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Mastering Noise Reduction in Lightroom: The Essential Guide

04 Nov

The post Mastering Noise Reduction in Lightroom: The Essential Guide appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.

Shooting at a high ISO is a great way to retain control over other exposure parameters such as aperture and shutter speed while still getting a usable image.

However, even today’s digital cameras still produce noise and grain when shooting at values like ISO 6400, ISO 12800, and beyond. While an ISO 6400 photo is never going to look as clean as a photo taken at ISO 100, you can use Lightroom noise reduction to clean up your high ISO images.

Mastering noise reduction in Lightroom involves a few tradeoffs. But it’s a great solution for people who need the flexibility of shooting at high ISO values while still getting great results.

Mastering noise reduction in Lightroom infant — Nikon D750 | Nikon 85mm f/1.8G | 85mm | 1/500 sec | f/1.8 | ISO 6400

To understand how to use Lightroom noise reduction, it’s important to learn a little more about ISO.

In a nutshell, ISO is a measure of a camera’s sensitivity to light. When shooting with film, each roll has a single value and cannot be changed until you use up all your exposures and put in a new roll. Digital photography, on the other hand, lets you alter your ISO any time you want.

Higher ISO values let you use smaller apertures or faster shutter speeds because your camera produces a brighter exposure. As a result, you don’t need as much light coming through the lens in order to take a picture. This means that you can use a smaller aperture, faster shutter speed, or both. (Or you can use Auto ISO and let your camera figure out the rest.)

The tradeoff is that increasing your camera’s ISO inevitably leads to noise being introduced to the picture. (Digital noise is kind of like the static you might remember seeing on old television sets.) High ISO shots aren’t as sharp, and colors aren’t as vibrant, thanks to noise. But if shooting at ISO 6400 means you can use a fast shutter speed to avoid motion blur, then it’s generally a tradeoff worth making.

Mastering noise reduction in Lightroom man portrait — Nikon D750 | Nikon 85mm f/1.8G | 85mm | 1/90 sec | f/4.8 | ISO 6400

The best of both worlds would be a high-ISO shot that retains the color and sharpness of a low ISO shot. Unfortunately, that’s not actually possible (at least not with current technology). But mastering noise reduction in software such as Lightroom gives you a great deal of control over reducing high-ISO artifacts while keeping as much detail as possible.

A closer look

The effects of high ISOs aren’t always visible when photos are downsized for the web. To really see what happens at high ISOs, and to understand how to clean it up, you should look at images up close.

Here’s a zoomed-in view of the above image; you can now see the effects of shooting at high-ISO values:

Mastering noise reduction in Lightroom portrait close-up — Up close you can see the speckled background on the left and the lack of definition in the eyebrows. These are just some of the effects of shooting at ISO 6400. Noise reduction settings are at their default values: Luminance 10, Detail 50, and Contrast 0.

Lightroom lets you remedy these ISO artifacts, at least partially, through the Detail panel in the Develop module.

There are two types of noise reduction available: Luminance and Color.

Luminance is the most common form of noise in digital photography and refers to the slight speckled variations in brightness from one pixel to the next. You can see this most clearly in the brown background on the left side of the above photo.

Color noise is often obvious at very high ISO values like 25600 or greater. It looks like random splotches of color scattered around the brightest or darkest portions of an image. In modern digital photography, color noise isn’t nearly as much of an issue in most instances. Most of the time you won’t need to use the Color, Detail, and Smoothness sliders. For most practical purposes, it’s best to stick with luminance noise reduction adjustments.

Lightroom noise reduction sliders mastering noise reduction

To access the noise reduction sliders, click the Detail panel in the Develop module. The noise reduction sliders are grouped with sharpening adjustments because these often go hand-in-hand. Boosting noise reduction can have a smoothing effect on your images which can be somewhat mitigated by adjusting the sharpening sliders.

Getting detailed

When working with luminance noise, there are three sliders to adjust:

Luminance
Detail
Contrast

Luminance is a measure of how much noise to remove, while Detail and Contrast give you finer control over the effects of the noise reduction.

You might notice that Lightroom automatically applies a small amount of noise reduction to every RAW file by default. This is generally a good starting point because RAW files, due to their unprocessed nature, inherently contain more noise than in-camera JPEG files. And it’s almost always recommended to remove some of that noise even if just a tiny bit.

To start the noise removal process, move the Luminance slider to the right. The farther you go, the more pronounced the noise removal effect will be. I generally don’t push it past 50, but your settings will depend on your image and your personal preferences.

After adjusting the Luminance slider to your liking, use Detail and Contrast to bring back parts of your image that might have been lost by the noise reduction algorithm. Move the Detail slider to control the threshold at which the noise reduction starts to kick in. This can help retain some of the details in your image but end up leaving some of the noise intact.

As you adjust the Luminance slider, you will see some parts of your picture get muddy, almost like a layer of petroleum jelly has been smeared across the shot. Use the Contrast slider to bring back some of the high-contrast parts of your image that are most affected by the Luminance slider.

As with many aspects of photography, there is no single correct answer for how much noise reduction to use in Lightroom. Some high-ISO images will look fine without too much tinkering, while others require more drastic measures. Mastering noise reduction isn’t about finding one solution that works for every image. It’s about understanding how to use the editing tools to create the best possible outcome for any given photo.

Low ISO versus noise reduction

To really understand how Lightroom noise reduction works, it helps to look at some comparisons of images so you can see the results for yourself.

The following images show different versions of the same scene; one base shot is taken at a very low ISO, while another is taken at a high ISO. I then apply varying degrees of noise reduction and display the results.

I took the first image at ISO 100:

test scene — Nikon D7100 | Nikon 50mm f/1.8G | 50mm | 1 sec | f/8 | ISO 100

Here’s the same scene shot at ISO 6400 for comparison:

When resizing images for the web, some of the issues with shooting at a high ISO are difficult to notice. However, a few artifacts do stand out, such as the muddiness of the solid blue radio toy, and a clear lack of definition in the intricate parts of the ball maze on the left.

For a closer look, here are 100% crops of each image:

test scene crop — A 100% crop of the original ISO 100 image. Note the fine detail in the cactus and the overall clarity of the picture.

test scene crop ISO 6400 — A 100% crop of the original ISO 6400 image. Colors are washed-out and subtle texture is obliterated. Note that the green paint lines at the borders of the white lines are completely gone.

When looking at these images close-up, it’s clear that the ISO 6400 photo is noticeably worse. However, if shooting at ISO 6400 or greater will give you the ability to get the shot you want, then it’s a tradeoff worth making.

High-ISO shooting becomes even more practical when you learn to eliminate some of these issues in Lightroom. Using the noise reduction options won’t fix a high-ISO image entirely, but it can go a long way toward cleaning things up.

test scene with noise reduction — A 100% crop of the ISO 6400 image with these adjustments applied: Luminance 80, Detail 60, and Contrast 55. While the ugly noise artifacts have been smoothed out, the image still isn’t as rich and detailed as its low-ISO counterpart.

Mastering noise reduction in Lightroom isn’t just limited to moving three sliders in the Detail panel. It’s best paired with other adjustments such as Texture, Clarity, Contrast, Saturation, etc. There is no one-size-fits-all preset to magically make your ISO 6400 images look as good as ISO 100 images. But with a little work, you can bring back some of the punch and brilliance of your originals.

test scene noise reduction and edits added — A 100% crop of the high-ISO image with previous noise reduction edits applied along with the following: Contrast -15, Shadows +34, Blacks -35, Texture +42, and Saturation +22.

Noise reduction isn’t a cure-all, and it won’t resurrect parts of the image that were never captured to begin with. In the ISO 6400 shot above, no amount of software-based noise reduction can bring back the green paint along the white lines that were clearly present in the low-ISO image.

But careful use of the tools available to you can go a long way toward making a messy picture more than usable.

Mastering noise reduction in Lightroom test scene — Nikon D750 | Nikon 85mm f/1.8G | 85mm | 1/250 sec | f/2.8 | ISO 6400. The sun was setting and I needed a fast shutter speed, so I chose to shoot at ISO 6400 and was able to adjust it in Lightroom. My clients loved the results.

Mastering noise reduction in Lightroom: Conclusion

Mastering noise reduction in Lightroom isn’t a science; each image is different and your own preferences matter most of all. Shoot some test images at ISO 6400 or higher, then see what you can do to clean them up using the tools available to you.

You might be surprised at how much latitude you have when editing. The more you experiment, the more skilled you will get.

And soon you’ll be transforming your photos from noisy messes into near-masterpieces.

The post Mastering Noise Reduction in Lightroom: The Essential Guide appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.

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Mastering Aspect Ratios in Photography

18 Mar

The post Mastering Aspect Ratios in Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Tim Gilbreath.

mastering aspect ratios in photography featured image

Aspect ratio is a phrase that you’d normally expect to hear when discussing movies or televisions, but as it is a measurement of image proportions, it’s also important in photography. It is also one of those things that is always there, even if you don’t think about it.

Aspect ratio in photography is a description of an image’s vertical and horizontal proportions expressed as two numbers separated by a colon, and composed of similar units of measurement, whether it be inches, centimeters, or feet.

You’ve seen these numbers before, such as 16:9, which is commonly known as widescreen format, and used to describe many TV’s and computer monitors.

16:9 would be an image (or in the case of a TV or monitor, a screen) that is 16 units wide and 9 units tall. Aspect ratio doesn’t describe actual size, as a 16:9 ratio could be 16 inches wide by 9 inches tall, or 16 feet wide and 9 feet tall. The numbers only describe the proportions.

Although it’s not in the scope of this article, movies and film sometimes also use what’s known as cinema terminology to express aspect ratios, such as 1.85:1 (cinema standard widescreen) and 2.39:1 (anamorphic widescreen).

Although you can convert these expressions to standard ratios, for our purposes, we’ll only stick with standard x:y expressions that relate to camera sensors or photographic images.

So why are aspect ratios important to photography?

Primarily, they are important because every image we shoot, as well as every camera we shoot with, has a base aspect ratio. Our camera bases the aspect ratio on the proportions of the sensor, which you cannot change.

However, you can change the resulting image’s aspect ratio, and most importantly, you can change it for creative reasons.

There are actually two types of aspect ratio in photography we need to familiarize ourselves with; the aspect ratio of the camera we’re shooting with, and more importantly, the final aspect ratio we will present our image in.

We, of course, can change the latter in post-processing, for whatever reason we decide.

Some cameras also have settings that allow you to change aspect ratio in-camera before shooting, but this is made possible by the camera software cropping. It’s always better to change the ratio yourself and crop later in post-processing.

