Chapter Five Thinking in Color

1
Chapter Five Thinking in Color
2
Photography and Reality

• Do most people prefer color over black and white?
• Are color photo's more realistic than black and
  white?
• What about the lasting ability of the image of
  color compared to BW?

3
Standards in Color

• The success of color dyes replicating a natural
  color balance.
• Film manufacturers make emulsions that emphasize
  a particular color balance.
• There is no standard!
• Some emphasize blue, some green, some reds etc.
• The dyes simulate the look of reality.

4
Talking About Color

• How do you describe color?
• What do we mean when we say an object is red?

5
Color DescriptionHue, Saturation, and Luminance

• Hue--is the name of the color, it gives the
  specific wavelength that is dominant in the color
  source.
• red700na, purple 300na
• Saturation-- indicates the apparent vividness or
  purity of a hue.
• Luminance-- brightness, the appearance of light
  and dark. the narrower the band of wavelength the
  purer the color

6
Color Relativity

• Hue does not exist for the human eye without a
  reference.
• Objects lit with a color light will appear that
  color
• Daylight and tungsten light have difference
  balances
• If you stare at an imbalance print too long it
  will appear balanced or correct.
• The color luminance and saturation of an object
  within a scene appear to change depending on the
  colors surrounding it, this is called
  simultaneous contrast.

7
Color Contrast

• Color contrast happens when complementary colors,
  opposite colors on the color wheel, appear nest
  to each other in the picture.
• When two primary colors appear next to one
  another, the eye cannot properly process the
  color responses. The colors appear to vibrate,
  creating the contrast.
• In color photography contrast does not depend
  totally on light reflectance.

8
Color Harmony

• Color harmony is both reflected light and the
  relationship of the colors to each on the color
  wheel
• A low contrast picture has colors that are next
  to one another on the color wheel.
• In color photography contrast is,
• amount of light reflected
• colors present
• relationship of colors on color wheel
• Complementary colors create higher contrast
• Harmonious colors produce more placid scenes

9
Color Memory

• Describe a color from memory
• We have a short memory of colors

10
Color Deceives

• One color may appear as two different colors
• Figure 5.6
• The physical fact of color perception and it
  psychological effect
• Constant interplay between colors themselves and
  the viewers perceptions of the colors

11
Color Changes

• Colors are in a continuous change, depending on
  their neighboring colors and lighting
• Compositional conditions

12
Subtraction of Color

• Figure 5.7
• Light colors on light grounds subtracts its
  lightness

13
Hue absorbs color

• Dark colors on dark ground so the same
• Color differences are caused by two factors.
• Hue
• Light

14
Afterimage
15
Eye Fatigue Bleaching

• The sensitive parts of the eye become fatigued
• Bright light bleaches the photopigments of the
  retina.

16
Reversed Afterimage

• The double illusion is called reversed afterimage
  or contrast reversal.

17
Positive Afterimage

• figure 5.10

18
Cooking with Color

• You must constantly check, compare, adjust,
  filters, chemicals

19
Color is a Private Experience

• Step by step
• Observe
• Memory
• No standard rules

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Chapter Six Defining the Light Exposure Methods
and Techniques
21
An Exposure Starting Place

• Without proper exposure, nothing is possible in
  photography.
• Determining the correct exposure with color
  materials is essentially the same as it is for
  black-and-white.
• Transparency film has little exposure latitude
  and requires great accuracy in exposure.
• Exposure of 1/3 f-stop may produce a richer, more
  saturated color effect.

22
An Exposure Starting Place

• With negative film, overexposure of up to a full
  f-stop produces similar results, as underexposure
  of transparency film.
• Negative film has a much wider exposure range,
  than transparency film.

23
Camera Meters

• Most if not all cameras today have
  through-the-lens (TTL) metering in them.
• The more you know about the camera's metering
  system, the better you exposures.
• Meters only see middle gray of 18 percent
  reflectance.
• A meter only measures the intensity of the light
  it does not judge the quality of the light.
• The best exposure is not necessarily the one the
  meter indicates as correct.
• The meter is only a guide!

