Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
Have you ever wondered about the logic behind HEX color codes? Nathaniel Dodson of tutvid has created a great video to help you make sense of those seemingly illogical strings of letters and numbers.
The video makes HEX code look simple, and you don’t need to be a math genius to understand it. Even I was able to make sense of the digits, and I’m not good at math at all. When you figure out the pattern, you’ll be able to guess the color only by “reading” its HEX code.
What I’m going to do is I’m going to show you how to match the colors between backgrounds and objects once you’ve cut them out and combined the different photos or otherwise known as compositing.
So what I’ve done here is I’ve grabbed some photographs from Adobe Stock. So I grabbed the photograph here of the woman and then I’ve grabbed two different backgrounds because I’m going to show you two different scenarios with two different techniques. So you can find those, I’m going to link to those in the description so you can go to Adobe Stock, grab those photos and follow along.
There is a progression that takes place in the journey that is our lighting knowledge. At first it is learning the ways of ambient light (read: I don’t want to buy a flash). As our career progresses we decide to buy our first flash and throw that sucker straight on the camera, only to question why the shadows on faces are gone… along with the artistic merit. Soon after that we discover a site like Strobist and point the flash at the ceiling and realize our first “Eureka” moment as a photographer. From there we buy our first off camera strobes and it is all downhill…
Colour can be one of the hardest things to master in photography. The real world doesn’t always provide the most pleasing colour for our images. Even within the same scene, different colours can clash and compete for attention. It’s a subject that many graphic designers study religiously to get perfect harmony in their work. But for photographers, it’s a subject that seems to skip by many.
It shouldn’t be, though. It’s one of the most important aspects of photography you can learn. Some of the principles might feel difficult to wrap your head around at first. But they’re usually fairly straightforward when explained simply. Landscape Photographer Dave Morrow goes very in-depth on colour theory in this 40 minute video. And by the end of it, you’ll understand the principles to take your work to the next level.
As some of you may recall, one of my very first blog posts (my 4th to be exact), was about compositing. I talk about compositing constantly in many of my posts, because I guess it’s sort of my “thing,” but I figured it was about time to share another of my handy dandy tricks for pulling off convincing composites. So here goes nothing … well I mean here goessomething … it’s compositing tips and tricks for working with different colored lights! Or just faking the colors later. 😉
Here’s a colour toning tip I picked up from Barrington Russell last year and I still use it to this day! What if I told you that within just 10 seconds of your time you could create complementary / harmonious colours on any image?
Depending on how much darkness, contrast, light etc is in your image as well as the colour pallet you currently have this effect will change drastically, but it’s always reliable and always cool. I can almost guarantee you’ll always find a great finishing tone to your image!
Let’s do this!
I had to shoot in an environment without HSS (Didn’t have my Citi600 with me) and I didn’t have my Hoya ND16 filter with me either. Which meant that I couldn’t effectively overpower the ambient light coming off the stage to get rid of the blue on the model’s skin.
This led me to trying a few solutions, albeit badly until Stefan Kohler hooked me up with this ridiculously simple and awesome solution for fixing colour problems while retaining all of the micro details in contrast etc (which you lose when you use Frequency Separation for low level skin etc).
Color plays an enormous part in how a movie makes us feel (or a photo for that matter). In fact, when you look back at a movie, one of the most prominent memories will be how it was colored. Maybe not on a conscious level, but the color palate ultimately gives a movie its feel.
Cinema Palettes breaks the color palate down from some poplar movies. This can serve as a great reference tool when you are seeking inspiration or wanting to set the look for a clip of your own.
Of course, the fact that a palette was a good fit for a moody or a happy film does not mean that it will be a great fit for YOUR moody or happy film, but it can help you gain insights on the connection between color and mood.
If Shakespeare were a photographer today, he’d have lost so many jobs to his “To tone or not to tone” predicament that in comparison you’d probably be able to catch more snowflakes in your mouth during a 20 second freak blizzard than he would have landed paid work.
Today I’m here with a video for you on that age old subject of “Colour Toning” and with a method I think most of you may find not only easy, but incredibly powerful. No, it doesn’t use curves, or levels, though it does include a lot of awesome.
Let’s crack on!
I was recently at an interactive installation that had three theater lights – red green and blue shining on a white wall.
The kids were fascinated by this – especially with how the colors mixed and how they could make different colors by casting shadows on the wall.
This is a human scale representation of the red-green-blue (RGB) additive color model (the electronic screen you are looking at right now uses the exact same method to reproduce every color you’re looking at).
It also reminded me of some of the really cool applications to use photography gels to have fun with color.
You can find out more about John on his website or follow him on Facebook and YouTube.
can change a lens mid-rappel, swap a memory card while treading water, or use a camel as a light stand.
To see more of his work please visit his studio website blurMEDIAphotography, or follow him on Twitter, 500px, Google Plus or YouTube.
JP’s photography is available for licensing at Stocksy United.
Find my work on My website or follow me on Facebook or My page