Why would we want to change the aspect ratio of a photo?

The main reason – composition.

Changing the aspect ratio in Photoshop or Lightroom is essentially cropping the image to a specific proportion that makes the photo more pleasing to the eye. A wide, sweeping shot of a beach and sky will not look as wide and sweeping in a standard 3:2 presentation as it would in a 16:9 widescreen format. Composing the image in widescreen proportions gives the scene a more open, cinematic feel.

Let’s take a look at the most popular aspect ratios in photography, and what they are commonly used for.

Breakdown of aspect ratios in photography

3:2 ratio

The 3:2 ratio is probably the most commonly used aspect ratio in photography, due to the fact that it is the standard proportions used with modern DSLR camera sensors.

The reason for this is because it is also the ratio used by classic 35mm film cameras. Digital camera sensors were originally designed to replicate that ratio.

aspect ratios in photography — An image captured with a DSLR in native 3:2 format. Modern DSLR cameras usually capture images in this format.
EXIF: Canon 60D, EF 50mm 1.8 II, 50mm, f/8, 1/100 sec, 800 ISO, Manual Mode

Before photography, artists generally used a set of proportions similar to this because of its visual appeal. The 3:2 format is a great general use ratio, and allows for a fairly wide feel while still capturing vertical elements of a scene.

4:3 ratio

The 4:3 ratio is a classic format that has its roots in digital point and shoot cameras, which were developed to basically match the proportions of video monitors of the time.

The format is used in point and shoots, many compact cameras, and micro four-thirds systems.

Aspect ratio in photography - mushroom image in 4:3 format. — The 4:3 format allows for more vertical space and can better focus attention in on a specific area of a scene. Here we’ve used the 4:3 ratio to remove distracting portions of the scene and isolating the flower and mushroom.
EXIF: Canon 60D, EF 50mm 1.8 II, 50mm, f/8, 1/100 sec, 800 ISO, Manual Mode

Just as with old TV and video monitors, the 4:3 format has a taller, slimmer look that appears more square to the eye. It is a good creative choice when you need to capture vertical elements of a scene.

16:9 ratio

The 16:9 ratio is more commonly known as the “widescreen” format.

It was developed as a replacement for the old 4:3 ratio during the advent and implementation of HDTV. Most TV’s and monitors now are created with this format in mind.

The longer, more horizontal format is great for displaying landscapes and other vistas, and creates a cinematic look and feel when used in photography.

aspect ratios in photography - empty beach scene — This image is expansive in native 3:2 format, and contains too much empty space.
EXIF: Canon 60D, EFS 24mm 2.8 STM, 24mm, f/8, 1/320 sec, 250 ISO, Manual Mode

Aspect ratio in photography - beach scene in 16:9 format. — Adjusting the aspect ratio to 16:9 allows for a much more flowing, cinematic look and feel. This format is especially good for displaying wide fields of view.
EXIF: Canon 60D, EFS 24mm 2.8 STM, 24mm, f/8, 1/320 sec, 250 ISO, Manual Mode

1:1 ratio

The 1:1 ratio, or square format, might be mistaken as a newer format, as it is well-known for its use on the Instagram platform (although photos are no longer forced in that format with the service). However, square images are also the usual ratio for medium-format cameras, as well as a few toy cameras.

This format is a good choice for cropping close and isolating a subject or a scene that doesn’t involve an expansive landscape.

Aspect ratio in photography - mushroom image in 1:1 (square) format. — Returning to our mushroom photo, the 1:1 (or square) format lets us crop in close to a particular subject and remove any distracting elements. Here, we are focusing on the mushroom itself, and nothing else.
EXIF: Canon 60D, EF 50mm 1.8 II, 50mm, f/8, 1/100 sec, 800 ISO, Manual Mode

5:4 ratio

The 5:4 ratio formatted images are primarily used in large-format photography, as many of those cameras use sheet film with dimensions of 5×4 inches.

From a creative standpoint, images using this ratio are almost as tall as they are wide, and are great for capturing vertical elements of a scene.

Aspect ratio in photography - mushroom image in 5:4 format. — The 5:4 ratio is very similar to the 4:3. Again, we can use it to remove distracting elements on the sides of a scene.
EXIF: Canon 60D, EF 50mm 1.8 II, 50mm, f/8, 1/100 sec, 800 ISO, Manual Mode

2:3 ratio

Finally, the 2:3 ratio is a specialty aspect ratio that is used for images in vertical or portrait orientation.

It is primarily used for portraiture, when elements of the scene (in most cases, a person), align in a vertical orientation.

You can also use vertical formats like 2:3 for landscape photography to capture tall elements within the frame, such as trees and mountains.

aspect ratios in photography - a forest full of trees in the 2:3 ratio — This image was framed and captured vertically, and later cropped in post-production to 2:3 format, to accentuate the height of the trees and the vertical expansiveness in the scene.
EXIF: Canon 60D, EFS 24mm 2.8 STM, 24mm, f/8, 1/80, 400 ISO, Manual Mode

Creative cropping

Before the advent of digital photography and software, aspect ratios of the camera being used generally dictated what ratio the image would be in.

In the digital age, however, we have the ability to simply and quickly crop in whatever photo software we’re using.

Changing aspect ratio in Adobe Lightroom. — Changing aspect ratio of an image in Adobe Lightroom. Not only are several presets available to you, but you can enter a custom ratio as well.

Conclusion

Instead of being bound to a specific format, you can change it. Therefore, changing the look and feel of an image for creative reasons, even after pressing the shutter and recording the image on the sensor.

So now you know a little more about aspect ratios in photography, and why it’s important. What formats do you find yourself using? Do you alter the aspect ratio during post-production? Leave us your comments below!

The post Mastering Aspect Ratios in Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Tim Gilbreath.

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5 Tips For Mastering Contrast In Your Landscape Photos (video)

15 Feb

The post 5 Tips For Mastering Contrast In Your Landscape Photos (video) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.

Okay. So you’ve taken your landscape photos and you are back at the computer with your RAW files, ready to start editing in Lightroom. Before you do, you may want to watch this video by Mark Denney, so you can learn 5 handy tips for mastering contrast in your landscape photos.

You can achieve varying levels of contrast in a number of ways. See which sliders make the most impact and how they work to boost and drop contrast levels to different degrees. In some scenarios, you may want to enhance contrast, when light is flat, for example. At other times, such as when there are already severe contrasting light levels, where you may need to pare it back.

So check out the video, see how you can use the various sliders in Lightroom and try them out on your images. Then, feel free to share your results with us in the comments section.

You may also find the following interesting:

The dPS Top Landscape Photography Tips of 2019
11 Surefire Landscape Photography Tips
How to Plan the Perfect Landscape Photo
How to Embrace MINIMALISM for IMPROVED Landscape Photos (video)
6 Important Compositional Elements to Consider When Shooting Landscapes
Which Landscape Photography Camera Should You Buy?(video)
6 Ways to Easily Improve Your Landscape Photography
Living Landscapes
Loving Landscapes

The post 5 Tips For Mastering Contrast In Your Landscape Photos (video) appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.

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Mastering Lightroom Keywords in a Flash

05 Feb

The post Mastering Lightroom Keywords in a Flash appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.

As your collection of photographs grows, it’s important to have a way to manage all those images. Lightroom keywords can help you tame your ever-increasing photo library, but mastering them can take a bit of practice. Whether you’re a Lightroom veteran or completely new to the software, these tips and tricks will save you plenty of time and a few headaches too.

Nikon D750, 95mm, f/3.3, 1/250 second, ISO 250

Understanding keywords

Lightroom keywords are like tags on a social media post. They help categorize your pictures according to specific elements contained therein, as well as broader themes you can’t necessarily see.

For instance, let’s say I post the following picture of a mockingbird on a social media site. The caption contains text I might share with the image, along with a few hashtags.

I shot this mockingbird on a chilly November morning. So fun to get out and enjoy the great outdoors! #Nature #Bird #Mockingbird #Outdoors #Oklahoma #Nikon #Sunshine #Happy

Each of those hashtags could be considered a keyword: they help describe and categorize the image. You can’t see that I shot the picture with a Nikon camera. And yet I used the #Nikon hashtag in case people are searching for images taken with that type of gear. I also added the hashtag #Happy because this is a picture that makes me feel joy.

Keywords in Lightroom work in the same way. When you apply them to your images, you are helping make sure you have a way to organize and locate your pictures later on. It might take a bit of work (but not much!) to apply keywords, but that work can pay huge dividends down the line.

Nikon D750, 125mm, f/4, 1/180 second, ISO 180

Adding keywords on import

The process of adding Lightroom keywords is pretty straightforward. Lightroom has a number of tools to help you with this step in the process in order to make your job as easy as possible.

You can add keywords to pictures at any time, but the best way is to apply them when you initially import your images.

I usually shoot in batches, so all the photos from any given import operation generally have similar subjects and themes. That makes adding keywords en masse quite practical as opposed to entering them later, but you can certainly do that too.

You can add keywords during the import phase.

In the above photo, you can see the import dialog with thumbnails of several pictures I shot on a foggy morning. Applying keywords when importing them into Lightroom will help me later when I want to find these same images.

On the right side of the Import screen is a panel called Keywords. You can use this to type in a set of words that describe the pictures, just like you would add hashtags to the pictures on social media. For the images above, I would use keywords such as Morning, Fog, and Sunrise.

Lightroom keywords are kind of like social media hashtags. Use them to describe your image as well as non-visual aspects – like how it makes you feel.

You can also create a Metadata Preset that applies a specific set of keywords. Choose the “New…” option under the Metadata section of the Apply During Import panel.

Then navigate to the Keywords section and enter the keywords you want to apply.

Save it as a new Metadata preset, and you can apply these keywords as a batch to a group of images on import.

You can create a metadata preset that includes a set of Lightroom keywords to apply during import.

If you don’t want to apply keywords when importing, you can do it in the Library module after finishing the import. In some ways, this process is even easier than applying on import, but I find that if I don’t do it right away (i.e., when importing), I tend to forget. I can sometimes end up with a huge backlog of photos to keyword, so I prefer to get it done right away and not worry about it later on.

Adding keywords in the library module

In the Library module, select the photos to which you want to apply keywords. Then you can add keywords using a few different methods.

You can also add keywords after importing using the Library module.

The most obvious way to enter Lightroom keywords is to just type them in the text entry box in the Keywording panel.

Separate each keyword with a comma and add as many keywords as you want.