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Basic Metering Guidelines

• Check to see that the ISO film speed matches the
  meter setting.
• Perform a battery check before going out to take
  pictures.
• When taking a reflected light reading, point the
  meter at the most visually important
  neutral-toned item in the scene.

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Basic Metering Guidelines

• Get close to the main subject so that it fills
  the metering area.
• Avoid extremes of dark or light when selecting
  areas on which to base your general exposure.
• If it is not possible to meter directly from the
  subject, place your hand in the same light as the
  subject and compensate the exposure by opening up
  one f-stop, or place the 18 percent gray card
  from the back of this book in the same type of
  light and meter off it.

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Basic Metering Guidelines

• In situations of extreme contrast and/or wide
  tonal range, consider averaging the key highlight
  and shadow areas or take a reading off an 18
  percent gray card under the same quality of
  light.
• For an incident reading, fit the light-diffusing
  dome over the cell and point the meter at the
  source of light so the meter is in the same
  lighting conditions as the subject in
  relationship to the camera position.

27
Reflective and Incident Light

• There are two fundamental ways of measuring the
  amount of light in a scene, reflective and
  incident.
• Virtually all in-camera meters are the reflective
  type.
• A reflective measures the light as it bounces off
  the subject.
• You point a reflective meter at the subject.
• Reflective meters are good from low midtones and
  high shadows.

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Reflective and Incident Light

• Incident light is measured as it falls on the
  subject.
• The meter is pointed toward the camera or light
  source.
• Incident meters do not take the subject into
  consideration.
• Incident meters do not require as much expertise
  to achieve satisfactory results.
• There are special attachments the fit over the
  front of the lens of camera to turn their
  reflective meters into incident meters.

29
Gray Card

• Meters can be easily fooled if there is an
  unusual distribution in the subject tones.
• Some times is it is best to take your meter
  reading from an 18 percent gray card.
• Gray cards reflect 18 percent of the light
  hitting them.
• Gray cards are neutral in color.
• In color photography the gray card can be
  photographed in the same light as the subject to
  provide a neutral reference for evaluating
  filtration.
• The average reflectance of a normal subject is
  about 9 percent and not 18 percent.

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Basic In-Camera Metering Systems

• There are five basic metering systems for in
  camera meters today.
• The Center-Weighted System
• Give more importance to the center of the image.
• The Overall System
• Should read the whole scene but still is bias
  toward the center of the frame.
• The Averaging System
• Reads two parts the frame and averages them
  together, shows a bias toward the center of the
  frame.

31
Basic In-Camera Metering Systems

• The Spot System
• A spot meter has a very small angle of view,
  usually only 1 or 2.
• It must be pointed at crucial areas of detail.
• A spot meter is very helpful with the zone
  system.
• Matrix Metering
• Matrix metering uses a computer to compare
  readings from several zones to known photographs.

32
Common Metering Problems

• Having a metering system does not guarantee good
  exposures.
• Meters can be easily fooled.
• Knowing which type of metering system the camera
  uses allows the photographer to frame the proper
  areas to meter.

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How the Meter Gets Fooled

• High key scenes (light subjects, i.e., snow,
  sand, and etc.) give meter readings that cause
  underexposure.
• You need to add 1 or 2 f-stops to meter reading
  on high key scenes.
• Low key scenes (Dark) will cause overexposure.
• You need to stop down 1 or 2 stops with low key
  scenes.

34
Bracketing

• Bracketing is like a insurance policy.
• Bracketing is done by first making what is
  believed to be the correct exposure, then
  exposures under and over.
• Do not be afraid to use film.
• Film is much cheaper than not getting the photo!

35
Handheld Meters

• When acquiring a handheld meter be certain it can
  read both reflected and incident light.
• You should also get a meter that reads flash.
• If you are using a handheld spot meter be sure
  you are metering the correct area.
• You can get a single meter such as the Sekonic
  L-508 which does everything.
• Don't be cheep on your meter!! The L-508 costs
  429

36
Manual Override

• Cameras that have fully automatic exposure
  systems without a manual override reduce the
  photographer's options.
• You can fool the camera by using the backlight
  button, or changing the ISO.

37
Batteries

• Meters do now work with out batteries.
• Carry extra batteries.

