2. Primary and secondary colours

For this exercise I found old vehicles, or parts of them, where one of the primary or secondary colours dominates. The brief enabled me to consolidate what I learned in exercise one of bracketing three shots for each image at metered, half a stop over and half a stop under. All the shots were taken at aperture priority and the bracketing was by varying the speed.

A. Red

The camera's meter value for this shot is f8 at 1/60th, ISO 400. The same ISO value is used for all shots. As the light became dull at times and I wanted to use a mid aperture for depth of field, I used a tripod for all the shots to keep the camera steady when the speed dropped below 1/60th.  The speeds for the bracketed exposures are 1/45th and 1/90th

In this shot, contrary to what I was expecting from exercise one, the red that most closely matches that in the colour wheel is the one shot at half a stop over the metered value.


B. Violet

The meter value for this shot is f16 at 1/30th. I increased the aperture because there is more depth to the picture to keep sharp. The bracketed speeds are 1/20th and 1/45th.

Again, the closest match to the colour wheel is half a stop over the metered value.


C. Blue

The meter value for this shot  is f16 at 1/45th. The bracketed values are 1.30th and 1/60th. The blue in the image at half a stop over, on this occasion, seems much brighter than that in the colour wheel. Half a stop under seems closer to the mark with this picture.

D. Green

The meter value for this shot is f11 at 1/45th. I widened the aperture slightly as the light was dropping. The bracketed values are 1/30th and 1/60th. The metered value provides the green closest to that on the colour wheel.

E. Yellow

The metered value for this shot is f16 at 1/10th and the bracketed speeds are 1/8th and 1/15th. The central shot, as the camera metered it, provides the yellow closest to that on the colour wheel. With this colour the difference, more noticeably, is in brightness rather than depth or saturation.

F Orange

The metered value is f8 at 1/125th and the bracketed speeds are 1/90th and 1/180th. The central image, using the camera's metered value provides the orange with the closest match to the colour wheel.

So, looking back on my notes, it's hard to improve on the camera's meter reading for the green, yellow and orange half of the colour wheel; the red / violet sector seems to like half a stop over, while blue seems to prefer half a stop under. Whether this is a generalisable pattern or a function of the lighting conditions, purity of the colours, exposures used I am not sure. I still like the idea of bracketing half a stop either way to get one shot with the colour I am looking for, which may, of course, not be the pure colour on the wheel. For example, the slightly less bright, more 'faded colours are a more faithful representation of the old machines photographed for this exercise.

Additional note

The course guidance for this exercise refers to green being 'notorious' for its 'incredible diversity'. I found a good example of this when taking photographs in a different location for a different purpose; young army cadets wearing their camouflaged uniform, posing by their bivouac in the bushes. (... and anybody that attempts to spell camouflage and bivouac in the same sentence deserves a glass of wine).