Lightroom will offer keyword suggestions based on what it thinks you might want to use, but I don’t find these to be particularly helpful.

Use the Keywording panel to enter keywords for your images, and separate each keyword with a comma.

If you have several keywords you find yourself using consistently, you can store them in a Keyword Set. This is a collection of Lightroom keywords that are particularly useful for certain shooting situations, such as Outdoor Photography, Portrait Photography, or Wedding Photography.

Click the drop-down menu to select a set, and then click individual keywords to add them to an image or a batch of selected images.

Lightroom has a few existing Keyword Sets, but you can create your own as well.

Scrolling down below the Keywording panel brings up another panel called Keyword List. As its name implies, this is a list of every single keyword you have ever used in Lightroom. It also shows a number indicating how many photos to which that keyword has been applied.

Select one or more photo thumbnails and then click the checkbox next to one of the existing keywords to apply them to the images.

If you have hundreds of keywords, you can narrow the list by searching for specific keywords using the search box at the top of the Keyword List panel.

The keyword list can be used to quickly add existing keywords to images

One other way to add keywords is to use the spray-can icon near the bottom of the Library module.

Click the icon and then select Keywords from the drop-down menu.

Enter any keywords you want to apply and then click the pictures on which you want to apply them.

Use the spray paint icon to add keywords to images with a single click, or multiple images by clicking and dragging

I don’t find the Painter tool to be especially useful, but plenty of photographers use it in their workflows. Your own usage will vary, but the bottom line here is that there are many ways to add Lightroom keywords to your pictures. The important thing is to find a solution that works for you.

Searching and sorting

After you have keywords applied, you can use them in a variety of ways to organize and search through your pictures.

If you just want to find images with one specific Lightroom keyword quickly, you can click the arrow icon next to a word in the Keyword List panel.

If you want to revert to showing all your pictures, select the Library menu, and then un-check the “Enable Filters” option. You can also press Ctrl-L (or Cmd-L on a Mac) to do the same thing.

Another way to use Lightroom keywords for finding specific images is to use the Filter bar.

In the Library module, choose the View menu and then “Show Filter Bar,” or press the “\” key. This brings up a search interface that lets you filter your photos according to hundreds of individual criteria.

The filter bar lets you search for a wide variety of image data, including keywords.

Type the keyword you are looking for in the search bar, and Lightroom will instantly pare down your images to show just the ones you need.

You can also adjust the criteria from “Contain All” to more than a half dozen other options such as Contain, Starts With, or Are Empty.

Lightroom keywords

My favorite use of Lightroom keywords is in conjunction with smart collections. These are collections of images populated on the fly according to the criteria you set.

Every time I do a photo session, I assign the keyword “PhotoSession” on import. These are automatically sent to a Smart Collection containing, as you would expect, every photo from a session.

I also have smart collections for my personal photographs. Since I keep everything in the same Lightroom catalog, I use keywords to sort it all out.

Smart Collections are a great way to use Lightroom keywords to organize your photos.

This means that I never have to think about which photos are from my formal sessions and which ones are not. Lightroom keywords and Smart Collections handle this task for me, which means I have more time to focus on editing instead of sorting.

Nikon D750, 180mm, f/2.8, 1/500 second, ISO 1800

Conclusion

If you haven’t used Lightroom keywords, I think you will be surprised at how helpful they can be. It takes just a small amount of work on your part to apply keywords, but the end result is a library of images that is much easier to tame.

Do you have any tips or tricks for mastering lightroom keywords? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

The post Mastering Lightroom Keywords in a Flash appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Simon Ringsmuth.

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Mastering Color Series – The Psychology and Evolution of the Color PINK and its use in Photography

25 Jun

The post Mastering Color Series – The Psychology and Evolution of the Color PINK and its use in Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Megan Kennedy.

From the Renaissance to contemporary art, pink has endured as a color of emotional versatility. In this edition of the Mastering Color Series, let’s take a look into the color pink and its role within the history of visual arts.

The psychology of pink

The English word pink derives its name from flowers of the Dianthus genus. A combination of red and white, pink can be raucous and racy, or delicate and subtle. Buoyant light pinks describe playfulness, youth, kindness and affection. Darker shades of pink denote passion, love, energy, eroticism and confidence. However, too much pink can be a bad thing, influencing anxiety and claustrophobia.

Sweet foods like fairy floss, bubblegum, ice cream and lollies all embody tasty shades of pink. Associated with the smell of roses and the softness of flower petals, pink conjures ideas of tenderness and sensitivity. Evoking images of cherry blossoms, pink evokes impressions of spring, renewal and life. As a warm color, pink is drawn to the foreground of an image, cultivating intimacy and directing attention.

In the early 20th century, pink was designated the color for young boy’s clothing. The logic was that pink was a strong color and suited to boys. Blue was viewed as a lighter shade and was, therefore, more appropriate for girls. From the 1940s, however, pink came to be seen as a color for females. Products marketed at women and girls rapidly became pinker. As a result, pink has often been categorized as a color of femininity.

In China, pink is considered to be a shade of red, and comes with many of the same connotations. Indian culture sees pink as a color of youthful charm, celebration and nurture. Korean’s view pink as a sign of trust and security. In Germany, pink is considered bright and soft – a color of peace and harmlessness. In Thailand, pink is associated with Tuesday on the Thai solar calendar.

Evolution of the color pink

Ancient pinks

Although relatively rare in nature, pink may be the world’s oldest color. Compared to red, however, pink had tentative beginnings in art history. There is little evidence of a dedicated pink pigment being used in prehistoric artworks. Made by mixing whites derived from gypsum and reds made of ochres or realgar, the ancient Egyptians regarded pink as a secondary color, ranked alongside brown, grey and orange.

Despite it’s scant early use as a pigment, pink manifested in other mediums. Pink sandstone proved ideal for constructing magnificent edifices. Carved in the first century AD, AL-Khazneh is one of the most elaborate temples in the ancient Arab Nabatean Kingdom city of Petra. Furthermore, in China, the Tang Dynasty Leshan Giant Buddha, carved into a cliff face of pinkish sandstone, is the largest stone-carved Buddha in the world.

Pink can manifest in types of stone, appearing as an artistic medium for centuries

According to “Precious Colours” in Ancient Greek Polychromy and Painting, pink had a significant presence in the art of ancient Greece. Pink hues were found on fragments of the Mycenaean palace at Pylos and an examination of the Pitsa painted panels revealed pinks used in the painting of men’s skin. Pink is also seen in “small scale figures from the symposium scene on the tomb of Aghios Athanassios, where cinnabar is mixed with calcium carbonate whites and kaolinite to produce a subtle tone of pink”

Later, pink (from manganese) was used by the Romans to color glass for glassware, mosaics and decorative panels in walls and furniture.

Medieval and renaissance pigments

During the medieval period, pink pigments are thought to have consisted of a mixture of lead white or calcite and madder and cochineal. Cinnabar, a sulfide mineral, was also crushed and mixed into shades of white.

During the renaissance, Italian writer and painter Cennino Cennini described a light pink he called cinabrese. It was made by blending sinopia (sourced from hematite) with lime white (composed of calcium hydroxide, and calcium carbonate). As suggested by Cennini, cinabrese was used for filling out fleshy tones.

However, in The Book of the Art of Cennino Cennini, Christina J. Herringham observes that “what pigment was used to produce the lovely pinks and crimsons of the early Italian painters is not really known with exactness”. Contenders include “madder…kermes…[the] bodies of the Coccus illicis gum lac…and Brazil-wood or verzino“. Vermilion and carmine may also have been mixed with whites to produce pinks.

Fuchsine, magenta and quinacridone

In 1856, whilst trying to synthesize quinine, British man William Henry Perkin accidentally discovered mauvine, the first synthetic dye. The discovery prompted a surge in the industry and in 1858 German August Wilhelm von Hofmann produced a reddish-purple dye, made by combining aniline and carbon tetrachloride. Meanwhile, in the same year, Frenchman François-Emmanuel Verguin discovered the same substance independent of Hofmann and patented it. Named fuchsine by its original manufacturer Renard frères et Franc, production of Verguin’s dye commenced in 1859.

In the meantime, two British chemists, Chambers Nicolson and George Maule produced another aniline dye with a similar red-purple color. They began to manufacture the dye in 1860 under the name roseine, later changing the name to magenta in honor of the Battle of Magenta.

In 1935 quinacridone dyes were developed. A family of synthetic pigments, quinacridones are typically deep-red to violet in color. With exceptional vibrancy and lightfastness, quinacridones are often used for creating varying tones of magentas and pinks in artist’s paints.

Shocking pink

Due to the invention of color-fast chemical dyes, pinks quickly grew in application and impact during the 20th century. During 1931, a radical shade of pink was created by Italian fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli. The pink, dubbed shocking pink was made by adding a small amount of white to magenta. Schiaparelli’s designs, made in conjunction with surrealist artists like Jean Cocteau, displayed her new shade of pink prominently.

PINK

In February of 2016, Anish Kapoor secured an exclusive contract for the use of Vantablack in his art. In retaliation, artist Stuart Semple created a fluorescent pink pigment he dubbed PINK. Declaring it to be the world’s pinkest pink, Semple released PINK for sale, but with one caveat – any artist looking to purchase PINK are obliged to agree to a legal declaration which states: “you are not Anish Kapoor, you are in no way affiliated to Anish Kapoor, you are not purchasing this item on behalf of Anish Kapoor or an associate of Anish Kapoor. To the best of your knowledge, information, and belief this paint will not make its way into that hands of Anish Kapoor.”

Despite the ban, Kapoor did get his hands on PINK. He posted a picture of his middle finger dipped in the dry pigment to his Instagram account in December 2016. Nevertheless, Semple continues to sell PINK, anti-Kapoor declaration intact.

The website where Stuart Semple sells his PINK.

Pink in visual arts

Renaissance to pre-raphaelite

Pink truly came to life from the 14th century. During the early renaissance, infant incarnations of Jesus and angels were sometimes depicted dressed in pink, as in Cimabue’s the Virgin and Child Enthroned with Two Angels. Lorenzo da Sanseverino’s Virgin and Child, with Saints Anthony Abbott, Mark, Severino, and Sebastian depicts the child Jesus in a pink robe, matching the garb of one of the surrounding saints. Later, Raphael’s Madonna of the Pinks depicts the infant Jesus and the Virgin Mary with pink carnations, a slight anachronism – the flower is said to have first appeared at Jesus’crucifixion.

