – low energy) to blue (short wavelengths – high energy) through ROYGBIV (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet). When it comes to light sources, physically, blue is warmer than red.

There are also psychological qualities of color linked to temperature. Psychologically, blue is cooler than red. These associative qualities of color with regard to temperature are almost universally accepted. This is due in large part to our physical environment – water is blue, plants are green, sunshine is yellow, fire is red.

Using the qualities of one sense (touch) to describe the qualities of another (sight) can be a tenuous affair and may lead to ambiguity and confusion. The more precise a language is the more useful it is. The language of HSL (hue, saturation, luminosity) is a very precise language. When using the language of HSL, hue values mark a position measured in degrees on a color wheel. A circle has 360 degrees, so the scale is 0 – 359.

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Color Is An Event

Color - Physics/Biology, Color - Theory Comment

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Color doesn’t exist out there. Color is produced inside us. Color is the human response to vibrations in a narrow part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

visiblespectrum

Color is an event. In any color event you need a light source and an observer – and often an object that reflects the light perceived. There is no color without an observer – just energetic vibrations.

colorisanevent

Our perception of color is complex; part physical, part biological, part psychological. Understanding more about our different responses to color and how they interact helps visual artists be more visually sensitive observers and more effective communicators.

Identifying 3 Types of Color

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There are essentially three kinds of color.

Antarctica_2009-LXXIX
Ideal
Ideal color (often thought of as accurate color) is produced when the color of objects is unmodified by temporal or atmospheric effects or enhancement. Forensics and product photographers favor this type of color.

Antarctica_2009-LXV
Ambient
Ambient color is produced when the color of objects is modified by time of day or atmospheric effects, like dust or fog. Landscape photographers often favor this type of color.

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Synthetic
Synthetic color is produced when the color of objects is transformed from its original color to another color. You can produce synthetic color before photographic color or afterward with digital enhancement. Graphic artists often favor this type of color.

It’s useful to distinguish between these three types of color. Doing this provides insights into how (what tools to use and how to use them) to adjust color in your images. It also provides insights into your color preferences and visual voice.

Indentifying the 3 Elements of Color

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Color has 3 elements – luminosity, hue, and saturation. All colors can be described as some combination of these three values. While we see all three elements simultaneously in a single color, learning to distinguish these three elements from one another is an important perceptual skill.

Luminosity, the light and dark of color, can be describe on a scale of 0-100. 0 is pure black. 100 is pure white. (It’s the zone system’s 0-10 times 10.)

hue
Hue, the color temperature of color, can be described on a scale of 0-360. (There are 360 degrees in a circle. Every 30 degrees transitions into a new family of color – i.e. 0 is red, 30 is orange, 60 is yellow, etc.)

Saturation, the degree of neutrality of color, can be described on a scale of 0-100. 0 is absolutely neutral. 100 is maximum saturation.

LHS (luminosity, hue, saturation) is an excellent language for describing color perceptually (though not necessarily the best for editing and printing). Instead of memorizing RGB values for all the colors in all the standard color spaces, or CMYK values for all devices, or a Pantone swatchbook, you can simply observe color and translate that into 3 values.

LHS is an easy language to learn. Luminosity and Saturation are described on a 0-100 scale, essentially a 1-10 scale with more granularity. Easy. Learning numerical values for Hue is more challenging, but if you memorize a few values you can easily figure out the others. Think of the color wheel as a clock. 0 degrees, red, starts at 3 o’clock. Count back 1 hour, 2 o’clock, to the next color, orange, or 30 degrees. Keep counting back in 1 hour increments to the next color, (i.e. 1 o’clock or 60 degrees is yellow). (An easy mnemonic for remembering the progression of hues is ROYGBIV – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. You’ll need twelve words to make it all the way around the clock – red, orange, yellow, warm green, green, cool green, cyan, blue, warm blue, purple, violet, magenta.)

Consider LHS a ‘zone system’ for color. It’s a simple sophisticated language that can be used to describe color with greater clarity. You’ll find learning it will lead to better communication. Once you learn it, you’ll be able to communicate more precisely with others who know it – you can even teach it to others quickly.

You’ll also find that once you learn the language of LHS, you’ll see color more clearly, remember it better, understand more about how colors work together, and find ways to adjust colors to reproduce them more accurately or enhance their capacity for expression.
Learning LHS is time well spent.

Exercise
Identify colors with LHS numbers.
Here are three examples.
50-0-0
50/0/0
100-0-100
100/0/100
30:75:75
50/30/50
Now, call out numbers for more of the colors you see.
Make this a habit and you’ll develop razor sharp color perception.

Developing Your Sensitivity to Gradation

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reflection_saltlake

The engine that drives color dynamics, contrast, is a measure of the difference between colors. Contrast can be measured by both the amount and kind of difference between colors.

You can discuss contrast in terms of amount. There can be a lot or a little. You can move between two very different colors (i.e. from black to white) or two similar colors (i.e. from dark gray to light gray).

You can discuss contrast in terms of how transitions between colors are made. There can be many (fine) or few (coarse) steps in-between colors. (Having many steps in between contrasting values is an essential criterion for continuous-tone imagery.)

You can discuss contrast in terms of how transitions progress. The steps in between can be made in a regular (even) or irregular (uneven) manner.

If contrast brings variety and energy, ask yourself what kind of energy you seek. Just as each color often elicits a set of associations, so to does each type of contrast.

