Friday, October 7, 2011

Color

I learn so much from The Kat Eye View of the World and her Exploring with a Camera series.  This week's theme is no exception...except I am finding it so hard!  Knowing that the current theme this month was The Color Wheel Part 2: complementary, triadic, and tetrad, I went on Saturday's World Wide Photo Walk with the intention of capturing color.   Ummm, not as easy as I thought it would be.

For one thing, there was a lot of monochromatic images.  The skies were gray and so was the cement and a lot of the glass.  For a moment the blue sky was reflected in the gray water, but that only gave us one color.

Monochromatic:
Scavenger Hunt Sunday -- Blank Space
Sometimes it appeared like lots of colors--which is was--but it turned out they were all analogous, colors next to each other on the color wheel, like purples and blues.

Analogous: purple, blue, and almost green:
or
Analogous: red, orange, and yellow:

And this next one was monochromatic, too, blue again being the only color from the sky, but I converted it to Black and White just because, making it nochromatic, right?  No color?
Scavenger Hunt Sunday -- Black and White
But I tried to find some complementary, like red/green or yellow/purple or blue/orange, and maybe this is a stretch, but I have decided that in this lighting, the "blue" hour the grey benches and yellow lights become blue and orange, right?

Complementary: blue/orange:
Scavenger Hunt Sunday -- Complementary Color
No?  Okay, I'll throw one from my archives.  This whole color wheel thing helps explain why my little boy with blue eyes looks so good in orange; this was taken in the area we took the walk, so really it fits right in.

Complementary: blue/orange:

or How about Complementary: Yellow/Purple:
Kind of muted colors, but the yellow in the walls and the purple in the windows, right?  The whites and browns and grays all count as neutral colors.   (I am ignoring proportions for the moment because I can only learn one thing at once.)

Or Complementary: red/green:
Scavenger Hunt Sunday: Food (The restaurant we were supposed to eat at on the walk.)
So then I was supposed to find triadic color--3 colors on the color wheel that form a triangle like red, yellow, and blue--but that was difficult since there were so little color in a lot of the scenes.  But maybe if we define the colors in the building picture a little differently?

Triadic: red/yellow/blue:
Okay, that is a complete stretch, even more than my other stretches, but I like this picture!  The brownish walls and brick could be red, the mustard yellow walls are yellow, and the windows are now blue--just ignore the green and purple in the windows.

Okay, to prove I do know what the primary colors are, I'll share one from a few weeks ago.

Triadic: red/yellow/blue:
If you only have two of the three colors from a triangle it is called a triadic variation.  Those were easier to find on my walk since it only required two colors.  (I have a triadic purple/orange/green in this post.)

Triadic Variation: red/blue:

And

The last type of color sets we learned about is called a tetrad or tetrad harmony.  It is 4 colors that form a square (two sets of complementary colors) or a rectangle.  (Not all rectangles are squares but all squares are rectangles.)  4 colors in a picture, well that is too much to ask.  I can do two, three, five or more, but four...not so often.  At least not on the walk.  Or at least I thought so, but if you look closely...

Tetrad Rectangle: red/green/blue/tiny bit of orange:
But just as there is a triadic variation, there is a tetrad variation where you can leave off one of the four colors and have only three colors.  This makes it possible to fit almost any picture into the theme :)

Tetrad Variation: Rectangle: yellow/purple/green...missing the red:
Tetrad Variation: Rectangle: blue/orange/green...missing red:
Scavenger Hunt Sunday: Landscape, because I don't have a good landscape photo from the walk.
Then the question just becomes, where do colors like burgundy and teal fit in?
Is it a red/blue triadic variation, or is it just a photo from the walk that I want to share? As a child I colored almost every picture/outfit in coloring books a combination of burgundy and teal, or some variation of them.  What does that say about me?




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27 comments:

Ashley Sisk said...

You really took on the challenge, didn't you. I love all the color combinations you were able to capture. Nicely done.

Anonymous said...

I love these. Sooo gorgeous!

Aimee Cotton Bogush said...

What a pleasure to find your site today! Your photos are beautiful! WoW! That water drop is astounding!

leanne can blog said...

These are fantastic! you've done a very thorough job searching those colour combinations- It's quite hard isn't it? So many things don't quite fit, but very interesting to look at the colours around us.

gina said...

Wow! You really came up with great examples for all the color combos. Extra points for you for finding every combination, even if you had to stretch. I love your brick building photos, and, of course, the children!

Rosie@leavesnbloom said...

I loved those building shots with all of the different colour blocks - living in the countryside makes me appreciate urban scenes like that. You certainly have a good eye for colour combinations now :)

Leovi said...

Those are some good photos of beautiful frames, great shots! They are all lovely.

Unknown said...

You found some fantastic colour combinations! Quite an inspiration in 'seeing'. I really liked the suitcases but your little guy takes the cake!

4 Lettre Words said...

That last one is too cool...and I love B&W!

Nadege, said...

Wow, you have done an amazing job with all the color combinations. Wonderful images, hard to pick a favorite... the B&W shot is mine.

Andrea Dawn said...

What a diligent student you are! You have come up with such great examples of the different colour schemes. The tetrad rectangle image and the kidlets are my faves. Great job!

Sara said...

Love all your colour combinations Cedar! Especially mono and tetrad variation of flowers. B&W is amazing, love it!

Tamar SB said...

These are all STUNNING!! Love it!

Anonymous said...

wow... wonderful captures!

Anonymous said...

Wow! Nicely done! Are you exhausted now? Your shots are so clean. I like the black and white and the grey benches.

Alita said...

Very creative take on the scavenger hunt. All the color combination, angles, and perspectives are pure eye candy.

I loved your photos I can't wait to see more. I'm now following along!

Alita

Simon said...

Holy crap-i-oly you went off the charts with the colors and found some amazing examples. You also have some brilliant reflections in this series. Nicely done Cedar.

Kmcblackburn said...

Oh wow...these are amazing! I don't know NEARLY the amount you do re: the color wheel. I'm so impressed. And I love your twist on this week's Scavenger Hunt. Very creative too!

Kathy

Susan said...

Interesting shots. Love the sculptures, especially the reflecting one by the mill. Simply gorgeous!

Buckeroomama said...

What a treat looking through your photos! I agree with Alita --definitely eye candy. :) I love the pictures of the buildings and the glass most of all, I think.

Melanie said...

LOVING all your picures! (As always) Thank you for explainging all the different color combonations, it's really interesting. You blue eyed boy in the orange shirt shot is gorgeous!

kewkew said...

Wow, great shots. I really like the one on the playground

A Box of Chocolates said...

wow you went all out for this one great shots i love the walls too and the glass and water reflections great stuff

Unknown said...

Beautiful shots and it looks like you are learning a ton from that class, such great photos!

Becs said...

Wow, well done, I struggled with this one and had to miss a few out. Beautiful shots, love your tetrad rectangle example.

Jennifer said...

Look at you just grow and grown and grow!!! So proud of your progress, you are really seeing and working hard!

Kat Sloma said...

I love this post, Cedar! I always enjoy reading what you have found with Exploring with a Camera. What a fabulous place you had to photowalk. I love all of that glass, and such interesting urban textures. You did a great job of working through the color combos. My take on burgundy and teal: It is sort of a complementary color combo, a variation on red/green. That you loved it as a child says you have a great eye for a color combo, even at a young age. :)