Baroque artists used pink hues to convey a broad range of subjects. The heavens and its holy occupants are grazed in soft pinks in Paolo de Matteis’s Triumph of the Immaculate. And Willem van Aelst and Rachel Ruysch used pink in arresting still life paintings. But it was during the rococo movement that pink saw a perceptible rise to fame in western art. Characterized by indulgent paintings featuring splendid pink costumes, rosy nudes and fine pink detailing, the color graduated from a secondary hue to a commanding presence in art.

Jose Ferraz de Almeida Junior’s Nha Chica and Batismo de Jesus are two examples of pink’s application in academic art. Realist painter Jean-Francois Millet’s Gleaners depicts three peasant women, one with distinctive pink sleeves, linking to the pinks hues in the overcast sky. And pre-raphaelite artists like Dante Gabriel Rossetti used intricate pinks to emphasize symbolic paraphernalia.

Impressionism to cubism

With an emphasis on the depiction of light, impressionists applied pink in a variety of contexts. Claude Monet used combinations of pink in his water lilies series. Manet painted the Plum with soft pinks verging on purple and Edgar Degas’ famous the Pink Dancers portrays figures dressed in flourishing pink ballet dresses. Paul Gauguin added depth to his paintings by filling them out with saturated fields of pink. And Vincent van Gogh painted post-impressionist pinks in his depictions of flowers, carefully detailing the blossoms of Almond Blossom.

Fauvism saw everyday settings painted in radical color. Les toits de Collioure by Henri Matisse charges a landscape with bright pink hues. In Charing Cross Bridge, Andre Derain contrasts a green and blue city skyline with a richly pink sky. As one of at least four renderings of the same landscape, Georges Braque crams a vista with active pinks in The Olive Tree Near l’Estaque. Unfortunately, the painting caught the eye of a thief, who stole it from the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris in May 2010.

Street, Dresden by expressionist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner is a haunting portrayal of modern public space underscored by glowering pink. Considered one of the earliest examples of cubism, The Young Ladies of Avignon by Pablo Picasso portrays five nude female prostitutes, their flesh padded out in varying degrees of pink. And abstract artists such as Robert Delaunay (Circular Forms) and Agnes Martin used color pink to convey meaning, doing away with the figurative altogether.

Pink in contemporary art

Loaded with meaning, pink is a common theme in contemporary art. Embracing ephemerality and visual abundance, Tanya Schultz works as Pip & Pop to create intricate installations and artworks from materials including sugar, glitter, found objects and craft effects. Sculpted not from icy rose-hued water but from solid glass, Roni Horn’s Two Pink Tons are deceptively evanescent in appearance. And Daniel Arsham’s Lunar Garden reflects his fascination with the familiar and the surreal, re-imagining a traditional zen garden in solid pink hues.

Known for her grotesquely intriguing representations of the human body, Mithu Sen aimed to stretch the limits of artistic language through her sculpture made of false teeth and pink dental polymer. Yue Minjun’s self-portraits depict him as bright pink-skinned characters in the throws of maniacal laughter. Anne Lindberg’s Drawn Pink culminated in an immersive gesture of movement and color and Karla Black’s weightless sculptures appear to keep themselves afloat in wispy pinks, blues and greens, exploring the nature of physical experience.

Lori B. Goodman investigates the tenuous nature of the color in her installation Pink writing, “it is said that pink is initially a calming color but that too much exposure creates anxiety.” And Anish Kapoor’s Gossamer, an elegantly carved piece of onyx, slumbers in quiet pink within gallery confines.

Pink in photography

Even before the inception of color photography, pink has had a presence in the photographic landscape. Popular in the mid-to-late 19th century, hand-colored photographs depicting pastel pink cheeks and clothing added a level of realism to the photography of the time.

Pink is now abundant and accessible. As a result, many modern photographers turn their attention to pink. One striking example of pink’s application in photography is manifested in Richard Mosse’s Infra series captured in Aerochrome. Invented for reconnaissance during the Second World War, Aerochrome registers infrared light (normally invisible to the naked eye), transforming green shades into rich pinks in the process. As a result, Mosse’s documentary of war-torn Congo is dominated by pink hues, evoking an otherworldly beauty juxtaposed with war.

Photographers like Kate Ballis and Zoe Sim also use in-camera infrared conversions and filters to capture illusive pinks. Documenting the color preferences of children, JeongMee Yoon explores the socialization of gender and identity through her Pink & Blue Project. Smothering participants in luxurious pink materials, Loreal Prystaj’s series Pretty in Pink marries portraiture and materiality. Andria Darius Pancrazi photographs architecture in a format he describes as “softserve pinkcore mulhollandwave” and Martine Perret’s series Sel Rose captures abstract aerial shots of the pink waters of Western Australia.

Manit Sriwanichpoom inserts Pink Man into photographic scenes in various ways to channel his feelings towards Thai society. Singaporean Nguan documents his home city with restrained pinks and Xavier Portela documents the pink and purple hues of cities at night.

Infrared technology and effects render green organic matter in pinks and purples

Conclusion

Pink was a latecomer to the artist’s pallet. Nevertheless, as an extremely versatile color, pink has seen extensive use in art movements over time. Sometimes underestimated, pink can be lighthearted and subtle or raucous and bold. Associated with love, kindness, tenderness, affection, intensity, playfulness and sensitivity, pink denotes emotional abundance. Palpable in depth and weight, pink is a color of visual buoyancy, conveying meaning through sensual and emotive experience.

We’d love for you to share your images with the color pink in the comments below!

See the other colors in the Mastering Color Series here.

The post Mastering Color Series – The Psychology and Evolution of the Color PINK and its use in Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Megan Kennedy.

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Mastering Color Series – The Psychology and Evolution of the Color PURPLE and its use in Photography

06 Jun

The post Mastering Color Series – The Psychology and Evolution of the Color PURPLE and its use in Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Megan Kennedy.

Purple has had a long history in visual arts. From prehistoric to modern artworks, purple has come to represent aspects of religion, royalty and status. In this article, we’ll look back on the history of the color purple, its evolution and its impact in the context of modern visual art.

The psychology of purple

In the traditional color wheel used by artists, violet and purple are placed between red and blue. Purple takes up the space closer to red, between crimson and violet. Violet is positioned closer to blue. Despite this, both violet and purple are often placed under the one heading of purple, sharing psychological associations.

As an intermediary between red and blue, purple tempers the extremes of both. Like blue, purple has a soothing effect, cultivating introspection and calm. Like red, purple also generates a visual vibration, stimulating creativity and passion. Lighter purples are considered light-hearted. Darker shades of purple are associated with wisdom and intellect.

Over history, the limited resources and arduous processes needed to obtain rich purples made it an expensive luxury. For this reason, the color purple came to be associated with status, royalty and wealth. Perhaps due to it’s uncommon and distinctive presence in nature, purple has also been attributed to exoticism, mystery, and magic.

In Christian tradition, purple is used during lent to signify mourning and majesty, anticipating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Hinduism associates purple with a oneness with God, peace, and wisdom. In China, purple represents spiritual awareness as well as physical and mental healing. Japanese cultures view purple as the color of privilege, wealth, and Japanese aristocracy. In Africa, purple is a symbol of status and wealth, whereas, in Brazil, purple can indicate mourning or death.

The evolution of the color purple

Hematite and manganese

Used by Neolithic artists in the form of sticks, or ground and mixed with fat as a paint, hematite and manganese are the oldest pigments used for purple coloring in art. Dated between 16,000 and 25,000 BC, early artists used purple to draw and paint figures and the outlines of their hands on the walls of sites like Pech Merle cave in France. Manganese is still used today by some indigenous Australians as a traditional pigment for coloring the skin during rituals.

Han purple

Despite it’s name, Han purple has been found to occur well before the Han dynasty in China. Created by melting silica with copper and barium at high temperatures, Han purple first appeared on glass beads found at burial sites. The pigment was later used in wall paintings, ceramics, and sculptures, including the terracotta warriors in the tomb of Emperor Qin Shihuangdi in Xi’an. The use of Han purple peaked in the Qin and Han dynasties (221 BC to 220 AD), declining during the Tang dynasty (618-907 AD).

Han purple can fade and decompose over time, particularly when in contact with acids or heat. However, the unique light-absorbing and emitting properties of the pigment generates powerful rays of light in the near-infrared range when exposed to an LED flashlight. This means that even faint traces of the pigment (invisible to the naked eye) can be viewed by conservators and scientists evaluating Han purple and its properties and history.

Tyrian purple

Ranging from a reddish to bluish purple, Tyrian purple became the most renowned shade of purple in history. Citizens of Sidon and Tyre, two cities on the coast of Ancient Phoenicia, (present-day Lebanon), were producing purple dye sourced from the mucous secretions of certain sea snails by the 15th century BC. The process for extracting the color from the snails was both unfortunate for the snail and protracted for the dye-maker as more than 10,000 snails were needed to dye a single cloak.

According to an article in The New York Times, the extricated snails were “…boiled for days in giant lead vats, producing a terrible odor. The snails, though, aren’t purple to begin with. The craftsmen were harvesting chemical precursors from the snails that, through heat and light, were transformed into the valuable dye”.

Tyrian purple was extremely pricey, and purple-dyed textiles became the color of emperors, generals, nobles, politicians, priests and magistrates throughout the Mediterranean.

Although it was used predominantly for dying textiles, Tyrian purple was also used for painting. Tyrian purple has been chemically detected in the Saffron Gatherers, a late bronze age fresco in the Aegean Island of Santorini.

Purple in the middle ages

During the middle ages, artists created purple pigments by mixing red and blue mediums together. For blues, artists sourced blue azurite or lapis-lazuli. For reds, red ochres, cinnabar, madder or minium were used. Artists also mixed woad or indigo dye for blues and cochineal dye for reds. Different mixtures resulted in different intensities and shades. However, many of these materials were prone to fading and many paintings with purple have dulled or changed in color. Jan Gossaert’s painting of a young princess is an example of this – the pattern on the garments of the sitter, now seen as blue, were originally purple in color.

Mauve

In 1856, 18-year-old British chemistry student, William Henry Perkin, was working on a cure for malaria. During his experiments, he encountered an intriguing residue, the first synthetic aniline dye. Perkin realized the compound could be used to dye fabrics. He soon patented the dye and manufactured it under the name aniline purple and (confusingly) Tyrian purple. The color’s name was later changed to mauve in 1859, reflecting the French name for the purple mallow flower. Chemists called the dye compound mauveine.

