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7 Tips for Colorful Landscape Photography

09 May

The post 7 Tips for Colorful Landscape Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Rick Ohnsman.

Color evokes emotion – so if you can become a master of color, then your colorful landscape photography will affect viewers on a deep level.

You may understand exposure, control your camera like a wizard, have the best equipment, get to the most exotic locations, and excel with editing. But if you don’t purposely imbue your images with intentional emotion, they will never “speak” to your viewer (or if your photos do speak, they might say the wrong thing).

That’s where color comes in handy. Let’s learn the language of color and how to use it – through seven colorful landscape photography tips (that’ll take your images to the next level!).

Colorful Landscape Photography - How does it feel? — A big reason we love sunset photos is the colors and the way they make us feel. Understanding the psychology of color is beneficial to color landscape photography; it will help you better communicate with your viewer.

1. Learn the psychology of color

The human brain is hardwired to respond to different colors. Psychologists have studied this, advertisers use it masterfully, and to be a good photographer, you need to understand how different colors will make your viewer feel.

colorful landscape photography examples — Each of these images works with one primary color. Note how the color of each makes you feel. Learn how to communcate with color in your photos.

Here are the feelings that colors produce:

Red: Exciting, important, passionate, angry, call to action
Purple: Beauty, exotic, royal, luxurious, sensual
Blue: Calming, serene, trustworthy, cold
Green: Peaceful, tranquil, natural, alive, growth
Orange – Fun, warm, energizing
Yellow – Happy, sunny, bright
Brown – Earthy, grounding, strength, dependability
Black – Mysterious, elegant, bold, powerful, edgy
White – Clean, healthy, pure, sterile, cold

2. Color relationships and the color wheel

In colorful landscape photography, we usually can’t choose our subject’s color. That said, if we understand the different color relationships, we can produce better photos.

You’re likely familiar with the color wheel (displayed below). Take a look at it as we discuss key color relationships:

Complementary colors – These colors sit opposite each other on the color wheel. They can work nicely in a photo; for example, blue (often a sky color) and orange/brown (often an earth color). Thus, a sky/land photo can be pleasing because the colors are complementary. Look at some of the examples below!

colorful landscape photography wheat fields — The blue sky and the golden wheat are complementary colors; they’re opposites on the color wheel.

colorful seascape — Here, you see blue water/sky and the complementary golds in the clouds/reflections.

sunrise reflection — Here, golden hour has just begun. The rising sun catches the peaks of the Idaho Sawtooth Range, giving a nice complementary orange to the blue scene.

compositions with complementary colors — Good compositions are further enhanced by the use of complementary colors.

Analogous colors – These are what we might call “color families.” For example, blue, blue-green, green, and yellow-green are adjacent to each other on the color wheel and therefore analogous. We can often make pleasing, colorful landscape photos with scenes comprised of analogous colors.

river with green and blue — The lush greens and blues in the Columbia Gorge in Oregon are analogous colors, adjacent on the color wheel. Note how the colors create a calming effect.

Color triads – These are three colors equally spaced out on the color wheel. For example, green, violet, and orange. If you look carefully, you will find color triads in nature, and they can help create impactful photos.

colorful landscape photography sunrise — The rolling hills of eastern Washington’s Palouse Country are magical enough on their own. Add a spectacular sunrise with the triad colors of orange, green, and purple, and how can you go wrong?

sunrise hills — Another shot from the same morning as the one above.

3. Pay careful attention to the time of day

You won’t be involved in landscape photography for long before you’ll hear the terms “golden hour” and “blue hour.” Golden hour is the time of the day when the sun is rising or setting. The color of the light is very warm and golden.

Arches National Park colorful landscape photography — The color of the rocks in Arches National Park is further enhanced by golden hour light.

colorful landscape photography trees in a field — These shots were taken about 10 minutes apart. The first shows the warm morning colors of golden hour. As the sun got higher, the light cooled and became bluer. Of course, I also used different white balance settings later in editing. That’s a big reason to shoot in RAW – you can adjust the white balance later without problems.

