COVER FEATURE MAKE COLOUR WORK FOR YOU

YOUR GUIDE MATT HENRY

Matt Henry works as an editorial and advertising photographer, shooting people, fashion and urban landscapes. Hes also passionate about writing and is a regular contributor to Professional Photographer and Photography Monthly magazines

www.dcmag.co.uk/MattHenry

PORTFOLIO MATT HENRY

Using colour
Isnt it time you gave colour some serious thought? Matt Henry takes you on a journey of discovery as we step back and look at photo composition from a completely different angle
ts difficult to imagine the shimmering surface of a tropical lagoon inspiring such serenity and wonderment if the water were muddy brown and not turquoise blue. And could a single rhythmic poppy swaying amongst the harshest of hedgerows generate the same wistful fondness if it were a murky green and not the deepest shade of red? Colour is the musical accompaniment to shape, form, and texture; the oft-forgotten element that breathes life into every scene we witness. The amateur photographer too often undervalues its impact; the professional thinks of little else. Fail to understand how it informs, inspires and enthuses, and your images will never provoke the kind of reaction that makes photography so rewarding and worthwhile.

The amateur photographer too often undervalues its impact, the professional thinks of little else impact;
nature of the subject youre focusing on and imagine it simply in blocks of colour and shape. A pair of lampposts pinned against an overcast evening sky might become an almost monochromatic illustration of lines and curves, punctuated by golden orbs dissipating their orange glow into the night sky. Or think of the most mundane roadsign as a fantastic abstract pattern of uniform blues and reds, perfectly plausible with a bit of imagination and some careful close cropping. And nature itself offers a bounty of ready-made extracts; a single daisy isolated against the greenest summer grass, a field of corn offering nothing but the warmest shades of yellow, or a layer of autumnal leaves infusing majestic golds and browns. Whatever your subject, making the most of colour requires you to think carefully about composition if something in the scene doesnt add anything to your image, crop it out, either by zooming in or getting yourself closer to the action. A painted Mediterranean house loses its impact if you include the garden path, next doors rubbish or a wandering travelling salesmen. Instead go in tight and frame a red wall against a yellow window-frame, or a blue courtyard staircase against orange-painted brickwork this way youve got just colours and patterns and nothing else. And dont be so conservative as to stick with purely horizontal or vertical compositions if patterns and colours work best together with your camera tilted at an angle, then go with that and use some unusual perspectives. Of course, there are scenes that offer the impact of colour

Choosing and composing

Finding a colourful subject is your first step, but to really make the most of whatever it is you choose youll have to be prepared to stick your artistic hat on. Try to forget the

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WHY WE CHOSE THIS PICTURE

Extremely shallow depth of field makes the subject stand out starkly against an uncluttered background

Eye-searing iridescent colours and incredible detail bring the subject to life

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HANDLING AWKWARD LIGHTING

When exposing for an awkwardly lit scene such as a stained glass window or night-time cityscape, the reflective meter in your camera will almost certainly overexpose the scene because it percieves it to be too dark. To compensate for this you need to switch your camera to manual mode, and underexpose by between one and two stops. Erring towards underexposure also has the added benefit of making colours look richer and more saturated, and in the case of a stained glass window, of turning the surrounding areas jet black.

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2 EXPERT TIPS
Underexposing your image by a third of a stop makes colours go a little deeper and darker for a more saturated effect.

Because the human eye is more sensitive to green light than it is to red or blue light, conventional CCD and CMOS image sensors contain twice as many green pixels as they do red or blue. Colour interpolation technology is used to calculate the in-between values

The most important aspects of light to consider are the directionality and angle of the source
without the need for isolation coastal sunsets, verdant hillsides, boats at port, neon-shops at night, portraits with colourful make-up and clothes, and fairground lights. But no matter how much interesting detail and shapes are to be had, its important not to get carried away in the emotion of the subject and remember that its the use of the colours at your disposal that will make or break your image.

2 DIGITAL ENGANCEMENT
Making the most of lighting and natural changes in colour temperature is by far the best way to make sure your colourful images are up to their best, but digital manipulation has its place as a tool for enhancement saturation and contrast controls in-camera or via Photoshop can be used to give colours even more zip. Some cameras also have toning effects filters that essentially turn your image into black and white then wash them over with another single colour usually sepia, but other colours are sometimes available too. The same effect can be created with the Channel Mixer in Photoshop, and with a greater range of colours to choose from. Its best used as a means to accentuate the mood a subject might already convey images of boats and water often benefit from blue toning for example, while the warmth of sepia tends to work well with smiling, outdoorsy portraits.