Mauve quickly became fashionable. Queen Victoria wore a silk gown dyed with mauveine to the Royal Exhibition of 1862. Perkin developed an industrial process, built a factory, and produced the dye in large quantities. His efforts made purple accessible to anyone, not just the wealthy. However, due to dye’s propensity to fade, the success of mauve faded too, replaced by other synthetic dyes by 1873.

Cobalt violet and manganese violet

The first truly violet pigment was cobalt violet, developed in 1859 by Salvetat. Ranging from deep to pale shades of violet with either a pink or blue hue, the first cobalt violets were composed of cobalt arsenate. The highly toxic compound is now rarely used, replaced today by cobalt ammonium phosphate, cobalt lithium phosphate, and cobalt phosphate.

The only truly lightfast violet pigment with relatively strong color saturation, all alternative light-stable violet pigments are duller in hue. Although in use today, the high price, weak coloring power and toxicity of cobalt violet have limited the pigment’s application.

Also known as permanent violet, Nuremberg violet or mineral violet, manganese violet is believed to have first been discovered by E. Leykauf in 1868. More affordable and less toxic than its predecessor, manganese violet became an economical alternative to cobalt violet in the 1890s and remains in use today.

Love Symbol #2

In 2017, the Pantone Color Institute announced a new shade of purple in honor of the singer Prince. The hue, dubbed Love Symbol #2, is a blue-based purple inspired by Prince’s adoption of the color throughout his career. Laurie Pressman, Vice President of the Pantone Color Institute said: “long associated with the purple family, Love Symbol #2 enables Prince’s unique purple shade to be consistently replicated [while maintaining] the same iconic status as the man himself”.

“Why this particular purple?” asks Pressman. “We are not sure of the exact reason, however, what we do know is that the language of this unique new purple, Love Symbol #2 conveys an aura of mystery, intrigue, and unconventionality, a color that stands apart from all others, something Prince, a performer of distinctive style, certainly did”.

Purple in visual arts

Ancient art to realism

The use of manganese and hematite to create purple pigments dates back at to at least 25,000 years BC. Evidence of purple in art has been found at sites such as the remote East Kalimantan province of Borneo and Neolithic sites in France. Much later, during the early stages of the church, variations of purple garments marked the hierarchies of Christian officials (mirroring the practices of pagan traditions). In medieval art, pages of the bible and gospel manuscripts were written in gold lettering on parchment dyed Tyrian purple. In Byzantine-style painting, figures of importance were depicted in purple robes.

Renaissance art saw portrayals of angels and the Virgin Mary garbed in purple. Because Jesus was said to have been clothed in purple by Roman soldiers during the events leading up to his crucifixion, purple also signified suffering, sacrifice, and majesty. The Assumption of the Virgin by Palma Vecchio features Mary dressed in a long purple gown. In Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam, God is dressed in a subtle lilac shift.

Purple featured in post-renaissance movements such as baroque and rococo art, academic art and realism. In 1789, French rococo artist, Antoine Callet, depicted Louis XVI in his royal costume, which included a luxuriant panel of purple material. Painted between 1880 and 1890, Wladyslaw Czachorski’s Lady in a Lilac Dress portrays a woman in an opulent lilac gown. The Shepherdess by academic artist William-Adolphe Bouguereau features a cool, purple backdrop, rhyming with the shepherdesses’ own garments. However, as seen in Jean Francois Millet’s The Angelus, realist artists broke away from the depiction of purple as a status symbol, instead using subtle variations of the hue to reflect the harshness of middle and lower class society.

Pre-raphaelite to abstract art

Combining cobalt blue with madder, pre-raphaelite artists like John William Waterhouse painted women in rich purple garb. As seen in Monet’s Grainstack (Sunset), Waterloo Bridge, Blurred Sun and Water Lilies (1919), impressionist painters used purple to delineate both shadow and detail. Purple also played a significant role in post-impressionist art, as seen in A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat.

The symbolism movement saw purple used in increasingly varied applications. In paintings such as Death and Life by Gustav Klimt and The Cyclops by Odilon Redon, purple is used to highlight detail and depth. Fauvism then pushed purple to shocking brilliance. Henri Matisse’s Woman with a Hat sees purple mashed together with a range of colors, creating life and vibrancy. In Woman in a Purple Coat, Matisse exploits purple as a bold separation of subject and environment. Mirroring impressionism, Andre Derain painted shadowy purples, as seen in Charing Cross Bridge, London. And Jean Puy used fluid purples to illustrate Strolling Through Pine Woods.

As seen in Puberty by expressionist Edvard Munch, purple was distorted or exaggerated in ways that matched expressionism’s often hostile or alienated depiction of the modern world. Examples of purple in cubist art include Picasso’s Bowl of Fruit, Violin and Bottle and Claude, Son of Picasso. Abstraction, devoid of recognizable figurative imagery, used degrees of purple to evoke emotional responses in the viewer. Composition 8 (1923) by Vasily Kandinsky, Untitled (1957) by Franz Kline, Black Iris VI by Georgia O’Keeffe and Purple, White and Red 1953 by Mark Rothko are examples of purple’s application in abstract art.

Purple in contemporary art

As color technology evolved, purple became increasingly available to artists. In contemporary art, purple signifies both modernity and history, reflecting the social and cultural connotations of the color through time. Vaporwave, both a musical genre and artistic movement, incorporated the use of purple heavily in its internet-based aesthetic. Constructed of neon and tar, Dan Alva’s You Zig I Zag has roots in pop culture. Monira Al Qadiri’s sculpture of an iridescent blue and purple oil drill illustrates the industrial processes of the oil industry. And Lori Hersberger makes use of purple in his sculptures and installations, exploring light and the transformative properties of color.

Purple in photography

Although it’s less available than other colors in the urban and natural landscape, purple is a favorite for many photographers. Because of its historically rare beauty, purple is often used to convey the surreal, the modern and the artificial. David LaChapelle utilizes purple to create striking contrasts signaling commodification and modernity. Marilyn Mugot documents the neon-purple landscapes of urban China at night, while Maggie West utilizes the otherworldly properties of purple in her bodies of work. Purple also has a strong presence in the experimental photography of Ellen Carey and in the aura photography of Christina Lonsdale.

Interestingly, colour outside our visible spectrum can be explored photographically. Consisting of longer wavelengths than those of visible light, near-infrared (as opposed to far-infrared, which is in the thermal-imaging territory) is generally invisible to the human eye. However, with infrared film, an infrared filter or a converted camera, photographers can capture near-infrared wavelengths, which, when emitted from different types of foliage, are often rendered as ethereal purple tones. Near-infrared photography can be mimicked in post-production, creating beautifully alien landscapes out of earthly forms.

Purple can also manifest as unwanted purple fringing. Most visible as a purple-colored fringe in the dark edges of a subject adjacent to illumination, purple fringing is usually caused by axial chromatic aberration. Because axial chromatic aberration occurs at its most severe at shorter wavelengths, fringing is rendered in violet. Methods for reducing purple fringing include shooting with a UV filter, avoiding overexposing highlights and not shooting with a wide-open lens in high contrast situations. Purple fringing can also be corrected in post-production.

Conclusion

From its origins in ancient art to its use in contemporary visual practice, purple reflects the visual complexities of life. As a combination of blue and red, purple absorbs attributes from each, inspiring clashes of calm and passion, stillness and visual movement. Due to its rarity in nature, purple has been associated with mystery and exoticism.

Historically difficult to obtain, purple has become a symbol of status, wealth and majesty. Purple’s role in religion has been linked to spirituality and mysticism. And purple’s momentum is believed to inspire both creativity and reflection. With such a diversity in meaning and visual scope, purple’s versatility connects with a wide range of audiences. Evoking emotions based in art and life, purple is a color of intricacy and depth.

We’d love to see your images that make use of the color purple. Feel free to share them in the comments below.

The post Mastering Color Series – The Psychology and Evolution of the Color PURPLE and its use in Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Megan Kennedy.

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Mastering Color Series – The Psychology and Evolution of the Color ORANGE and its Use in Photography

29 May

The post Mastering Color Series – The Psychology and Evolution of the Color ORANGE and its Use in Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Megan Kennedy.

Situated between yellow and red on the visible spectrum, orange has a long history in visual culture. Dubbed the “happiest color” by Frank Sinatra, we’ll take a look at the color orange and its significance from antiquity to contemporary art.

The psychology of orange

Named after the citrus fruit, the word orange is derived from the old French phrase orenge. The earliest use of the word orange in English dates back to the 1300s. However, orange’s use as the name of a color didn’t occur until the early 1500s. Before that, orange was simply called yellow-red.

The distinctive orange color of many fruits and vegetables comes from carotenes, a photosynthetic pigment. As a result, the orange pigmentation has fostered associations between orange and nourishment, refreshment and energy. Autumn leaves also get their orange color from carotenes, forging links between the color and Autumn, beauty, preparation, and change.

Orange cultivates optimism, enthusiasm, cheerfulness, and warm-heartedness. Orange’s boldness denotes confidence and creativity. Manifested in fire, orange can be associated with heat and destruction. Eye-catching and vibrant, orange is often used to direct attention. Furthermore, as the complementary color to azure, orange has the greatest contrast against sky blue tones. This means orange (or safety orange as it’s known) is often used in marine safety devices like life rafts, life jackets, and buoys.

In European and Western countries, orange is associated with harvest time, frivolity and extroversion. For Indian cultures, orange is considered to be lucky and sacred. In Japanese and Chinese cultures, orange denotes courage, happiness and good health. Buddhist monks’ of the Theravada tradition and Hindu swamis wear orange robes. Orange is the national color of the Netherlands, but in many Middle Eastern countries, orange can be associated with mourning.

The evolution of the color orange

Ocher

The history of orange pigment begins with ocher. As a family of natural clay earth pigments, ocher ranges in color from yellow to red, sienna and umber. Orange ocher is composed predominantly of limonite. Thanks to the pigment’s excellent light fastness, some of the worlds best-preserved cave painting sites still feature orange ocher today. The pigment continues to see application within modern art, in both traditional and contemporary practice.

Vermilion

Made with ground cinnabar, the use of vermilion pigment dates back to 8000–7000 BC. Produced artificially from the 8th century, the orange-red pigment was used by painters up until the 1800s. However, the cost, poor light fastness, and toxicity of vermilion led to it being superseded by modern synthetic pigments like cadmium red.

Realgar and orpiment

An arsenic sulfide, realgar is an orange-red mineral that saw artistic use in ancient Egypt, China, India, and Central Asia. Prized for its richness in color, realgar most commonly occurs as a low-temperature hydrothermal vein mineral. Highly toxic, realgar was the only pure orange pigment available until modern chrome orange.