Yellowstone geyser — These shots of Great Fountain Geyser in Yellowstone National Park were taken the same evening. The first was earlier when the daylight was still bluish. Later into the golden hour, the sky color warmed up. Again, adjusting the white balance enhanced the look I was going for.

Well before sunrise or later in the evening after sunset we have the blue hour. The sky is not dark and black. Instead, it’s very cool and blue in tone. Blue hour can produce interesting light and color with a whole different mood.

blue hour scenes — Leave right after the sun goes down and you’ll miss the blue hour, the time just before dark when the light gets very blue in color. The shot at the bottom right shows two different light sources, the blue hour sky and the warm incandescent lights of Swan Falls Dam. The complementary colors play nicely together.

I’ve seen new and inexperienced landscape photographers come to shoot a sunset and make shots right up until the sun dipped below the horizon. Then they’d pack up and leave. That’s a mistake! The best sky color often comes well after the sun is already down. And if you wait even longer, the blue hour comes and continues until it gets truly dark.

Do enough colorful landscape photography during the sunrise/sunset/blue hour times and you run the risk of becoming a “light snob,” only wanting to make photos when the light and colors are “pretty.” (Shooting during midday? You must be joking!)

However, you won’t always have the luxury of getting to places during great light. Plus, even if you do, conditions won’t always cooperate. Many photographers can make nice photos of a spectacular sunset, but it’s the great photographers who can create impactful images at any time of day in any kind of light (and in any kind of weather).

4. Think about the season

Colorful landscape photography knows no season. There are great images to be made year round. But when planning a photo outing, you may want to consider how to take advantage of the colors of the season.

In the spring, colorful flowers and fresh green fields make for great subjects. Summer brings bright golden days, the sun and sand colors of the beach, bright colors and sunny scenes. Autumn is often a photographer’s dream with fall colors that delight the eye. Winter might be the least colorful season, but brilliant whites and deep cold blues are still impactful.

Colorful landscape photography in the summer — Colorful landscape photography knows no season. These are summer shots, such as “Sailing the Sea and Sky” (left), a midday shot playing to the cool blue colors. The sunset reflection (right) was taken during the golden hours; the warm colors are more pronounced thanks to a smoky sky (the result of nearby forest fires).

In any season, you can use color to communicate with your viewer. How do you want the photo to make them feel? Use color to carry that message: the cool blue tones of a winter’s day, the bright and happy yellow color of a field of flowers, the peaceful greens of a forest, or the fiery reds and oranges of a summer sunset.

When composing, shooting, and editing, give conscious thought to the colors you’re trying to bring out and what they say to your viewer.

cold, snowy barn — Does this shot make you feel cold? That was the idea! I edited to emphasize the blue tones.

Yellowstone trees — This was a bitter-cold, sub-zero day in Yellowstone National Park. The blue sky and stream contrast nicely with the brilliant white snow. The word I want this photo to communicate is “crisp.”

For the best colorful landscape photography, make sure to consider what’s in season. When do the camas flowers bloom? When are the aspens at peak yellow color? When are the fields in the Palouse Country deep green or golden? What is the best time to get a moonless dark night and have the Milky Way high in the sky?

camas fields in Idaho — Late May is when the camas fields usually bloom in Centennial Marsh near Fairfield, Idaho. They only peak for a week or so – and many years the display is not nearly as nice as this.

Knowing when to be at a location for the best colorful landscape photography takes good research and a large measure of luck. It all came together this evening several years ago. It’s never been quite as good since, but each year I still go back.

fall in New England — For great colorful landscape photography, it’s tough to go wrong with autumn in New England. Even then, finding the best locations and hitting them during peak color takes some research.

If you hope to get the very best colorful landscape photos, you need to do your homework, develop good information sources, and be ready to go when things are just right.

The old saying holds true: “Luck happens when preparation meets opportunity.”

5. Shoot when the weather is bad

If you’re a “fair-weather photographer,” someone who only gets out when the skies are clear and the weather is comfortable, then you’re missing some of the best colorful landscape photography.

