Assignment 3 - Colour

Molly Cartwright Student number: 504244

The Art of Photography

Assignment 3: Colour

Colour harmony through complementary colours

notes Red and green are seen here in equal quantities, conforming with Goethe’s relative brightness theory. Their saturation is also similar. An equal balance is also obtained by the even spread of clusters of berries. The two elements of colour and balance create an image that is at harmony. The movement is fairly static, with no cluster grabbing the viewers immediate attention first or last, so the eye moves quite erratically over the elements within the frame.


notes The complimentary colours of yellow and violet are seen here in quantities complying with Goethe’s relative brightness theory, however, due to the intentionally blurred movement in the violet aspect, the hue is desaturated so a slight imbalance occurs. Compositional balance is achieved by two implied triangles, formed by the violet sails, and the yellow posts, which e f ectively ectively mirror each other. The eye is taken into the image from the bottom and up the yellow pole, and then around the sails in an anti-clockwise direction (due to the convergence at the bottom, which draws the eye in that direction first).


notes I have again used Goethe’s relative brightness theory for this composition, using blue and orange in parts 3:1 respectively. This creates harmony through colour. I attempted to use the orange foliage in the background to balance out the static nature of the bird’s bill, but I don’t think this has worked as e f ectively ectively as I’d hoped. As a result, the composition is quite imbalanced, but I like the way that this makes the viewer drawn into the bird’s eye, which I have placed slightly o f -centre. -centre. The movement is from the birds eye moving down the bill, and in addition, the curves of the head, neck, and back, in strong contrast to the background, create strong flowing movement o f the frame to the left.


notes This image uses desaturated reds and greens which, in equal proportions, create a harmonious colour balance. The balance is due to symmetry, stemming from the middle rung of the fence. I tried to position this slightly o f centre to avoid making the composition too static, and I think that this has worked to an extent, but not as much as I’d hoped. The eye moves from the top of the rungs, down to the bottom due to the implied triangle that the rungs create, by diminished perspective, converging at the bottom of the frame. Interestingly, this is in direct contrast to the arrows on the tops of the rungs in view which creates a conflict that creates interest in the composition. The nails in the rungs also create an implied line which the eye views more comfortably from left to right.

Colour harmony through similar colours

notes Harmony is created in this image through the similar tones of blue and green which appear next to each other on the colour wheel. The compositional balance is created by the pattern that these roof tiles make. I shot the tiles at an angle to create additional interest and used a large aperture to direct attention to the middle of the pattern first. The eye drifts across the diagonals from left to right, but the static nature of the pattern creates conflict which means that the eye doesn’t follow a definitive path when surveying the image.


notes The pinks and purples in this photograph are e f ectively ectively tones of red and violet, which are similar colours, next to each other on the colour wheel. I like the way that the tones vary across the image from lightest (light pink) on the right, across the frame through dark pink and then purple to the far left. The frame is split in to two parts by the handles dominating the top half, and the umbrella canopy’s dominating the bottom half, which creates a line of symmetry across the centre of the frame. The curvature of the umbrella handles creates movement from the tops of the handles down and o f the frame where the bottoms have purposefully been cropped from view. I also found that the tiny balls at the base of each handle created a circular movement around the handle.


notes The colours of blue, violet and a little pink create a harmony through their similarities. All colours show a similar level of desaturation, which adds to the harmony. A balance is created by the symmetrical shop frontage, however, the open door slightly upsets this perfect balance and adds interest, focussing the viewers attention. The open door draws the eye in to the restaurant, and also up to the restaurant sign at the top of the frame.


notes Here, the hues of green and yellow show harmony through similar colours. This is contrasted with the dark moody grey sky. The green and yellow blend into one-another seamlessly, which adds to the harmony created. Compositional balance is created by the symmetrical line running through the centre of the image, from top to bottom. This creates a very static shot, which helps to draw the eye down the path and into the distance (as there is nothing else to distract focus).

Colour harmony through contrasting colours

notes The contrasting colours of orange and violet are used here in this low-light scene. There is a contrast created by the cool violet tones against the warm orange tones, which gives the building a cosy feel. The composition is quite static, with the building being placed centrally within the frame. The paths draw the viewers focus in towards the building.


notes These contrasting colours of green and violet are naturally occurring in nature. They are quite a striking combination. In this shot their brightness and coverage is relative to each other creating harmony. The static composition, with the centre of the plant directly in the middle of the frame, is symmetrical on almost all vertices, creating a balance. I have used a large aperture to direct even more attention to the centre, as this has the e f ect ect of blurring the outer leaves. The eye is drawn in a spiral from the centre, outwards as the eye unravels the outer leaves.


notes I really like these two colours together and think they present a very vivid contrast. The saturation of the two colours is relative, which creates harmony. By placing the clementine slightly o f -centre -centre and cropping a little of -frame -frame to the right, an imbalance is created. However, I think this is counter balanced by the dominant green leaf at the front left, which is very strongly leading the eye. The main stalk strongly points down to the middle of the clementine, which directs our focus and ‘grounds’ the object. The leaves also have the e f ect ect of focussing attention to the middle of the fruit as they form an implied triangle, converging towards the top middle of the fruit.


notes I wanted to create an abstract image where colours were blurred by using a moving object and a long shutter speed. This London bus contained the colours red, blue and yellow, which are all spaced a third of the way around the colour circle, making them contrast well with each other. The slower shutter speed has created bands of colour as the bus has passed by, which have created definite divisions of the frame, which are symmetrical. The movement is quite strong, and follows the movement of the bus across the frame from left to right. This is implied by the cropping of the bus o f -frame -frame to the right - which infers that the bus is traveling that way.

Colour accent

notes The sign at this car park creates a strong green accent against the white and light yellow tones of the staircase. Yellow and green are similar colours on the colour wheel. The green sign was placed slightly o f centre, but the composition is still very static and imbalanced as the lines of the staircases flow in many di f erent erent directions. The directional arrow on the sign brings some order to the flow and directs the viewers attention up that specific staircase. There are many lines of movement, which give an erratic feel, contrasted with the serene colours and deserted peaceful stairwell.

Colour accent

notes This pink shoe really stands out against all the black ones on the shelf creating a strong accent colour. The composition is quite static as the pink shoe is placed very centrally. The only movement is implied by the shelf that runs through the frame. Due to the way in which the shoes are pointing, I view this more comfortably from left to right.

Colour accent

notes Here, the blue plaque is married with t he similar colour violet of the bricks (although heavily saturated). This creates a pleasing combination to the eye. Although the composition initially appears unbalanced due to the angled crop and low point of view, the windows and door frame balance each other out quite well. In addition, the blue plaque ‘grounds’ the object, so your attention is focussed there to begin with, before traveling up and out of the frame at the top towards where the sky would be. The windows and doorframe create implied lines for the eye to follow in this direction.

Colour accent

notes The yellow bag creates a start accent against the drab paving stones and dark legs on a busy street. I have intentionally positioned the accent towards the right of the frame to create tension. The large character to the front right of the frame with the bag is balanced well by the two sets of legs that are further away from us on the left of the frame. I have intended to create movement by slowing the shutter slightly, which I think I have captured quite well. The obvious movement away from the photographer, together with the area of blank space that the legs have left behind, create a strong line of direction. The yellow bag with its base that runs parallel to the base of the frame grounds it within the shot.

Assignment 3 - Colour

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