Orpiment, also a sulphide of arsenic, was found in the same locations as realgar. Producing a golden yellow-orange pigment, orpiment was just as toxic as realgar and was also used as a fly killer and to taint arrows with poison. An important item of trade in the Roman Empire, orpiment was ground down and used in paintings up until the 19th century.

Chrome and cadmium orange

In 1797, French scientist Louis Vauquelin discovered the mineral crocoite. This led to the invention of the synthetic pigment chrome orange. Ranging from a light to deep orange, chrome orange was the first pure orange pigment since realgar. And while it’s no longer in production, chrome orange can be viewed in Renoir’s Boating on the Siene.

As a by-product of zinc production, cadmium, was discovered by Friedrich Stromeyer in 1817. While heating zinc in his laboratory, Stromeyer observed a sample of zinc carbonate that formed a bright yellow oxide. Stromeyer realized the results of his experiment could prove useful to artists, but it wasn’t until the 1840s that cadmium pigments entered production industrially.

Quickly becoming popular among the Impressionists and post-Impressionists, the scarcity of cadmium meant that the availability of cadmium pigments was fairly limited up until the 1920s. Today, pigments like cadmium orange set the standard for coverage, tinting, and light-fastness.

Orange in visual arts

Prehistoric to pre-raphaelite

From prehistoric periods to the present day, orange has had a continuing presence in visual arts. Figures sketched into rock by neolithic artists were often filled out in orange ocher. Orange was present in the elaborate art and hieroglyphics of the ancient Egyptians. In ancient Rome, the orange-red vermilion was used to paint frescoes, decorate statues and color the faces of victors in Roman triumphs. Vermilion was also used by North and South Americans to paint burial sites, ceramics, figurines and murals.

In medieval art, shades of orange were used in the coloring of illuminated manuscripts. During the renaissance, orange was featured in lustrous drapery. Creating dramatic contrasts between brightness and shadow, Baroque artists used orange to illuminate detail and light. For instance, in The Abduction of Ganymede, Rembrandt centered on the boy Ganymede’s orange tassel as a visual pendulum, indicating momentum and resistance. Depicting lush landscapes and well-to-do inhabitants, rococo art featured light, airy oranges. And the red-orange hair of Elizabeth Siddal, model and wife of the painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti, became a symbol of the pre-raphaelite movement.

Impressionism to abstraction

In 1872, Claude Monet painted Impression, Sunrise. Featuring a luminous orange sun sprinkling light onto a hazy blue landscape, the painting lent its name to the impressionist movement. Post-impressionist Paul Gauguin used vivid oranges for backgrounds, clothing and skin color. And Vincent Van Gogh balanced rich blues and violets with bold oranges saying “there is no blue without yellow and without orange”.

Fauvists believed color should operate free from physical reality. Mountains at Collioure by André Derain expresses a landscape made up of patchwork oranges, an active contrast against the blues, greens and deep pinks that complete the image. Expressionist Edvard Munch used the visual activity of orange to suffuse his paintings with density and crowded movement. Later, abstract artists like Wassily Kandinsky and Robert Motherwell took advantage of orange’s internal buzz, generating movement and emotion within their canvasses.

Orange in contemporary art

As the possibilities of art have evolved, so has the application of color. As a color of great visual density, orange continues to have a significant role in contemporary art. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, painting in both traditional and contemporary styles, continue to use orange ocher in their artworks today.

Wilhelm Roseneder’s Orange Expansion uses orange to exaggerate a separation between art and setting. Roelof Louw’s Soul City (Pyramid of Oranges) invites viewers to take and eat one of the oranges that make up a pyramidic sculpture of citrus fruit. With each orange taken, the sculpture changes form and is eventually consumed in its entirety by the sculpture’s participants. Anish Kapoor’s Mirror (Pagan Gold to Orange to Pagan Gold) is a large concave dish that reflects the viewer within the orange haze of the artwork itself, re-expressing the self through materiality. And artist Alexander Knox chose orange as the prevailing color in his Moth Ascending the Capital, capturing the energy of a Bogong moth bursting into flight.

Orange in photography

Orange’s associations conveys a rich photographic landscape. Photojournalist Ozier Muhammad’s photograph Marines Move through Sandstorm is an insight into the nature of war. The density of orange, though natural, significantly dampens visibility, creating a palpable tension. Depicting humans and objects as things to be studied, Martin Parr’s ultra-saturated oranges pair with his inquisitive photography. And Uta Barth’s …and of time series documents the quality of light and the passage of time, an orange hue feeling out the dimensions of a room with ephemeral softness.

On the bucket list of many a photographer, Antelope Canyon, located just outside of Page, Arizona, is a natural photographic wonder. The warm orange tones of the canyon are captured in countless images online. Nevertheless, photographers still flock to the spot to make their own photographs of the beautiful eroded Navajo Sandstone.

Occurring during the golden hour, orange-to-yellow light floods the atmosphere, creating ideal opportunities for landscape and portrait photography. Often manifested in steel wool photography, photographers can create effervescent trails of burning orange light with a few kitchen items. Orange filters are also a popular general-purpose tool for black and white photography. Balancing out the extremes of red filters and the subtlety of yellow filters, orange filters add a moderate degree of contrast to an image, darkening skies and emphasizing clouds. Furthermore, orange filters deliver a warm, smooth skin tone, reducing the appearance of freckles and blemishes.

Conclusion

Wassily Kandinsky once said, “orange is red brought nearer to humanity by yellow.” Energizing the viewer, orange conveys optimism, enthusiasm, and cheerfulness. Capturing attention, orange imparts vibrant emotion and illuminates detail. Found in food, orange also communicates nourishment and health. And reflected in nature, orange can be a signal of seasonal change, fire, and heat. A color of tenacity, endurance, and impact, orange reflects bold emotions, its historic presence and versatility inspiring and energizing audiences at the same time.

We’d love for you to share with us and the dPS community your photos that make use of the color orange in the comments below.

See other articles in the Mastering Color Series here.

The post Mastering Color Series – The Psychology and Evolution of the Color ORANGE and its Use in Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Megan Kennedy.

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Mastering Photography: Nature vs. Nurture

26 May

I have three kids and they are all so different, one is quite shy, one is super confident and the third never stops talking – they have all been raised the same so I often wonder about ‘nature or nurture’.

I was recently in the Faroe Islands and had planned to make a video on the rules of photography but ended up discussing the nature vs. nurture argument for photography, which actually produced a more compelling result.

Evening rays on one of the many amazing fjords in the Faroe Islands.

Ever since I can remember, I have been fascinated by photos and rich visual communication. At school I had difficulties with English, reading and writing and it was only when I was in my twenties that I found out I was dyslexic. Although reading was a struggle, I loved to look at photo books and would spend hours studying them, pondering over the photos, and trying to work out why they looked so good.

I took up photography at the age of 13 and found it to be a great way to express myself – I was much more comfortable producing a photograph that told a story, rather than the written word. Even though I enjoyed being creative through photography, I didn’t have a natural talent for it and my early results left a lot to be desired!

Jump forward over 30 years and I now consider myself to be a competent landscape photographer. Practice doesn’t make perfect, and there is always something new to learn; but I feel that I can usually find a good composition when I go out shooting; and I now have a portfolio of photographs of which I am proud and which people are willing to buy so that they too can enjoy the images.

Spring – Printed on Fotospeed NST bright white paper.

So if I didn’t have a natural talent for photography, have I managed to nurture what little artistic talent I did have to make myself into a better photographer?

Ansel Adams once said, “There are no rules for good photographs. There are just good photographs.”

Although I agree with the sentiment behind this quote, I have actually spent the last few years building my YouTube channel and trying to explain to people what makes a good photo and how they can improve their photography. There are certain rules, or maybe best to call them guidelines, that apply to landscape photography that usually help us to achieve better results.

Ansel Adams once said, “There are no rules for good photographs. There are just good photographs”.

Photography isn’t quite like the art of drawing a cartoon or painting a picture. It is a combination of technical knowhow and artistic interpretation. If you just have one part of the puzzle, you aren’t likely to get the best results. Don’t get me wrong, give an accomplished artist a camera phone and they would likely produce something superior to a less artistic person. But a non-artist can also produce a great photo.

My wife, Ann is a prime example – she can’t even draw a straight line but she is actually great at finding unique and interesting compositions for photographs (probably a result of spending hours out on location with me and listening to me rambling on about composition and getting excited about great light).

When it comes down to it, there are four elements that you need to master in photography and these are subject, light, composition and timing which are discussed in my video on the four elements of landscape photography. It is really only the composition element that is the artistic one – how you go about placing all the elements in the scene in the most pleasing way; or perhaps more importantly, what do you leave out?

Passing Storm, Faroe Islands.

So, can you learn this? Is there a set of rules for you to follow to improve your composition? Is there a limit to how good you can get by learning such rules and can you become more artistic?

Take this image for example – can you say what makes it a good photo or what can be improved?

Essence of the Faroes.

Try it with a friend. Critically consider ten photos that aren’t yours and explain to each other why they are good or bad, what you like and what you think could be improved – you’ll be surprised how useful an exercise this is.

In this video I consider a number of photographs and explain why I think one of the keys to becoming a great photographer is to study accomplished images and try to work out what makes them so good.


The first shot I took: great composition, great subject, but poor light and poor timing.	Ten minutes later: great composition, great subject, great light, great timing.

Even if you have all the elements in the same place, you also need to have patience (a quality that I wasn’t born with, but which I have learned to master) in order to wait for the best conditions and get the timing right. Light can make an enormous difference to a shot. Take a look at the two images above. The only difference is time. The light has changed significantly and the photographer moved, but it was just a case of waiting for the right moment.

I explore ‘nature or nurture’ a bit more in the video below, where I also discuss light and simplicity in more detail. What are your thoughts on nature vs. nurture? Let me know in the comments!

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Mastering Color Series – The Psychology and Evolution of the Color GREEN and its use in Photography

03 May

The post Mastering Color Series – The Psychology and Evolution of the Color GREEN and its use in Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Megan Kennedy.

Spanish dramatist, poet and writer Pedro Calderón de la Barca once said “green is the prime color of the world, and that from which its loveliness arises”. From the perspective of a well-loved frog however, it’s not so easy being green. On the visible spectrum, green occupies the space between blue and yellow. In color theory, it is a secondary color, made by mixing blue and yellow together. Here, we’ll have a look at the evolution of green and its impact in art from antiquity to the present day.