Here’s another saying for you: “When the weather gets bad, the photos get good.” It may not be pleasant, but I’ll take a cold, stormy day with dramatic clouds, interesting light, and striking color over a clear, cloudless, warm bluebird day (if my goal is impactful landscape photography).

snowy bridge — When the weather gets bad, the photos get good. It was cold and snowing hard when I made this shot of the Rainbow Bridge over the North Fork of the Payette River in central Idaho.

The same goes for rainy, foggy, or snowy days. Don’t think that good color always means contrasty, heavily saturated scenes. Watch for the more muted color and low contrast provided by inclement weather conditions.

Bright, saturated colors might be more impactful, but soft pastels and muted colors create mood and carry a completely different feel and message.

stormy Columbia River Gorge — Stormy, cloudy, and rainy; that’s how I’d describe this day at Vista House overlooking the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon. Fair-weather photographers won’t get the same moody shot on a beautiful sunny day. The blue and purple colors enhance the mood.

Once again, ask yourself, “How do I want to make the viewer feel?” Capture photos that speak your message and use color as your “words.”

6. Carefully edit colors for the best results

There are many good articles about how to edit color. That is not my intent here. Instead, I’ll offer some general things to keep in mind when editing colors in your photos.

selectively edited images — Learn to selectively edit color. The blue areas in the shade and the warmer colors in the sunny clearing (left) were purposely enhanced here. And I gave the red flowers in the foreground some extra pop (right). Use color to draw attention to objects and communicate with your viewer.

Shoot in RAW. You greatly limit your options if you only shoot and save JPEG images. The most obvious reason to shoot RAW is the flexibility to adjust the white balance later in editing rather than trying to get it right when shooting. Warming or cooling an image by adjusting the color temperature slider becomes much more difficult if you’re trying to overcome the wrong white balance baked into a JPEG.

colorful landscape photography lake — There was more editing and working with color here than meets the eye, but that’s the idea. Your colors in landscape photography can be vibrant, but they should not look unnatural or scream for attention. If they do, you went too far.

Understand the difference between global and local adjustment tools. Sometimes, you might want to adjust the color of the entire image – so global adjustment sliders and controls work fine. Other times, you might want to make the sky bluer without affecting the land below or bring up the saturation of just the red flowers in a landscape; such edits will require the use of local adjustment tools. If your objective is to communicate with color, knowing how to carefully and precisely control specific colors in your image is an important skill to master.
Don’t overprocess. How much is too much? That’s a judgment call, but let me express a personal bias. Just as you can over-salt a meal, you can also oversaturate a color photo. Glowing “postcard color” is not a good look if you want to be taken seriously as a landscape photographer. Neither is a grungy HDR. I believe in using color to creatively speak a message, but I don’t want it to shout.

red barn in the snow — Where does your eye go in this shot? Red is a powerful color, and in an almost monochrome scene, the red barn immediately draws attention. (It also complements the cold blue.)

7. Make it monochrome

Sometimes, color is not the best way to give your image the most impact or communicate your message. Here are some reasons you might want to go monochrome instead:

The image is more about the “bones” of a good image: shape, form, tone, and texture. The color is an unnecessary distraction.
The image is almost monochrome anyway and the color isn’t adding anything.
Black and white might better capture the old, nostalgic, or period feel of the image.
In some genres of photography such as photojournalism or street photography, black and white offers a gritty reality.

These gnarly bristlecone pines in eastern California’s Sierra Nevada mountains are thousands of years old. I knew before I even clicked the shutter that this would be a black and white image. Color would be a distraction, hindering rather than helping the story.

You want to create a lot of drama. You can often push a monochrome edit far, whereas the same amount of processing on a color image might look garish or just plain bad.
You are unable to get good colors, so you save your image with a black and white conversion. It’s the last reason to favor monochrome, but it happens. That said, the choice to go color or black and white should be intentional rather than a rescue mission. Good photographers know their intent for a shot before they make it. But realistically, the fix for a bad color image might be a conversion to monochrome. While editing, you might think, “I wonder how this will look in black and white?” Also, this circles back to something I said earlier: Always shoot in RAW. Your images will be in color – but should you later decide black and white is preferable, it’s an easy conversion.

black and white versus color comparison — Color or black and white? It often depends on what you want to communicate.

