Category Archives: Part 3A – Assignment 3 – Colour

TAOP: Assignment 3 – Colour: Tutor Feedback, Learnings and Ideas for Improvement

This post provides a summary of my tutor’s feedback on Assignment 3: Colour, to help me look at what I can improve on in the future.

General Learnings

  • Once more, a positive summary form my tutor which has followed some in-depth constructive feedback: “Overall a good assignment, a good grasp of the material and the colour theory.  You have already started to hint at and develop things beyond the level of the course and started to find your own ideas, thoughts, views and approach so please keep this up.”
  • For my final assignment (5: Narrative) I should be cautious of choosing to focus on a single day or tight time-frame, as it puts pressure on me and tends not to do justice to the wide range of work done as part of the module.
  • My tutor’s suggested I experiment using theories and going against them to look at using that to illustrate a point within a series of photos.
  • I should look to present a balance panel – though not limit myself in assignment 4 – aiming for it for assignment 5.
  • For assignment 4 I should research advanced lighting techniques and and investigate how to use light creatively.

My Learning Log

  • I was pleased with the feedback on this as it had come in for some criticism previously and I’d worked both prior to the previous feedback on improving my write-ups and after it on the assignment and on personal shots.  I’d also created an index page to make it easier to navigate, and added a menu to the left.  Navigation wasn’t an issue this time around either.
  • My tutor said it included some “excellent extra details” and “well put together notes and a good representation of the all-round level of work put into the assignment.”  He added “Please keep this up.”

Suggested Reading/Viewing

  • Read more about the technical balance of light – both natural and artificial; and how to combine the two for the next assignment.
  • Read beyond the next assignment to using light as both a subject and how to change the appearance of the subject.
  • I should push my knowledge of artificial lighting setups forward with multiple lights and also on comments (below) about sync speeds, overall exposure and post-processing.

The Photographs

This section looks at the feedback on each of the colour themes in the assignment; highlighting specific shots, when mentioned.

In the email from my tutor he said “I’ve been overly critical in a number of areas but the level of work is such that I can be as some of the work produced for this assignment is what I would normally see for assignments 4 and 5 so I’m expecting more in those!”

Colour Harmony – Complementary

  • I should expand on details of processing as some shots appear over processed – in the case of the oranges in water shot, my tutor suggests this is due to the lighting not being enough to give a thoroughly finished image.
    • Do some research on high-speed synching and the relationships between shutter firing and flash duration.  I should also check for ambient light interaction as well.
  • The pavilion image brings the rest of the images down – but this kind of image is necessary as part of the process.  My tutor suggested using the people as colours to blend with the surroundings.
    • Any weak images will detract from strong ones.

Colour Harmony – Similar

  • To quote “I’m going to be really picky now with the balloons shot.  It’s a good example of when not to include a photo.”
    • Under-exposed image of something on a dull, flat, day.
    • White-balance and metering need to be explained.
    • Could have shot it on another day and said it was “inspired by”, or talked to the balloon seller to set something up.
    • The level of setup and preparation I’ve shown in this assignment is high for this stage in the course, so I should take it further and apply that across all preparation and delivery.
  • The lantern photo is really crying out for the flame as it’s a great idea that needs the boost – alternatively I could have tried using a burst of flash.
  • The lion is good experimentation, but under-exposed.  Not ideal for a colour assignment.

Colour Contrast

  • The T’ai Chi image suffers greatly for being an ultra-crop.  I should do the same level of preparation and iterative cycles as for my other shots; introduce myself and explain what I”m doing and ask for a pose – though there is a risk they might start over ‘acting’ to camera.
  • The envelope photo is one the tells the story from the thumbnail.  Artificial lighting might have been use dot avoid the necessity to post process to enhance the colour, though.
  • On the orange numbers photo the colours appear flat and on the next assignment I should highlight a couple of images (natural and artificial light) and go over the metering and processing.
  • On the moon shot: “let’s just leave the digital processing to the digital photography module.”
    • He asked why I’ve diffused light on the moon, as we expect harsh light on it (due to the big firey ball that shines on it).  My reason had been to avoid shadows that might have made the Photoshop work difficult, rather than for any creative reasons.
    • Light should be used for a purpose – not just because it’s dark outside.  I should take th next step with the lighting assignment and use light creatively – not to just illustrate the assignment headings.

Colour Accent

  • The hanging lamps shot is a questionable inclusion – it doesn’t reflect the hard work, effort and planning put into my other photos.
    • I should revisit my work as a ‘panel’ and throw out those that let the set down – the inconsistent shots.