The psychology of green

Green’s strongest psychological associations lie with the natural environment. The word green originates from the Middle English and Old English word grene, which has the same root as the words grass and grow. Many humans respond to nature, and thereby green itself, with a sense of calm and renewal. According to a recent study, exposure to green spaces in childhood can provide significant mental health benefits into adolescence and adulthood. Another study suggests that the “availability and quality of neighborhood green spaces are associated with greater well-being”.

Green’s association with nature has led to the adoption of green as an emblem for environmental movements. Fresh greenery in spring and the steady growth of plant-life has fostered associations with green and rebirth and determination. In contrast, the green text on early computer systems have cultivated associations between green, modernity and the digital landscape. The movie The Matrix has furthered this association.

When the United States government began issuing cash in 1861, bills were printed with a green-black ink. This has fostered associations between green and money. Due to it’s reflective nature, neon green is often used for safety equipment, clothing and signage. Because of it’s vibrational quality, neon green also features heavily in psychedelic art.

A belief held by the ancient Greeks that the overproduction of bile (which is typically a dark green to yellowish brown fluid) was a symptom of jealousy has drawn associations between green, envy and illness. Poeticized by William Drennan as the “Emerald Isle,” Ireland is associated with the color green because of it’s lush green landscapes. In China, green is associated with the east, spring and generative energy. For many Native American peoples, green symbolizes endurance. Green is the sacred color of Islam, representing Muhammad. However, in South America, green can be a symbol of death.

The evolution of the color green

Malachite, green earth and verdigris

While prehistoric artists used a pallet made up of reds, yellows, blacks, browns and whites, greens and blues were noticeably absent from early art. Decorative ceramics made by ancient Mesopotamians depict some of the earliest examples of green in visual arts. However, the method used to produce these greens is unknown.

Mined in the west Sinai and eastern desert, ancient Egyptians adorned tombs and papyrus with finely ground blue-green malachite pigment. Referring to the afterlife as the Field of Malachite, the ancient Egyptians wore the crushed mineral around the eyes to ward away evil. Moderately lightfast but very sensitive to acids, and varying in tonal consistency, malachite’s use in art continued up until the 1800’s. The Egyptians also used green earth pigments or mixed yellow ochre with blue azurite to form green hues.

Sourced near Verona in Italy and on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, the Romans used green earth extensively in decoration. According to the blog Eclectic Light Company, green earth pigments have also been found in paintings from North America and the Indian subcontinent. Although lacking in intensity, green earth has seen use right up to the present day. Perhaps its best known usage however, is in the under-painting of flesh tones during the middle ages.

The Romans also used verdigris as a source of green pigment. Verdigris occurs naturally when copper, brass or bronze is exposed to air or seawater over time. Deliberately cultivated by soaking copper plates in fermenting wine and collecting the resulting residue, verdigris was the most vibrant green available until the 19th century.

Scheele’s green

Invented in 1775 by chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele, Scheele’s green was the first to contain arsenic in its composition. Although it faded rapidly, Scheele’s green was considered superior to previous paints due to its vibrancy. It was used in a range of applications from food dye to artist’s paints. Needless to say, Scheele’s green was highly toxic and carcinogenic. Both manufactures and consumers became ill or died from exposure to the deadly pigment.

Cobalt green

In 1780 Swedish chemist Sven Rinman, developed a process that resulted in a cobalt-green compound of cobalt and zinc. Arthur Herbert Church, a British chemist, published Rinmann’s process in his book, the Chemistry of Paints and Painting where he stated that cobalt green was created by “precipitating with an alkaline carbonate a mixture of the nitrates of cobalt and of zinc, and then strongly heating (after washing) the precipitate formed”.

“When prepared properly,” Church continued, “cobalt green is a pigment of great beauty and power.” However, despite the opportunity to vary the ratio of zinc to cobalt oxides in production, the pigment was never a pure green, taking on a blueish hue instead. In addition, the high cost and poor tinting strength of cobalt green meant it saw limited use by artists.

Paris green

Paris green is also known as emerald green. Becoming commercially available in 1814, Paris green was used as a pigment as well as a rodenticide and insecticide. Offering greater permanence and saturation over Scheele’s green, Paris green proved popular with artists such as Monet, and Van Gogh. Ranging from a pale blue-green to a deep green, Paris green was relativity cheap to manufacture. It was also used as a household paint and in decorative wallpaper. Highly toxic, it was discontinued over the second half of the twentieth century.

Viridian

Electing to keep their methodology a secret, Viridian was first produced by chemists Pannetier and Binet in Paris around 1838. It took another 20 years before chemist Guignet patented a process to manufacture Viridian, making the pigment available to artists.

Viridian takes its name from the Latin word viridis, meaning green. A dark shade of spring green, Viridian sits between green and teal on the color wheel. Viridian’s brilliance, excellent permanence and lack of toxicity meant that it soon eclipsed all other green pigments. Readily adopted by Edvard Munch, Monet and Van Gogh, the rich blue-green hues of viridian remain in use today.

Green in visual arts

Green’s presence in art history is a testament to its evocative associations with nature and life. Cultivated by the flooding of the River Nile, ancient Egyptians recognized the greenery of flourishing crops as a symbol of rebirth. Osiris, the ancient Egyptian god of the underworld and rebirth was depicted with a green complexion and the hieroglyph for the color green was represented by the stalk of the papyrus.

During the middle ages and renaissance, clothing color signaled social rank and occupation. Green was worn by merchants, bankers and gentry. Both the Mona Lisa and the bride in the Arnolfini portrait by Jan van Eyck are depicted in green, an indication of their status.

Taking advantage of greens refined over the renaissance period, Baroque artists conveyed moments of movement and drama with rich green hues. Dreamy green landscapes populated by the well-to-do defined the rococo art movement, while the green hues in 19th century realism mirrored the bleak reality of middle and lower class society. In contrast, pre-raphaelite artists used green to depict resplendent clothing and foliage.

Capturing the interplay between light and movement, green took on a new life under the strokes of the impressionist’s brush. Expressionist artists, in their distortions and exaggerations, valued emotion over reality, using green to convey new artistic possibilities. Cubists used green as a tool to alleviate some of the heaviness of their compositions and later, abstract artists like Mark Rothko and Helen Frankenthaler expressed the immersive nature of green through verdant tones on active canvasses.

Green in contemporary art

Contemporary examples of green used in art are as varied and unique as green itself. In 1970 Bruce Nauman erected two walls, placed them 12 inches apart and suspended green lights above the gap. Encouraged to walk through the claustrophobic space, members of the public were bathed in green fluorescence as they shuffled along.

In 1998 Olafur Eliasson used a sodium salt variation of fluorescein called uranine to color waterways in Germany, Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Japan and the USA a vibrant green. He called his endeavors the Green River Project.

In 2016 Norwegian artist Per Kristian Nygard transformed an Oslo gallery into an organic work of art. Distributing soil and grass seed over a wooden framework covered with plastic sheets, Per Kristian Nygard cultivated Not Red But Green, a contemplative piece investigating the exchange between architecture and nature.

Green in photography

Green’s associations continue to be depicted in both film and digital photographic formats. Australian duo Prue Stent and Honey Long combine photography with performance, installation and sculpture, investigating the relationship between the human body and nature. Stent and Long’s series Bush Babies melds the green of the natural environment with the nakedness of the human body.

An overreaching theme in Narelle Autio’s photography is the study of human interaction within green spaces. Namia Green’s portraits of black and brown subjects against lush greenery reflects the photographer’s rejection of the narrow representation of black peoples in art. Photographed by Steve McCurry, the famously green eyes of the Afghan Girl (Sharbat Gula) are both haunting and haunted, piercing a viewer’s gaze. Ren Hang (link NSFW), known for his sexually expressive imagery, often relied on green for contrast, context and life.

Landscape and architectural photographer Andreas Gursky often applies green as a visual pause within his work. Fashion photographer Miles Aldridge uses green as a surreal brush with the surreal. Signalling time, place and atmosphere, macro photographers like Tomas Shahan feature green as an inevitable backdrop for their minuscule natural subjects. And Pep Ventosa’s dynamic works see green as a prevailing presence in her series In the Round, Trees.

Green has applications on-camera too. In black and white photography, green filters are mainly used for photographing plants, separating green foliage from brightly colored flowers. In landscape photography, green filters lighten organic greens, giving an image a more natural appearance.

Conclusion

Despite its late arrival to the artist’s pallet, green’s versatility is reflected in its many connotations. Associated with renewal and rebirth, green has also been linked with the digital landscape, money, jealousy and sickness. From ancient art to contemporary visual culture, green has shaped our comprehension of the environment around us. Portraying immeasurable depth and abundance, green is the color of nature and life.

Share with us your photos that use green in the comments below.

Mastering Color Series – The Psychology and Evolution of the Color BLUE and its use in Photography

15 Apr

The post Mastering Color Series – The Psychology and Evolution of the Color BLUE and its use in Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Megan Kennedy.

As one of the three primary colors in traditional colour theory and the RGB colour model, blue’s greatest impact is in its capacity to convey strong emotion. Painter Vincent van Gogh once said “I never get tired of the blue sky”, his fascination proving integral to many of his most famous paintings. In this article, we’ll have a detailed look at the history of blue in visual arts and what it means for your photography.

The psychology of blue

Color has a profound effect on our psychology. Rayleigh scattering, an optical phenomenon that causes the sea and sky to appear blue, forges a psychological association between the color blue and the perceived qualities of blue in nature. For example, the ancient duality of the sea and the sky generates a visual relationship between blue and impressions of consistency and trust. Blue’s associations with water tie it to cleanliness and refreshment but also tears. Consequently, a person experiencing sadness is said to be feeling blue.

The cool light of winter and the blue tint of ice draws connections between blue and the cold. Clear blue skies have become synonymous with happiness, relaxation and tranquility. The blue tint of daylight helps regulate our circadian rhythms. Blue also lowers stress levels, stimulating calm. This has practical applications; hospitals are often painted in shades of blue to help ease patient anxiety. Additionally, many medications are dispensed in blue pill form.

Blue is believed to symbolize the male gender in the Western cultures – though this hasn’t always been the case. In China, blue manifests itself as a color of healing, relaxation and immortality. In countries like Turkey, Greece and Albania, blue is said to repel evil. Hindu tradition associates blue with Krishna, a deity that embodies love, virtue and divinity. Furthermore, in German, Swedish and Norwegian languages, a naive person is said to look upon the world with a blue eye.

Jodhpur – the blue city of India.