Help your images speak: conclusion

Imagine your photograph is printed and hanging on the wall of a gallery. You are not there, only the image and the viewer.

Now, what do you want the viewer to see, think, feel, hear, smell, and experience when looking at your photo? You are not there to interpret, explain, justify, or defend. Your photo must speak for itself.

Once you determine what you want the image to say, apply all the “visual words” at your disposal, many of which use the language of color. Do it well, and you’ll be a master of colorful landscape photography.

colorful landscape photography silhouetted trees — How does this image feel? What does it say? What’s one word that describes it? Use the power of color to speak to your viewer, and you’ll be on your way to mastering colorful landscape photography.

How can I use color theory in photography?

Understand the relationships between colors, such as complementary colors, analogous colors, and color triads. That way, you can create pleasing color photos.

How can I create better color landscape photos?

When you make a color landscape photo, consider what you want it to communicate to your viewer. Then work with the colors in that image when composing, capturing, and editing – so that the colors of the image “speak” to your viewer. Understand how different colors carry different feelings. Use the feelings to create more impactful images.

Should my landscape photos be color or black and white?

The answer is that it depends. If the idea is to concentrate on the basics, such as the shapes, forms, tones, and textures of an image, sometimes color becomes a distraction. Other times, a color photograph can communicate things a black and white image cannot. Photographers and artists have long debated the merits of each approach. Here is a quote worth considering: “To see in color is a delight for the eye but to see in black and white is a delight for the soul.” – Andri Cauldwell

The post 7 Tips for Colorful Landscape Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Rick Ohnsman.

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Leica CL ‘Edition Paul Smith’ brings a unique colorful style to 900 limited-edition sets

15 Nov

Leica is back with another special edition product, this one featuring its Leica CL model launched in collaboration with British designer Paul Smith. The new Leica CL ‘Edition Paul Smith’ model’s tech specs are identical to that of the regular production model. Unique to the special edition, however, are ‘one-of-a-kind’ design elements inspired by Smith’s work.

According to Leica, this is the second special edition camera launched in collaboration with Smith. The designer’s handwriting is used as the font for the phrase ‘Look and see’ located on the back of the special edition camera, joining a ‘bold blue’ top plate and the use of ‘vibrant accent colors’ on the top buttons.

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Rounding out the special design is a large eye illustration on the viewfinder and stripes along the camera’s bottom edge. Leica has limited the production of its Edition Paul Smith variant to 900 sets globally; they’re shipped with the Elmarit-TL 18mm F2.8 ASPH lens and a neon rope strap featuring both Leica and Smith branding.

The Leica CL ‘Edition Paul Smith’ set can be purchased from Paul Smith retailers, Leica Stores, and Boutiques for $ 3,995 USD.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Hubble ushers in 29th anniversary with colorful new Southern Crab Nebula image

30 Apr

Just in time for the Hubble Space Telescope’s 29th anniversary comes a new image of the Southern Crab Nebula (Hen 2-104) captured in recent weeks, offering a clear look at the nebula first captured by Hubble on August 24, 1999. Unlike the first image, which is pixelated and orange, the new image is colorful with a higher resolution.

The Southern Crab Nebula is located in Centaurus constellation’s southern hemisphere; though it is shaped like an hourglass, the nebula’s bright edges give a vaguely crab-like appearance, hence the name.

According to NASA, the nebula was first observed in the 1960s, though it was thought to be an ordinary star until the first image was captured by the ESO’s La Silla Observatory in 1989. It was Hubble’s initial 1999 image that revealed the nebula’s ‘complicated nested structures,’ the space agency explains.

The new higher resolution image is a composite created from multiple images captured by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3. The images were captured in different colors that are associated with the oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and hydrogen gases present in the nebula. The Hubble Space Telescope website offers technical details on how the Southern Crab Nebula formed.