TAOP: Assignment 3 – Colour: Summary

I’ve found this assignment particularly challenging thanks to selecting a theme that limited my options and resulted in me having to come up with different ideas to my original plan, having failed to get a number of shots I had hoped to get during the Chinese New Year celebrations in Manchester.

I found the shots that I enjoyed doing most were the four shots for the orange sub-theme.  Having a clear ‘story’ to tell linked the images well and made it easier to come up with the ideas.  I’m aware that I’m not looking at ‘narrative’ yet on the course, but I think this has shown the use of a theme itself isn’t strong enough on it’s own without a sense of telling a story through the images.

In terms of the assignment objective; I’ve created some strong images which make an impact because of the relationship between the colours.  ”Candle Flame, “Seeing out the old” and “Charm” are images I’m particularly pleased with and all make strong use of the colours and their relationship.

I’ve taken a number of staged shots in natural and “studio lighting” setups, as well as having included some “found” shots – so it’s a more varied assignment than assignment two.  For the staged shots using studio lights I’ve improved my use of lighting to create images at correct exposure which are well lit.  ”Charm” and “Candle Flame” demonstrate improvements when compared to my last assignment.

I think I might have found it easier switching theme once I had failed to get the shots in Manchester; only a few shots tie together as part of the theme so while I’ve got some individual shots I like I don’t think I’ve successfully illustrated the theme in a coherent story – apart from with the orange sequence.

TAOP: Assignment 3 – Colour: Orange Sequence

This post brings together the four images in the “orange sequence”.

A woman writes her number on the skin of an orange

She then throws it in to the river where it will be picked out by a man

The orange, having been peeled by the recipient

The man then tastes the orange. If it's sweet it bodes well and he'll call the number written on the skin of the orange, sour - not so well (and you'd figure he wouldn't call).

TAOP: Assignment 3 – Colour: Colour Contrast – Four – Full Moon

This is my final, 16th, shot for assignment 3 – “colour” and fourth shot for contrasting colours.

Full Moon

Click to see large on Flickr

Shot on manual and created from two separate exposures to get the blue and the yellow.  I used a blue lens filter and set the white balance on my camera to “tungsten” to get a blue colour.  I used a yellow lens filter and set my camera’s white balance to “daylight” to get a yellow colour.  I then adjusted each in Lightroom to make the colours more vibrant and placed the yellow moon over the blue moon using Photoshop Elements.

The original shots were both taken with flashes arranged either side, shooting through umbrellas to get a fairly even distribution of light with minimal shadows.

The link to Chinese New Year here is slightly tenuous; Chinese New Year is often referred to as “Lunar New Year” as the it’s based on a Luna/Solar calendar.  I took the idea of shooting the moon and bought a prop moon as getting the shot I wanted with the real moon hadn’t been possible (distance and colour of the night sky being the challenges I couldn’t overcome).  As it was it took a few efforts to get this – having tried to get the colour combination in one shot and failing.

I got some shots of the real moon appearing yellow-orange in the night sky so decided I’d go for a heavily-stylelised version of the moon; which a friend has suggested “looks like the national flag of the moon”.  I think this one might convince somebody the moon really is made of cheese…

Balance and Movement

Balance and Movement

There’s a very strong clash of colours here as the blue and yellow are both very strong colours in this combination and these proportions.  I find it a bit hard to look at it and focus – which leads in to movement.  There’s a ‘wave’ radiating out from the yellow circle – a sense of vibration which I think occurred more subtly with the previous orange/violet combination, but is very intense in this image.

As an idea it’s stretching the theme a little, but as a shot for the “colour” assignment it does a good job of illustrating how contrasting colours can make a striking image by adding a new dimension – in terms of the sense of vibration they’ve created here in a shot that is – otherwise – simply a circle.

TAOP: Assignment 3 – Colour: Colour Contrast – Three – Orange Numbers

This is shot 15 for assignment three – “colour”, my third shot for colour contrast and the fourth shot for the orange sub-theme running throughout this assignment (but the first in the sequence of four).

Orange Numbers

ISO400, f/11, 1/100s. Click to see large on Flickr

Shot on manual with camera-mounted flash bounced off the ceiling.  Contrast, sharpness and recovery adjusted in Lightroom.

This illustrates a woman writing her number on the skin of the orange before throwing it in to water.

Balance and Movement

Balance and Movement

The contrast between the orange and purple makes for a vibrant image.  The orange does stand out but it doesn’t overpower the violet background.  However, where the orange and violet are touching I feel there is an uneasiness in the combination – creating a kind of ‘halo’ where they meet.  A “crash” between the colours.   In greater proportions I think it would make it a difficult image to look at.

In terms of movement, this comes from the implied movement of pen across the skin of the orange as it’s being written on.