COLOR IN STEREO 125stereograms of mountain scenery. Others obtained a suggestion of
the effect, but the blue was dull and inclined to be leaden while
this man’s work was practically of Maxfield Parrish quality in the
blues. How? After considerable experimentation he had found
that exact strength of blue correction filter which would clear up
the blues without too greatly falsifying other colors. His greens
were slightly blue-green, the edge taken from pure red but these
effects were not at all obvious and passed unnoticed unless they
were sought deliberately.
This did not constitute a correction to normal, but an over-
correction designed for one specific purpose.
To return to the more commonplace, you will usually find that
the average, normal light in your part of the country results in
color which is consistently red or consistently blue. True, many
people do not recognize these effects, but merely think of the pic-
ture as being “a little dull” or “a little muddy.” Look at the
whites and at the strong colors, Study them. You will almost al-
ways find that a flaming red, for example, has a deadened appear-
ance, just a hint of maroon which is really a hint of wine, the
tinge of blue. Or it may be that your blues are just a little dull
and lifeless and all of them carry a suggestion of purple or ma-
genta, hardly perceptible. You are overrunning in red. Often the
slide will be distinctly brown-purple-dun-muddy which indicates
a heavy overrun of red. But color correction can give you color
shots in which 80 percent at least will be above criticism other
than the most searching.
Certainly color correction filters are far more necessary in color
photography than ordinary filters are in black and white work.
For years, amateur photographers did without filters, and when
they were introduced they were simply “cloud filters” one degree
of yellow. It took more years for the amateur to become “filter
conscious. ”
We first took our color film as it came and made the best of it.
Then we adopted the conversion filters and the flash filters, and
were happier. Finally the control filters were introduced, but they
failed to win popularity because of the high cost of color meters
and the difficulty of using them. Now that we have color meters
which are reasonably priced and not difficult to use, we are enter-
ing the color filter stage comparable to the third stage of black-