Other notable images captured by Hubble are available here.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Chroma Chrono is a programmable RGB camera flash for colorful long exposures

18 Sep

A new Kickstarter campaign seeks funding for Chroma Chrono, a programmable RGB camera flash that emits multiple colors during long exposures. Users can program the flash using a web interface accessible on any device with a web browser and WiFi; the system enables users to choose the flash colors and the on/off duration for each color.

Sample image via Chroma Chrono

Chroma Chrono features a high-intensity RGB LED, a WiFi-enabled microcontroller, and three AA batteries. Users can connect the flash to a standard hot shoe or trigger it remotely via a Prontor-Compur adapter. The camera flash currently exists as a final production prototype with anticipated manufacturing if the Kickstarter is successful.

Backers are offered an early bird Chroma Chrono flash for pledges of at least £120 / $ 164.

Via: Kickstarter

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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How to Create Colorful Artistic Images Using Oil and Water

28 Feb

Colors are the smiles of nature. We see colors all around us and it makes us feel happy and alive. Just imagine a life without color, where everything is simply in black, white and in between, how dull and boring it would be. Luckily, our beautiful world is full of colors.

In this article, you’ll learn how to create some colorful images using just water and oil to make your world even more beautiful.

Oil in Water 17

I am sure you have seen oil and water images on the internet before and may have even tried to photograph it. But this is your lucky day, as you are going to learn a very easy technique where you don’t need any flashes or artificial lights and your pictures will come out beautiful and vivid.

Are you ready for this? Okay, let’s move on.

What you need

Like any other kind of photography, first, you need a camera. You can use any DSLR or compact camera or even your mobile phone. There is no restriction on lens choice as well.

Second, you need a glass dish. Just look in your kitchen and you will find one. If it’s square, that will work great otherwise, a round dish will work too.

I took some photos using a glass bowl but found a little problem. Bowls usually have a smaller bottom compared to the top and this shape affects the picture. Also, bowls may not be 100% transparent, so I went to a local aquarium shop and had them make an 8×12 inch glass tray with one-inch depth. You can also get the same for yourself.

How to Create Colorful Artistic Images Using Oil and Water

Background

Next, you need background images and there is a super simple trick. Go to Google and search for “colorful wallpaper” images. You’ll find lots of wallpapers that you can download and use. Download whichever ones you like, just make sure they have lots of colors and patterns.

Now send these photos to your iPad or tablet (or Google directly on the iPad and save). You will use these pictures as a background instead of a printed one, so you don’t need any lights and the colors will be very bright. If you don’t have a tablet, you may lay your computer monitor or laptop down and use it.

NOTE: If you do this, please do so at your own risk and take all safety precautions.

Other than this, you’ll need water, vegetable oil, dish soap, a plastic sheet to cover your tablet and two boxes about six inches high.

Setup and camera settings

Okay, place the two boxes about 8 inches apart so you can place your tablet between them. Now put your glass tray on top of the boxes. If you are using a glass bowl and it’s small in size, put two metal rulers on the boxes and place the bowl on them.

Now pour some water in the tray and add 4-5 tablespoon vegetable oil to it. When it’s ready, set up your camera. You may fix it on a tripod or you can shoot handheld, but it’s always better to use a tripod and get your hands free to do other tasks.

Set the ISO to 200, aperture to f/5.6, and your shutter speed will be around 1/25th (depending on the brightness of your screen). If you have a wide aperture lens like a 50mm f/1.8, it’s better to use that (you don’t need a lot of depth of field for this type of shot).

Since the water and oil bubbles are on the same focal plane, even if you use an aperture of f/1.8, the entire picture will be in focus. The background will be more blurred which is actually a good thing. So, just go with the widest aperture your lens allows and change the other settings on the camera accordingly.

Now place your tablet below the glass tray. It should be around six inches below the tray. Make sure you wrap it in plastic so if you accidentally drop some water or oil on it, it will be safe.

How to Create Colorful Artistic Images Using Oil and Water

Workflow

Now relax because the hardest part is already done and all you have to do now is change the image on the tablet and take some pictures. When you shoot one image, use a spoon to stir the water gently, let it settle down and take another shot. After four or five shots, change the image on the tablet and repeat the process.

