Luminous Landscape Forum

The Art of Photography => Discussing Photographic Styles => Topic started by: jule on August 18, 2012, 02:42:10 am

Title: The Effect of Colour.
Post by: jule on August 18, 2012, 02:42:10 am
I thought I would share with everyone a post I made on my blog recently about something quite interesting I noticed about the effect that colour has on an image.

I found it fascinating in the images below that I thought they seemed to be in a different position and at different angles – but they are exactly the same image… just with different colour - or lack of.

Amazing what the mind does hey!!!


Julie

Title: Re: The Effect of Colour.
Post by: bill t. on August 18, 2012, 04:14:36 am
The mono version has a lot more weight at the bottom because overall density there is much higher, the shadow areas on the porch have fallen into very deep shadows.  The green coloration itself fills in the shadows and therefore lightens up that area.  Perhaps it all comes down to visual weight.  Would be interesting to see how different approaches to monochrome conversion would influence the effect, such as if green was converted to a much higher gray value.

If I cover one of the images and look at them one at a time, while trying to remember the other, I don't get the same impression.

Makes me think I need to go back and read up on color theory.  Another similarly striking thing is how having complimentary colors in the scene can add snap to both colors, even when the area covered by one is very small.  If you selectively desaturate just one of the colors, they both lose impact.  But wait, there's more...
Title: Re: The Effect of Colour.
Post by: RSL on August 21, 2012, 01:22:58 pm
Julie, The house is green. Green is a receding color. It gives the impression that it's farther away than what surrounds it. I just made another post, answering Rob, that talks about the same thing: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?topic=69802.msg553598#new

With color ya gotta be careful or you'll get all sorts of effects you didn't expect.
Title: Re: The Effect of Colour.
Post by: jule on August 21, 2012, 05:11:47 pm
Julie, The house is green. Green is a receding color. It gives the impression that it's farther away than what surrounds it. I just made another post, answering Rob, that talks about the same thing: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?topic=69802.msg553598#new

With color ya gotta be careful or you'll get all sorts of effects you didn't expect.

That's what i realised Russ when looking at both these images side my side. They just seem to be at different angles and positions ... does my head in!

Julie
Title: Re: The Effect of Colour.
Post by: bill t. on August 22, 2012, 02:41:22 am
There may be something other than color at work here.

Edit...the mono image is a simple Desaturate of the color image.

And Michael has a good introduction to color issues (http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/colour_theory.shtml) right here on LuLa!


Title: Re: The Effect of Colour.
Post by: jule on August 23, 2012, 06:58:04 am
There may be something other than color at work here.

Edit...the mono image is a simple Desaturate of the color image.

And Michael has a good introduction to color issues (http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/colour_theory.shtml) right here on LuLa!



Thanks Bill for the link to Michael's article. It was really interesting.

I still however don't understand why the buildings look like they are at completely different angles and leaning in different positions. :-)

Julie

Title: Re: The Effect of Colour.
Post by: Rob C on August 23, 2012, 08:07:19 am
Thanks Bill for the link to Michael's article. It was really interesting.

I still however don't understand why the buildings look like they are at completely different angles and leaning in different positions. :-)Julie




Of course you don't Julie, and nobody else has a clue either. I long ago gave up trying to rationalise or understand everything that goes down in this world. Things happen without any logical explanation; you are up one day and down he next; it's the nature of the beast. Better to accept and just go with your internal flow, ignoring what you can't fix or change. It's the only route that's starting to make sense to me late in life. Not wanting to divert this in any manner, but it brings me to consider my local friend here who's continuing with his tobacco and booze even though he's got cancer of the mouth. Is he right or is he wrong? Ultimately, the answer is his to understand, not mine nor anyone else's to propose.

However, the reason why you see this effect with the two images is this:

Ciao -

Rob C
Title: Re: The Effect of Colour.
Post by: jule on August 23, 2012, 06:06:22 pm

Of course you don't Julie, and nobody else has a clue either. I long ago gave up trying to rationalise or understand everything that goes down in this world. Things happen without any logical explanation; you are up one day and down he next; it's the nature of the beast. Better to accept and just go with your internal flow, ignoring what you can't fix or change. It's the only route that's starting to make sense to me late in life. Not wanting to divert this in any manner, but it brings me to consider my local friend here who's continuing with his tobacco and booze even though he's got cancer of the mouth. Is he right or is he wrong? Ultimately, the answer is his to understand, not mine nor anyone else's to propose.

However, the reason why you see this effect with the two images is this:

Ciao -

Rob C

..... so in actual fact... I should just enjoy having my head played with... :-) and don't even think about asking why. I like that idea!!

Julie
Title: Re: The Effect of Colour.
Post by: Kirk Gittings on August 23, 2012, 06:17:35 pm
Quote
I found it fascinating in the images below that I thought they seemed to be in a different position and at different angles –

Not to me.........only tonal density (as i would expect the color to translate) seems different.
Title: Re: The Effect of Colour.
Post by: jule on August 23, 2012, 06:24:26 pm
Not to me.........only tonal density (as i would expect the color to translate) seems different.

oh well.. must just be only my head .... LOL
Title: Re: The Effect of Colour.
Post by: WalterEG on August 23, 2012, 07:38:18 pm
Jule,

I see very clearly what you are seeing but I can't for the life of me explain it.