38
The Brightness Range of the Subject

• The brightness range of a subject is one way to
  determine exposure.
• Brightness range is the difference in the number
  of f-stops between the key highlight and key
  shadow.

39
Diffused Light

• With diffused light the highlights and shadows
  are within a rage of 3 f-stops.
• The apparent brightness range and contrast can be
  increased through overexposure.

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Averaged Daylight

• Average Daylight has a range of about seven
  f-sops.
• You must be careful where meter reading are taken.

41
Brilliant Light

• The exposure range for brilliant light can be
  twelve f-stops or greater.
• Film has trouble recording that range.
• You have to determine what you want to record.

42
Dim Light

• Dim natural light taxes the ability of the film
  to record the detail of the scene.
• Contrast can be extreme.
• Contrast can be low.

43
Metering for the Subject

• Metering for the subject is another way to
  determine proper exposure.
• You take the reading from the subject.
• For a portrait meter directly form the face then
  open up one f-stop for fair skin or close down
  one f-stop for dark complexions.

44
Exposing for Tonal Variations

• When metering scenes with large amounts of either
  dark or light tone you should use more than one
  reading.
• You should average the two readings.

45
Basic Flash Fill

• Fill flash involves first taking an
  available-light meter reading and setting your
  flash to fill.
• Mount the flash on the cameras hot shoe and set
  the film speed on the flash calculator dial.
• Set the fastest sync shutter speed.
• Take a meter reading of the sunlit area and set
  the lens to the indicated aperture.

46
Basic Flash Fill

• Set the flash mode switch. Look at the flash
  calculator dial and find the mode corresponding
  to the aperture 1 stop larger than that set on
  the lens (for example, if f/11 is set on the
  lens, set the mode that corresponds to f/8). This
  will give you a pleasing 31 lighting ratio. You
  could also make the fill 2 stops dimmer (51
  lighting ratio) than the ambient-light by using a
  mode that requires 2 more stops than the aperture
  set on the lens (f/5.6 if lens is set to f/11).

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Basic Flash Fill

• If there is no flash mode to match the aperture
  your meter has chosen, switch your shutter
  speed/aperture combination to one that uses a
  shutter speed thats 1 speed slower then look to
  see if there is a mode that matches the
  corresponding new aperture. This will give you
  the same ambient-light exposure, but will allow
  you to work within the allowable aperture range
  for the flash.

48
Red Eye

• Red eye is caused by light passing directly into
  the pupils of the subject.
• You can reduce red eye by have the subject look
  to the side, move the flash 6 or more above the
  lens, raise the light level in the room to
  constrict the subject pupils.

49
Unusual Lighting Conditions

• Unusual lighting conditions cause exposure
  problems.
• You might have to determine what is important and
  expose for that.

50
Subject in Shadow

• When the subject is in shadows, you might have to
  sacrifice the highlights outside the shadows.
• You can use flash to balance the shadow to
  non-shadow area.

51
Subject in Bright Light

• When the subject is in bright light, you might
  have to sacrifice the shadow detail inside the
  shadows.

52
Alternative Solutions

• Averaging reflective reading, bracketing, flash
  fill

53
Reciprocity

• The reciprocity law is the theoretical
  relationship between the length of exposure and
  the intensity of light.
• Equivalent exposures use the reciprocity law.
• Since both aperture and shutter speed settings
  effect the exposure by a factor of two an
  increase in one is balanced by a decrease in the
  other.

54
Reciprocity

• It is like filling a swimming pool. You can fill
  the pool quickly with a big hose, or slowly with
  a small hose. The pool gets the same amount of
  water, just the time varies.
• F8 _at_1/250 f5.6 _at_ 1/500

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Reciprocity Law Failure

• Extremely long or short exposures cause a failure
  in the reciprocity law.
• Exposure times of 1 sec or longer and times
  shorter than 1/10,000 cause problems.

56
Reciprocity Failure and Its Effect on Color
Materials

• With black-and-white film you simply increase the
  exposure time to compensate for the reciprocity
  failure..
• With color film however each color layer react to
  the reciprocity failure differently.
• These differences cause color shifts with long
  exposures.
• You can use filters to compensate for the
  reciprocity failure.
• Filters can add as many problems as it corrects.

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Common Reciprocity Failure Situations