2019-05-01_Digital_SLR_Photography

Forthe mostpart,anyeffect that

youcanhaveonthe colourin

mostscenesisdoneeither

vialight orduringyour

editingprocess.The

exceptiontothisis the

polarisingfilter.Circular

Polarisingfilters,orCPLfor

short,cutdownonpolarised

lightin anyscene.Byrotatingthe

filteruntilthedesiredeffect is seen,a CPLcanbe

usedtocutthroughhaze,reduceglareand

removereflections,boostingcolourclarityand

saturation.They’reveryusefulin manyformsof

digitalphotography,butperhapsmostnotably

whenphotographinglandscapes.

CIRCULAR POLARISINGFILTER

NO FILTER

WITH POL ARISER

THECOLOURSYOUINCLUDEINYOUR

IMAGESCANAFFECTTYOURVIEWERS'

EMOTIONSANDPERCEPTIONS.READ

ONTOFINDOUTTWHAAT TOCONSIDER

WHENPICKINGAPERFECTTPALETTE

T

HEUSEOFCOLOUR psychologyis

presentallaroundusandprevalentin

ourday-to-daylives.In fact,it’s so

ingrainedin ourenvironmentthat webarely

giveit a secondthought.The theorybehind

it is thatcertaincoloursmakeusfeela

certainway, whetherit'sconsciouslyor

subconsciously. Everythingfromadvertising

displaystobrandlogos,the clotheswe

choosetowear,andtheproductsthat we

buy– the coloursusedareintentionalto

provokea moodorfeeling.Of course,the

effectdiffersfromindividualtoindividual,

buttherearesomefairlyuniversalrulesthat

canbe applied, whichcanbe usedtoyour

advantagein photography.

UNDERSTA ND

CCOLOUR

60 DigitalSLRPhotographyMay 2019

PERCEPTIONS OF COLOUR

COLOURSMAKEUSFEELA CERTAIN

WAY,WHETHERIT'SCONSCIOUSLY

ORSUBCONSCIOUSLY

RED:As thewarmesthue,andalsooneofthe

strongestandmostdominant,it shouldn’tcomeas

a surprisethat redalsohasthepowertoelicit some

strongemotions.Redcansymbolisepower,excitement,

aggression,angerandspeed, aswellaslustorlove.

Redshouldalwaysbe usedwithcareandconsideration

in yourcompositions,asnotonly canitdominatea scene

butit canalsoheavilyaffect themoodofyourimage,

which can jar if thisisn’t the desiredeffect.

GREEN:In completecontrasttored,bothonthe

colourwheel(seepage 56)andin howweperceiveit,

greenis a calm,soothingcolour.It’s heavilyassociated

withthenaturalworld,beingthecolourofplantsand

trees,socaninstila senseofquietandtranquillityin your

images.Greencanalsobeassociatedwithgrowthand

progress,howeverit canhavenegativeconnotations–

greenis thecolourofmoney, soit is alsooften associated

with greedand envyin thosesituations.

DAR

IANEPR

IAKH

INA

/UNS

PL

AS

H

SERGEY

PES

TEREV

/UNS

PL

AS

H

AARON BURDEN

/UNS

PL

ASH

ROSS HODD

INO

TT

A WARM FEELING

Bold, dominating colours often

suit simple, graphic compositions

such as silhouettes.