You’ll find that oil drops are very big in size. Don’t worry about it and take some shots. When it’s complete, put a few drops of dish soap or any other liquid soap into the water, mix it well and voila, the oil drops have now become smaller. Don’t try to understand the science behind this, just change pictures on the tablet and shoot three or four pictures, change the photo again, and repeat the process.

Large oil droplets.

Smaller droplets created by adding soap.

Even smaller yet.

Post-processing and finishing up

There is no need for heavy post-processing, just levels, sharpening, and cropping is enough.

Okay, call your friends and tell them that you’ll be busy next Sunday because you’re creating some extraordinary beautiful images. Just do it, share with them and don’t forget to share in the comments below too.

The post How to Create Colorful Artistic Images Using Oil and Water by Ramakant Sharda appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Art of Deception: Pencil Drawings Look Like Colorful 3D Splashes of Paint

01 Oct

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Drawing & Digital. ]

Seeming to rise up off the canvass, a viewer would be impressed to discover these swaths of paint to be two-dimensional in nature, but then further shocked to realize the material isn’t paint at all but pencil.

Australian artist Cj Hendry has an eye for hyper-realism, but in this series: instead of using it to draft convincing landscapes or portraits has turned to emulating oil paint.

Layers of carefully applied pencil slowly add depth and dimension to the flat surface, capturing the lush appearance of semi-liquid paints. The effect is so convincing the artist often includes a hand and pencil in photographs of the work to highlight the fact that what is being seen is both two-dimensional and drawn with pencils.

It is a dramatic shift from previous work by Hendry done in black and white. And going to color didn’t mean just picking one per piece, either — each of these colorful works employs a number of different colors, which is not at all obvious at a glance.

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Drawing & Digital. ]

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How to Make Funky Colorful Images of Ordinary Plastic Objects Using a Polarizing Filter

27 Jul

A cornerstone in modern manufacturing, plastic is an amazing thing. Look around and you’ll see an abundance of plastic materials used in an endless variety of products. From pens to planes – yep, even modern commercial aircraft are cutting down on weight by introducing plastic composite components – plastic has revolutionized the way we live. And while much of the plastic we encounter is discarded after the first use – this photography tutorial will give you a good reason to hang onto those plastic knives and forks. By using a polarizing filter, some plastic materials and a computer screen, we can reveal a surprisingly beautiful side to the internal stresses of hard plastic material.

How to Make Creative Colorful Images of Plastic Objects Using a Polarizing Filter

Supplies you will need:

Polarizing filter or polarized sunglasses
Computer screen
Camera
Clear sticky tape
Sheet of glass
Tripod (optional)
Transparent plastic objects

Setting up

In basic terms, what we’ll be doing is sandwiching a plastic object between a polarized light source and an on-camera polarizing filter. Polarizing filters that screw into the front of a camera are used by photographers to add contrast and reduce glare.

How to Make Funky Colorful Images of Ordinary Plastic Objects Using a Polarizing Filter

Don’t have a polarizing filter? Use your polarized sunglasses in a pinch.

If you don’t have a polarizing filter, a pair of polarized sunglasses will do the trick. Simply position the sunglasses so that one eye sits over the front of the camera lens like a filter. Keep in mind that the shape of the eyepiece will probably prevent complete coverage of the front lens element. If this is the case, some cropping may be required in Photoshop later. You may also need to do some sticky-taping to ensure the glasses sit correctly.

Now gather some clear plastic materials to photograph. Objects like plastic bags, sticky tape dispensers, plastic food containers, clear plastic cutlery and packaging all turn out well. Basically, any cheap, transparent plastic will work to some degree, so have a good scavenge around!

How to Make Creative Colorful Images of Plastic Objects Using a Polarizing Filter

Finding good backlighting

Next, you’ll need a polarized light source to shine through the transparent plastic material. Conveniently, modern desktop and laptop computer screens emit linearly polarized light. First, you need to maximize the white light emitting from our computer screen. To do this, download a plain white background from Google Images. Once downloaded, open the file in a default image viewer and set the image to Full-Screen Mode. This will spread the white backdrop over the entirety of the functional computer screen, providing the backdrop for our polarized objects.