Title: Re: The Effect of Colour.
Post by: jule on August 23, 2012, 07:49:04 pm
Jule,

I see very clearly what you are seeing but I can't for the life of me explain it.


I suppose both you and I Walter can just enjoy it hey, and having our heads playeed with by visual perception... and don't worry about explaining it! :-)
Title: Re: The Effect of Colour.
Post by: petermfiore on August 23, 2012, 08:56:28 pm
Color when high in chroma (saturation) appears to be a lighter value than it actually is. For example a cadmium red medium straight out of the tube is very high in chroma and lies at value 5 on a gray scale.  This is a very difficult concept for painting students to grasp, but a must to able to control one's palette.

Peter



www.peterfiore.com
Title: Re: The Effect of Colour.
Post by: Rob C on August 24, 2012, 04:26:44 am
oh well.. must just be only my head .... LOL


No, it isn't Julie; it's also in mine as well as, I note, Walter's head too.

Just enjoy the magic of photography. Apart from minor distractions into politics, religion, sex, economics (all of these are full of people with high qualifications and no real understanding whatsoever) there's no reason we can't enjoy the world of pictures too! Of course, that's also chock-full of people without understanding, but hey, I find the company helps me feel just as qualified in all fields as the next guy.

;-)

Rob C
Title: Re: The Effect of Colour.
Post by: Ray on August 24, 2012, 10:54:48 am
The images look the same to me also (regards position and perspective), once one has adjusted the shadows so the same amount of detail is visible in both the color and B&W version, as in Bill t's adjustment.

You're getting excited over nothing, Jule.  ;D
Title: Re: The Effect of Colour.
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on August 24, 2012, 12:05:53 pm
The perspective looks the same to me, too. But then I'm "color-blind" (common garden variety so-called Red-Green version), so my eyes naturally use luminance as the first source of information and color second. The green house looks lighter than the gray one, but otherwise the same.

So I wonder: Kirk and Ray -- you don't have deficient color vision, too, do you?
Title: Re: The Effect of Colour.
Post by: jeremypayne on August 24, 2012, 05:37:31 pm
oh well.. must just be only my head .... LOL

I see it. 
Title: Re: The Effect of Colour.
Post by: Ray on August 24, 2012, 10:30:57 pm
The perspective looks the same to me, too. But then I'm "color-blind" (common garden variety so-called Red-Green version), so my eyes naturally use luminance as the first source of information and color second. The green house looks lighter than the gray one, but otherwise the same.

So I wonder: Kirk and Ray -- you don't have deficient color vision, too, do you?


Not aware of any difficiencies in my color vision, Eric. The B&W image as presented by Julie has deeper shadows than the color version, which seems to contribute in some small way to a perception of some slight  difference in angles. The corrected B&W image from Bill t results in both images looking identical with regard to angles and perspective, although the mood created by the two images is slightly different. B&W tends to be more sombre. Color more cheerful.

ps. On second thoughts and third impressions, I do see a slight difference in the appearance of a vertical angle. The nearest vertical corner of the house, immediately above the printed sign on the fence, seems to be very slightly less forward leaning in the color version. In the B&W version, the top of that corner where the fenced balcony is, gives the impression of being slightly closer to the viewer, as though the corner of the house is leaning slightly more towards the viewer.
Title: Re: The Effect of Colour.
Post by: Rob C on August 25, 2012, 04:10:55 am
Not aware of any difficiencies in my color vision, Eric. The B&W image as presented by Julie has deeper shadows than the color version, which seems to contribute in some small way to a perception of some slight  difference in angles. The corrected B&W image from Bill t results in both images looking identical with regard to angles and perspective, although the mood created by the two images is slightly different. B&W tends to be more sombre. Color more cheerful.

ps. On second thoughts and third impressions, I do see a slight difference in the appearance of a vertical angle. The nearest vertical corner of the house, immediately above the printed sign on the fence, seems to be very slightly less forward leaning in the color version. In the B&W version, the top of that corner where the fenced balcony is, gives the impression of being slightly closer to the viewer, as though the corner of the house is leaning slightly more towards the viewer.



QE,Julie,D

;-)

Rob C
Title: Re: The Effect of Colour.
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on August 25, 2012, 08:52:26 am
Yeah, if I just focus on that one corner, it looks a little bit weird. So maybe my color vision isn't that bad.
Title: Re: The Effect of Colour.
Post by: Ray on August 26, 2012, 12:59:06 am
Yeah, if I just focus on that one corner, it looks a little bit weird. So maybe my color vision isn't that bad.


However, after third thoughts and fourth considerations, I see a difference in that vertical edge rising from the sign on the fence, depending on the density of shadows.

In Julie's first post, with the B&W image having denser shadows, I see a slight leaning of that edge in the color image, towards the viewer.

In the adjusted image from Bill t, I see approximately the same degree of leaning towards the viewer in the B&W image.

Two different effects. I hope the reason why Julie has not responded yet is not because she's too busy visiting a psychiatrist.  ;D