High contrast images are often thought of as dramatic, while low contrast images are often thought of as quiet. Images, where transitions are made with many steps, are considered smooth, while those with only a few are considered abrupt. When gradations transition evenly they seem calm, graceful, and can be navigated quickly, while when they transition unevenly they seem dynamic, syncopated, and take more time to navigate. There are many subtle distinctions that can be made within these broad generalizations. This is an area that rewards continued exploration.

Sharpen your eye, by developing the ability to identify both the amount and quality of contrast between colors. You’ll find this to be an extremely valuable skill. You’ll increase your sensitivity to color, expand the range of color choices available to you, and add strategies for meeting color challenges. Color will become more intense and pleasurable for you.

Luminosity intervals of one hue. Hues achieve maximum saturation at specific luminosities.

Saturation intervals of one hue – luminosity and hue stable. Achievable only for mid-level luminosities.

Hue intervals – maximum saturation, luminosity shifts. Hues achieve maximum saturation at different luminosities.

Hue intervals – luminosity stable, saturation shifts.

Hue intervals between two complementary hues passing through the color wheel.

Hue intervals between two complementary hues passing around the color wheel.

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Try These Exercises.
1 Create a set of equal luminosity intervals of one hue.
Optionally, repeat for all hues – ROYGBIV.

2 As above, create equal intervals of hue.
Optionally, repeat for all hues – ROYGBIV.
Optionally, repeat for all hues at different luminosity levels.

3 As above, create equal intervals of saturation.
Optionally, repeat for all hues – ROYGBIV.
Optionally, repeat for all hues at different luminosity levels.

4 Match the intervals (luminosity, hue, and saturation) between two color progressions.

Because it’s difficult to separate other forms of image content from color, color exercises are best performed abstractly. While it’s useful to check numerical values for colors and color relationships, because these exercises are perceptual (often incorporating physiological and psychological responses that are not physically measurable), determine your answers visually. Train and trust your eye.

Creating the Illusion of Transparency & Translucency

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reflection_iceland

Transparent colors contain a rich clarity that makes them seem charged with light. Incorporating the effect of transparency into your images can produce a luminous impression, even though (typically) the media your images are reproduced on contains no light
While the true effect of transparency cannot be produced without the use of transparent materials, the visual impression of transparency can be produced.

The impression of transparency can be achieved when two sets of color are joined by a third that is perfectly balanced between them. Split the difference between the luminosity, hue, and saturation of the two to arrive at the third.

You can vary the spatial placement of the third color set by making it more similar to one set than another.
Akin to transparency, translucency can also be simulated, by skewing the perfect balance of transparency towards another color (typically a neutral color). Additionally, subtle shifts in luminosity and reductions in contrast may make the effect even more convincing.

Often called color balancing, standard photographic color correction attempts to remove color casts. With a color cast an image seems veiled by color. Removing a color cast makes an image seem clearer, more saturated, and more three-dimensional. Achieving the effect of transparency will too.

Many color strategies employ optical illusions to create or intensify a visual impression. Once you identify and understand these illusions and the color theory behind them, you can put them to work for you too. In addition to enhancing existing color relationships, you can create new ones.

Careful handling of color can enhance the impression of transparency or translucency.

1_transparency

Three colors are selected to create the impression of transparency. The l, h, and s values of the middle color are placed close to the midpoint between the values of the two outside colors

2_reposition

Changing hue towards one color shifts spatial orientation.

3_translucent

Changing luminosity shifts spatial orientation and creates effect of translucency.

Try this Exercise.
Choose three colors and orient them so that the middle color appears to be transparent. Ideally, select a middle color that produces an additional optical illusion where each total shape (1+2 and 2+3) can be seen as lying either on top or below.

Using Color Wheels to Structure Relationships

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Photographers are often not introduced to the same color theory painters are. At best, color theory is a matter of identifying complements to produce neutrality or color balance. But there are few strategies presented for conceptualizing color relationships in a photographic curriculum, while there are many for painters. In part, this is because painters could change color relationships so easily. The photographer couldn’t – until Photoshop. Now, the language and concepts of other disciplines becomes very useful to photographers. This video give you a taste.
But, be careful of one thing. Painters define complementary colors based on mixing pigments, which contain impurities. They use Red/Green, Yellow/Purple, Blue/Orange. True optical complements are found in photography (light without impurities). Use Red/Cyan, Green/Magenta, and Blue/Yellow instead. You can find confirmation of this by studying retinal after images. Stare at a color for 20 seconds. Then look to a neutral ground. The color residue you see will be the optical complement of the color you stared at.
Learn more about color in my DVDs.
Learn more about color in my workshop The Power of Color.

Color Theory

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Color theory can help describe what is perceived more precisely. It offers a language that is shared and reasonably precise. Color theory can help make perception more precise. Language encodes thought and a more precise and nuanced language can lead to more sensitive perception. Color theory can help analyze what makes some color relationships particularly successful and what makes others less successful. It illuminates the dynamic interactions between the elements of color, which can be used to guide decisions in selecting and adjusting color relationships.
Color theory is best used to inform color choices rather than to make them. Theory lays a foundation for exploration (guiding inquiry toward areas with greater potential and away from areas with less potential). It is not a substitute for discovery. Jazz musicians Keith Jarrett and Theolonius Monk mastered music theory, but even they were surprised by their most original compositions; their compositions were informed and empowered by theory but not determined by it. Theory is the sum of what we know, but it does not contain what we do not yet know. It can prime conditions for a breakthrough, but it cannot make one. It can be used to empower a unique or authentic sensibility, but it is not a substitute for one.
Find out more in the current issue of Digital Photo Pro.
Find out more in my color theory ebooks.