Once downloaded, open the file in a default image viewer and set the image to full-screen mode. This will spread the white backdrop over the entirety of the functional computer screen, providing the backdrop for your polarized objects.

How to Make Creative Colorful Images of Plastic Objects Using a Polarizing Filter

Set the viewing mode of a clean white image to full-screen so that it completely covers the screen.

Arrange the subjects

Once the white background is set, you can start arranging your plastic items on the computer screen. If you have a choice between using a desktop or laptop computer, I recommend going with the laptop. Unlike a desktop computer, you can turn an open laptop upside down, so the screen lays flat on a surface. This turns your laptop into a home-made light box of sorts, perfect for sitting your plastic objects on.

Keep in mind however that laptops with touchscreen capabilities may not work as effectively. From my own experience, these laptop screens deliver far less pronounced results. Note: A large tablet or iPad may work as well.

Viewed through a polarizing filter, this transparent stencil is placed on the top of a touchscreen laptop. While the polarizing effect can still be seen, the finished image falls flat.

Workaround for desktop screens

Because the screen is upright, using a desktop computer for this project can seem a little trickier. Rather than tipping a full sized computer screen on it’s back, I’ve been fixing my plastic materials to a sheet of glass with tiny pieces of clear sticky tape. Easily recovered from old photo frames, the glass sheet means you can avoid sticking tape directly to your computer screen, without blocking out any light. For best coverage, a larger sheet of glass is preferable, just make sure that it’s dust free. Once you are finished taking your photographs, you can remove any evidence of the sticky tape with the “Clone Stamp” in Photoshop.

For best coverage, a larger sheet of glass is preferable, just make sure that it’s dust free. Once you are finished taking your photographs, you can remove any evidence of the sticky tape with the “Clone Stamp” in Photoshop.

I’ve affixed this transparent stencil to a pane of glass to keep it upright against the computer screen. The small amount of tape can be removed easily in Photoshop later.

In this image, a small piece of the clear sticky tape can be seen.

Taking advantage of the solid black background, any trace of the sticky tape can be removed by using the paintbrush tool with a black swatch selected

Getting the shot

Once you have assembled your objects against the computer screen, it’s time to see some results! Grab the camera you outfitted earlier with either the polarizing filter or the polarized sunglasses. While looking through the viewfinder (or LiveView Mode) point the camera at your plastic assemblage. Like magic, the boring clear plastic materials are filled with a beautiful array of colors.

Change the angle – change the background

Depending on the angle of the polarizing filter, you’ll notice that the backdrop of your image ranges from the white computer screen to jet black. The degree of polarization you see through the lens is dictated by the angle of the filter in relation to the wavelengths emitted by the computer screen. This means that by changing the angle of the polarizing medium, you can adjust the brightness of the computer screen without impacting the color of the plastic objects.

Simply hold the camera in one hand (or use a tripod) and use the other to slowly rotate the filter around. The same effect can be achieved by manually tilting the polarized sunglasses from side-to-side.

An image of a pretty shell shaped container I had on my dresser. The polarization effect highlights the stresses in a plastic material, rendering them as beautiful arrays of color.

The same shell container, this time with the filter angled so that the white light passes through to the camera sensor, rendering a white background

Your turn!

Now that you’ve got the basics, it’s time to raid the recycling bin! Post your results below and have fun.

How to Make Creative Colorful Images of Plastic Objects Using a Polarizing Filter

The polarizing effect caused this plastic bag to take on a rugged, mountainous appearance.

How to Make Creative Colorful Images of Plastic Objects Using a Polarizing Filter

The post How to Make Funky Colorful Images of Ordinary Plastic Objects Using a Polarizing Filter by Megan Kennedy appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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30 Years of Graffiti: Peeled Dutch Wall Sample Reveals Colorful Art History

18 Jun

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Street Art & Graffiti. ]

The sides of the structure are painted from ground to roof, but peeling back layers of artwork reveals just how far back the building’s vibrant history goes.

