Vision - The Color Red
In the picture below, where do your eyes immediately travel to? Where do they go to next? Did you know almost everyone would have the same answer to these two questions? This is the power you have when you shoot images with intention. This is art. And you don’t need to have a really expensive camera to create art in photography…I did this with my iPhone.
Let me explain. I am trying to improve my photography. I bought Pat Kay’s 30 day photography class. I am currently in the color theory of the course. Today my assignment was to take seven shots with the color red! Before this color theory section, Pat had several sections on compositional elements, like perspective, shapes, contrast, and scale. All of these compositional elements are also in the picture above. Me getting down on the ground and how I angled my phone were intentional!
For example, notice the concrete to the left. Does the square corner look like an arrow pointing to the right? What is over on the right? What is next to the curb? What is under the car? Would you have noticed the blue handicap image under the car without that arrow? In paintings, artists have intention. They want you to move your eyes and notice. When you take pictures this way, you are by definition an artist.
But what really grabs your attention? That red curb? And as I explained, finding a bold red object to take a picture of was done intentionally. I also wanted to include complementary colors and that is what I noticed as I looked at this curb outside of Starbucks (where you aren’t suppose to park your car and wait for your kids to bring you your order)! Anyways, the dead leaves, and the bush above, are green. Did you know that red and green are complimentary colors? And what that means is they look really good together. Think of Christmass? When you see red and green together, do you have a different feeling if you see just red by itself or just green by itself? Notice the blue handicap emblem painted on the concrete below the car? The yellow painted border is complementary to blue. And if you mix blue and yellow together? You can play around with all sorts of colors using Adobe Color. In the meantime, I took a screen shot of the wheel that shows how red and green are complimentary and how blue and yellow are complimentary.
Putting all the elements together, what is a possible story for my picture above? Is it the big strong red unmoving curb contrasting with the frail green leaves that have fallen on the black uncaring asphalt? What about the blue car with the red lights? Are the red and the blue screaming at each other? Is this car a villain? Was it parking illegally, like how some cars obviously stopped illegally against the red curb in the recent past? Artists never literally tell you the story. It is always open to interpretation. And some people just like looking without thinking much or they like looking because it reminds them of something. It’s personal. A consensus of what the art says is meaningless. Is it any wonder that when authoritarians come to power, one of the first things they do is remove art, and the art that remains cannot be open to interpretation.
Here are some of the other images I took this morning emphasizing the color red.
Do you find when you try to pull your eyes away from the car they get pulled right back to it? Part of the reason is the car is red. The other reason is the shadow of the tree. It leads you gracefully and chaotically, to the car. I think compositionally the shadow tree and the green tree on the left, the line of bushes, and the tree on the right, help to frame the car. Framing, is yet another compositional element.
Clearly the red shoe laces call attention to themselves. If I am being completely honest, if I did not have my assignment for my class, I would not have taken this shot. This goes to show that a big part of intention, and creating an interesting image, is coming up with a plan of what you want shoot! For me this shoe image is sharp and harsh. Part of the problem, is the light is hard, not soft like you would find in the early morning. What would happen if I gave the white of the shoe a green tint. This is the image below. Also with this image, I made the wood a little bit more yellow and the hard floor more magenta. All of these changes were intentional where I was keeping in mind color theory.
You will have to decide which image you like better. For me, the tinted image is less harsh and also seems to be in more harmony with the background elements. If you liked this blog and want to learn more, I would highly recommend buying Pat Kay’s Photography Fundamentals Accelerator!