The evolution of the color blue

Egyptian blue

Egyptian blue is considered to be the first synthetic pigment. Produced by the ancient Egyptians from around 2,200 BC, Egyptian blue was made from a mixture of ground limestone, sand and a copper-containing mineral (like azurite or malachite). The mixture was heated up to 1650°F, producing an opaque blue glass. The glass was then crushed and combined with thickening agents for application.

Associated with the River Nile and the sky, ancient Egyptians used Egyptian blue to paint murals, statues and ceramics. Eventually, Egyptian blue spread to the Near East, the Eastern Mediterranean and the Roman Empire. Egyptian blue’s usage continued throughout the Late and Greco-Roman periods. However, the pigment died out in the 4th century AD, when the recipe for its manufacture was lost.

Ultramarine

Lapis lazuli first appeared as a pigment in 6th to 7th century AD paintings in Afghanistani Zoroastrian and Buddhist temples. During the 14th and 15th centuries, Italian traders shipped the pigment to Europe. There, it was called ultramarine or ultramarinus (meaning beyond the sea in Latin).

For centuries, the cost of ultramarine pigment rivaled the price of gold. Subsequently, artists used ultramarine in only the most imperative aspects of a painting. This judicious application culminated in associations between the color blue and status.

Ultramarine remained almost prohibitively expensive until an artificial process was discovered in 1828 by Jean Baptiste Guimet. Commercial production of the synthetic ultramarine had commenced by 1830, and became known as French ultramarine.

Cobalt blue

In the 8th and 9th centuries, cobalt blue was used to color porcelain and jewelry in China. An alumina-based version of cobalt blue was later discovered by the French chemist, Louis Jacques Thénard in 1802. Commercial production of the pigment began in France in 1807.

Lightfast, stable and compatible with other pigments, Impressionists such as Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Claude Monet readily adopted cobalt blue as an alternative to pricey ultramarine. Post-Impressionists such as Vincent van Gogh and Paul Cezanne also made use of cobalt blue. According to the Musee d’Orsay, van Gogh used a combination of Prussian blue, cobalt and ultramarine to create the nighttime hues of Starry Night Over the Rhone. Van Gogh himself stated that “cobalt is a divine color and there is nothing so beautiful for creating atmosphere…”

Cerulean

Cerulean is a Latin word which translates as sky blue. Originally composed of cobalt magnesium stannate, cerulean was refined by a process developed in 1805 by Andreas Höpfner in Germany. Cerulean wasn’t sold as an artist’s pigment until 1860 by Rowney and Company. When it did become available, however, the color, ranging between azure and dark sky blue, proved popular among artists.

In 1999, Pantone released a statement declaring Cerulean Blue as the color for the millennium. Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, stated that “…cerulean blue could bring on a certain peace because it reminds you of time spent outdoors, on a beach, near the water…in addition, it makes the unknown a little less frightening because the sky…is a constant…that’s the dependability factor of blue.”

Lisa Herbert, vice president, corporate communications worldwide, Pantone Inc., went on to say “our studies show that blue is the leading favorite color…regardless of culture, gender or geographic origin….[in the] U.S. [and] Europe and Asia as well. We’ve chosen cerulean blue as the official color for the millennium because of its mass appeal.”

Cerulean is the Latin word for sky blue

Prussian blue

Prussian blue was apparently discovered by accident. Around 1706, pigment and dye producer Johann Jacob Diesbach was mixing crushed cochineal insects, iron sulfate and potash to create cochineal red lake. Unbeknownst to him, the potash he used was contaminated with animal blood. The resulting concoction turned out to be the first modern synthetic pigment, a rich, dark blue that was quickly recognized for its artistic applications.

Inexpensive, easily produced, non-toxic, and intensely colored, Prussian blue spread throughout the art world. Pieter van der Werff’s The Entombment of Christ is the oldest known example of Prussian blue in an artwork. Other early examples include Antoine Watteau’s Pilgrimage to Cythera and paintings produced in Berlin in 1710 by Antoine Pesne.

Japanese woodblock artist Katsushika Hokusai used Prussian blue (as well as indigo dye) to create the Great Wave off Kanagawa. In 1842, English scientist and astronomer Sir John Herschel’s experimentations with Prussian blue led to the invention of the cyanotype.

International Klein blue

International Klein Blue (IKB) is a deep blue hue developed by French artist Yves Klein and Edouard Adam, a Parisian art paint supplier. Klein suspended his favorite ultramarine pigment in a matte, synthetic resin binder made of petroleum extracts. This allowed the rich blue hue to be applied without the loss of vibrancy. Single-colored canvases as well as elaborate performative undertakings were underpinned by Klein’s extensive use of the brilliant IKB.

YInMn blue

Much like Prussian blue, YlnMn (pronounced Yin Min) blue was discovered by accident. In 2009 at Oregon State University, Professor Mas Subramanian and his then-graduate student Andrew E. Smith were investigating new materials for making electronics. The pair were experimenting with the properties of manganese oxide by heating it to approximately 2000 °F. What emerged from the furnace however, was a striking blue compound. Named after its chemical makeup of yttrium, indium, and manganese, YlnMn blue pigment was released for commercial use in June 2016. According to paint company Derivan YlnMn blue is “non-toxic with excellent archival attributes”.

Blue in visual arts

Ancient art to the Renaissance

Blue is an enduring presence throughout art history. Ancient Egyptians decorated murals and tombs with shades of blue. The walls of Roman villas in Pompeii had frescoes of blue skies. Greek artists used blue as a background colour behind the friezes on Greek temples and to colour the beards of statues.

Dark blue was widely used in the decoration of churches in the Byzantine Empire. Byzantine art depicted Christ and the Virgin Mary dressed in dark blue or purple. Elaborate dark blue and turquoise tiles were used to decorate mosques and palaces from Spain to Central Asia.

At the beginning of the Middle Ages in Europe, blue played a less significant role to that of other colors. However, in the 12th century, painters in Italy and greater Europe were instructed by the Roman Catholic Church to paint the robes of the Virgin Mary with ultramarine, the newest and most expensive pigment at the time. The Virgin Mother’s updated wardrobe resulted in blue being associated with holiness, humility and virtue.

During the Renaissance, artists began to paint the world as it was seen in real life, mixing blue hues with lead white paint to articulate shadows and highlights. In Titian’s Noli me Tangere and Bacchus and Ariadne, different shades of blue are layered to cultivate depth and tension. In another example, Raphael’s Madonna of the Meadow depicts Mary wearing a deep blue mantle set against a red dress, a striking contrast against a background populated with brown and light blue hues.

Rococo to contemporary art

The Rococo art movement depicted mythology and light-hearted portrayals of upper-class domestic life with pastel blue skies and rich blue furnishings. Romanticism used blue predominantly to convey drama in the heavens, and Impressionists like Claude Monet used blue to investigate light and movement in both natural and artificial landscapes.

Emphasizing strong colour over the representational, Fauvist Henri Matisse’s figures in Dance circle naked under an open blue sky. Expressionist van Gogh’s seminal Starry Night, conveys the night sky in active blues and yellows. Cubist Pablo Picasso’s extensive use of Prussian blue defined his Blue Period while Surrealists adopted blue to simultaneously orientate and disorientate the viewer.

From the 20th century artists began to free themselves from the confines of the literal. As a result, artists looked to color as a tool to channel emotion. Exemplified in abstract expressionism, Jackson Pollock‘s Blue Poles, is made up of chaotic strands of blacks, greens, oranges, whites, yellows and grays tempered by nine vertical blue lines. Mark Rothko experimented extensively with blue, as did Barnett Newman, both artists using color as a device to transcend the confines of the canvas. And Helen Frankenthaler‘s stained blues emphasize both the flattening and dimensionality of space.

With the arrival of modern technologies and materials, contemporary examples of blue in art are rich and varied. Roger Hiorns’ crystalline Seizure, transformed space with color, light and chemistry. Katharina Fritsch’s Hahn/Cock plays with our sense of scale and relationship to animals. And Anish Kapoor’s Sky Mirror, Blue challenges our perceptions of an urban environment, re-imagining the landscape through the lens of a large, blue concave mirror.

Blue in photography

Birthed from nature and art, blue’s associations play a critical role in conveying the nature of the photographic image. Luigi Ghirri explored the relationship between shape and space by incorporating large fields of blue sky into his imagery. Color pioneer Martin Parr makes use of rich blues to create a surreal juxtaposition between subject, object and nature. Bill Henson uses blue hues to cultivate experiential photographic dramas. David Burdeny photographs precision landscapes, using blue to illustrate the materiality of his abstract vistas. While Gregory Crewdson and Didier Massard both use blue to signal time, place and atmosphere throughout their imagery.

The color blue has other applications in photography too. Occurring just after sunset and just before sunrise, the blue hour is a period when the sun drops below the horizon and residual sunlight takes on a blue hue. Valued for its soft quality of light, blue hour is popular with portrait and landscape photographers. In addition, blue filters (applied on-camera or in post production) are used in black and white photography to increase the appearance of mist and haze.

Conclusion

Yves Klein once said “blue has no dimensions, it is beyond dimensions”. Over history, blue has communicated the ineffable, transcending colour and touching on our spirituality and sense of self. Associated with nature, calm, reverence, purity, trust and sorrow, blue embodies the visual weight of emotion and human experience.

Have you used blue in your photography? Feel free to share them with us in the comments below.

Posts Tagged ‘Mastering’

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3:2 ratio

4:3 ratio

16:9 ratio

1:1 ratio

5:4 ratio

2:3 ratio

Creative cropping

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Evolution of the color pink

Ancient pinks

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Fuchsine, magenta and quinacridone

Shocking pink

PINK

Pink in visual arts

Renaissance to pre-raphaelite

Impressionism to cubism

Pink in contemporary art

Pink in photography

Conclusion

The psychology of purple

The evolution of the color purple

Hematite and manganese

Han purple

Tyrian purple

Purple in the middle ages

Mauve

Cobalt violet and manganese violet

Love Symbol #2

Purple in visual arts

Ancient art to realism

Pre-raphaelite to abstract art

Purple in contemporary art

Purple in photography

Conclusion

The psychology of orange

The evolution of the color orange

Ocher

Vermilion

Realgar and orpiment

Chrome and cadmium orange

Orange in visual arts

Prehistoric to pre-raphaelite

Impressionism to abstraction

Orange in contemporary art

Orange in photography

Conclusion

The psychology of green

The evolution of the color green

Malachite, green earth and verdigris

Scheele’s green

Cobalt green

Paris green

Viridian

Green in visual arts

Green in contemporary art

Green in photography

Conclusion

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Egyptian blue

Ultramarine

Cobalt blue

Cerulean