Exercise: Colour relationships.

The aim of part one is to take a photograph of each combination of primary and secondary colours to the ratios of:

• Red : Green            1:1
• Orange : Blue         1:2
• Yellow : Violet       1:3

I have tried to take into account the values that were first assigned to the colours: yellow 9, orange 8, red and green 6, blue 4, and violet 3 by J.W.Von Goethe.

Red/ Green 1:1.

Nikon D90 1/200 f11 ISO 200 66mm

The green of the leaves is very dark in this shot but I think that it is well balanced with the brightness of the flowers. I have tried to ignore the background and its affect on the scene. Unfortunately because of the awful weather I have had to try and find ways to carry on with the projects as I did not want to get too far behind.

Orange: Blue 1:2

Nikon D90 1/200 f11 ISO 200 105mm

Again I set this up at home with some blue material and some clemantines. I have tried to position the camera so that the scene will be to the correct ratio. I think that I have got it just about right.

Yellow/ Violet 1:3

Nikon D90 1/200 f5.6 ISO 200 105mm 

Ideally I would of liked to of filled the frame with the head of the pansy but this just blurred out of focus so this was the best shot I could get. Again I have tried to ignore the other elements to a certain extent and just focus on the violet/ yellow combination and I feel that this fits the ratio well. 

The idea of part two is to find colour combinations which appeals to me.

Photo 1 shows a sign that I regularly see as I happen to be addicted to this farm shop. I like how bold the green and red is against the pale yellow background. Obviously this sign does not match the ratios at all but the rooster logo appeals. Looking at it more closely the red and green elements are quite evenly matched. Introducing the yellow to form the wing in a slightly smaller ratio seems to work quite well although your eye is immediately drawn to the red.

Photo 2 shows a see saw in a childrens park. The yellow appears to almost have an orange tinge to it which would then make complementary colours. The ratio should really show twice as much blue, and if you take into account the blue railings behind then this does help to balance the photo out. I also like the yellow againsg the green grass and again if you take that into account the overall feel of the picture changes.

Photo 3 shows a Turkish resturant in my home town. Aside fron the fact I somehow managed to photograph this on auto and there are many other things wring with it such as exposure, focus etc I shall just focus on the colour combination. The ratio of red to blue is about 1:1 but I find this imbalance quite interesting. I feel that the warmth from the red combined with the coolness of the blue actually works quite well creating some tension between the two.

I feel that I could of completed this exercise a bit better but I have been waiting and waiting for decent weather and finally got to the point where I did not want to delay working any longer.