Garry Black Photography

WORKSHOP NOTES

COMPOSITION - TONES AND COLOUR

TONES

The skeleton or framework of every picture is based upon tones. It does not matter if it is a black & white or colour image, what is important is the range of tones and their placement within the picture. Colour does have a tremendous emotional impact, but still it is the tones within a picture that are the determining influence in a composition. In any image that has a full range of tones, your attention will be drawn towards the largest and lightest tone. From here, your attention will be attracted to either other light tones or a large dark tone, that depends on their placement and size within the picture.

Your composition should be determined by the tones that are present in your picture. In other words, if your subject is a middle tone and there is a large light tone in the picture, the viewer's attention will be drawn away from your subject because of that light tone. What you should always keep in mind is; are the tones helping to support your subject or are they distracting from it.

There are of course, many variations to this principle:

• If most of the picture is light in tone, then your attention will go to the largest and darkest tone, first.
• If there are no light or dark tones, but only middle tones then your attention will go to the most vivid colour present.
• If there are numerous, equally sized light tones throughout the entire picture, this can be either very effective as in a pattern or it can be very distracting if these tones are completely different subjects - your picture will look just cluttered.
• If there are only two large light tones, your placement of them in relation to one another is extremely important. If they are close to each other in proximity, then the viewer's attention will stay there. This is effective if you are trying to make a dominant subject, and as long as these light tones are your subjects, or if they are framing it. In the other example of two light tones, if they are at separate corners or ends of a picture, then your attention will travel from one to the other. If your subject is in-between them, this movement of your attention from one far end of the picture to the other can enhance the implied movement or direction of your subject.
• There are still numerous variations that are possible as every image is unique. But from the examples listed above, you should have a good basic understanding of tones and their importance in composition.

COLOUR

Of all the visual elements, colour has the greatest impact on our emotional response. Its presence not only is limited to its own visual strength; it also is an overriding component in every shape, line and texture. Colour helps us to distinguish and identify the subjects in the photograph. It communicates mood and emotion and in many photos its sensory attraction is strong enough that it can act alone as the central subject matter.

We apply intuitive descriptions to colours that reflect the moods and the psychological effect that these colours have on us. The adjectives that we give to colours, such as to hot reds, warm pinks, cool greens, cold blues and so on, can help you to determine how to use colours in your photographs, or more precisely, how people will respond to the use of colour.

The quality of light also has a major effect on the appearance of color. Colours under overcast conditions are drab and less brilliant. In contrast, coloured surfaces illuminated by the direct sunlight appear to be saturated and more colourful, these bright colours are strong and active. On the other hand, fog, misty weather and rain produce muted colours of unvarying brightness almost a pastel colour pallet, these colours are restrained and pale.

We respond to colours intuitively, we see colours as being warm or cold, advancing or receding. Reds, yellows and oranges are usually described as strong, warm, advancing colours that tend to stand out and command our attention. While greens, grays and blues are described as weak, muted, cold and often seem to recede.

The appearance of colour has three characteristics - hue, value and intensity. Hue indicates the position of the colour in the spectrum - it is the name we give that colour: strawberry red, scarlet red, fire engine red, etc. Value is the lightness or darkness of a colour, while intensity refers to its saturation.

COMPLIMENTARY COLOURS

Hues that are close to one another in the spectrum, such as red and orange or blue and green, also have a close relationship to each other in our minds. Seeing them together seems natural and is usually visually pleasing. But when you juxtapose colours from the opposite ends of the spectrum or a colour wheel, such as red with green and blue with orange, the contrasts are more vivid and vibrant. These colours enhance one another and create colour harmony. These colours are called complementary.

On a colour wheel, with the primary and secondary colours, you will find that red will be opposite green, orange will be opposite blue and yellow will be opposite violet. Here's the colour wheel Wikipedia web site  .

Colour alone doesn't make a good photo, but it can easily ruin one. Used deliberately it can help you to create better photos. Make use of it in any way, which helps you to achieve your desired effect in your image. It will work best if you approach it intuitively, just by using colour in a way that simply feels right to you.