“This is Doornroosje, the location where I took the piece from, “explains Paul De Graff. “It’s a Graffiti Hall of Fame in the city of Nijmegen, the Netherlands. What started as a 70’s Hippie cult place, became a center of music and art in the early 80’s.”

It was apparently “one of the first places where it was legal to smoke cannabis” and “the building is surrounded by walls that are all spray painted from top to bottom.”

And over its many years and various uses, the building has gathered coats of paint, which De Graff has deconstructed like a geological core sample (or piece of Fordite).

Like a good urban scientist (or someone trying to sell proof with a section of the Berlin Wall on the streets of Germany), he also shows people exactly where it came from, then includes a banana for scale.

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Street Art & Graffiti. ]

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Posted in Creativity

Meyer Optik Trioplan 35+ Kickstarter unlocks colorful lens trio reward

22 Mar

Meyer Optik has an active Kickstarter campaign seeking funding for its new Trioplan 35+ Fine Art Lens, and though 22 days remain in that campaign, backers have already well exceeded the company’s $ 50,000 base funding goal. As a reward for the high amount pledged (about $ 480,000 total at the moment), Meyer Optik has announced the launch of a new limited edition reward: green, red, blue and titanium versions of the Trioplan lens.

According to Meyer Optik, it took a total of six minutes post-launch for the Kickstarter campaign to reach its $ 50,000 funding goal. Over the following week, the Kickstarter went on to raise in excess of $ 420,000, and the company has launched the special Kickstarter stretch reward as a result. Says company CEO Dr. Stefan Immes, ‘The new colors are strictly limited in quantity and, therefore, [are] a real collector’s item.’

The crowdfunding campaign now includes pledge options for the new colors, of which 50 units are available per color. All four special ‘super limited color edition’ Trioplan lenses are priced at $ 799 and are estimated to ship to backers this upcoming November.

Via: Photography Blog

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Streets Illustrated: Colorful Interventions Make the City More Fun

24 Jan

[ By SA Rogers in Art & Street Art & Graffiti. ]

Filling the city with art by literally painting right onto the streets makes it feel like everyone is immersed in an illustration, acting out some kind of larger-than-life story. Formerly bare patches of asphalt and concrete get splashes of color, patterns and imagery that can be humorous, fun or politically pointed. Roadsworth is among the street artists best known for this style, and recently debuted a new piece referencing the refugee crisis.

roadsworth-montreal-mural-festival

“A new record: as of today, the UN has counted 65 million refugees in the world,” he says. “I painted this in recognition of this tragic fact. Walls and Fences are for painting and climbing not for dividing and obstructing.”

In this particular mural, painted onto a street in Montréal, passersby are confronted with massive hands cling to a chain-link fence, effectively forcing them to recognize and think about the subject matter.

roadsworth-gif

roadsworth-ice-cream

roadsworth-bridge-crossing

Other Roadsworth murals are more playful, like a stop-animation squirrel that appears to run down the street when the images are stacked in a GIF, and a crosswalk that has been turned into a rope bridge. A giant pink ice cream cone melts onto the pavement.

roadsworth-octopus

roadsworth-bike-path

roadsworth-singing-river

Prints can be purchased at Roadsworth.com, and you can keep up with the artist’s work on Instagram.

360Photography

Posts Tagged ‘Colorful’

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2. Color relationships and the color wheel

3. Pay careful attention to the time of day

4. Think about the season

5. Shoot when the weather is bad

6. Carefully edit colors for the best results

7. Make it monochrome

Help your images speak: conclusion

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What you need

Background

Setup and camera settings

Workflow

Post-processing and finishing up

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How to Make Funky Colorful Images of Ordinary Plastic Objects Using a Polarizing Filter

Supplies you will need:

Setting up

Finding good backlighting

Arrange the subjects

Workaround for desktop screens

Getting the shot

Change the angle – change the background

Your turn!

30 Years of Graffiti: Peeled Dutch Wall Sample Reveals Colorful Art History

Meyer Optik Trioplan 35+ Kickstarter unlocks colorful lens trio reward

Streets Illustrated: Colorful Interventions Make the City More Fun

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