Inaccurate exposure can play havoc with colour results. Take a spot reading (or centre-weighted if your cameras not got a spot) from a mid-tone such as grass and lock the exposure before recomposing. This will ensure accurate exposure. Accentuating the bluish tinge of a dull, overcast day can produce moody, atmospheric images. Increase the blueness manually in your white balance settings, or by selecting the sunshine option if theres no manual option. Burning out the highlights can actually be very flattering to skin tones, killing any spots, blemishes or other unsightly details. Try overexposing by half, a full, one and a half stop for best results.

The importance of lighting

Whatever you choose to photograph, its imperative that you have some knowledge of light and how it works if youre going to capture colours at their best its the reflection of certain wavelengths of light that gives an object colour after all. The two most important aspects of lighting you have to consider are directionality and the angle of the light source, and this goes for both natural light and artificial light such as tungsten or flash. Directionality describes the extent to which light is travelling in a focused, straight line towards your subject or whether it is bouncing around and hitting your subject from a number of angles. A cloudless sky means

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Photographers who take the time to carefully balance colour with subject composition will usually yield the best results. In this case, however, simply filling the entire frame with a shock of colour has worked sucessfully to create a strong visual impact

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COVER FEATURE MAKE COLOUR WORK FOR YOU

Blue tone isnt good for skin tone or landscape but might benefit a fashion shoot
the light from the sun is very directional, whereas a large portion of cloud cover diffuses the light, making it less directional and producing a much softer and more even effect. This is important because directional light tends to cause glare, with very dense shadows and harsh highlights, making colour saturation quite poor. On the other hand, the dense cloud cover of a dull day doesnt do much for colour saturation either, even though the lightings very even. The ideal scenario is a bright day with just a portion of cloud covering the suns orb and a few bits of cloud scattered around for added diffusion elsewhere. The angle of the light source obviously refers to where the light is travelling from in relation to the subject and your camera viewpoint. If the sun is at 90 degrees to your shooting position, it will be raking across your subject and shadows will be apparent. If the suns behind your shoulder the shadows will be hidden, and

youll get a very flat, even type of lighting. The latter is best for maximum saturation of colour, whereas the former gives your subject much more of a three-dimensional feel, as form and texture become more pronounced. If you want the best of both worlds, keep the sun at 90 degrees and fit your camera with a polarising filter. If youre shooting indoors with available light, avoid directional lighting by using a north-facing window, or shoot on a bright but overcast day if this isnt possible. Alternatively, diffuse the window-light with some sort of material fine net curtains, a white bed sheet or tracing paper can all work well.

by shooting only when theres enough light for it not to be necessary. Those with external Speedlite-type flashguns can fit a diffuser-hood (try the Omni-Bounce sold by Jessops for 14.90), or better still, a miniature softbox (Jessops sell the Lastolite Micro-Apollo for 26.95). However, neither are as effective in reducing directionality and maximising colour saturation as bouncing the flash off a wall or ceiling, possible only if youve got a flashgun with a tilt/swivel feature. The flash will take on the colour of any surface; so if theres no white ceiling or wall close-by, bounce it off a piece of white card.

Colour and flash

The relationship between flash and colour is subject to the same principles of lighting as sunlight a highly directional light source is going to mean low colour saturation with dense shadows and highlights so bright that they begin to wash out. This is why on-camera flash tends to produce such drab, unflattering results, and why studio photographers spend so much time trying to diffuse their flash-heads with contraptions like umbrellas, softboxes and reflectors. If youve only got the flash thats built into your camera, theres not much you can do but avoid using it

Colour temperature and white balance

Things get their colour because of the specific wavelengths of light they reflect back, but light itself can also take on a colour cast. When all the colour wavelengths in the visible spectrum are present in equal amounts, you get neutral or white light, but when there is an unequal amount, light changes colour. So if youve ever wondered why your grandmas face came out a rather nasty shade of blue, this is the reason. On a clear, sunny day at around lunchtime light is usually white but if the weathers dull with lots of cloud present everything appears to take on a bluish tinge.

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If youre interested in taking a more in-depth, scientific look at light, colour and photography then the following website is worth investigating: www.ted.photographer. org.uk/photoscience_colour.htm

2 COLOUR FILTERS
There are a number of filters that can be used to maximise the effects of colour in your shots, and these dont include those rather dated and naff experimental special effects things like Starburst, Prism, or Rainbow. The best ones are actually the most subtle, and theres probably only six or seven that are really of any use for digital users the rest can either be too easily replicated in Photoshop, or look so bad that you really wouldnt bother. Top of the list is the polariser. This is unrivalled for its ability to maximise colour saturation way beyond the call of duty, and should never be off your lens if youre serious about vivid colours in your outdoor work. Others of use include the neutral density graduate, warm-up, sunset, and various types of coloured graduates. Take a look at the mini-lab test on page 44 for the low-down on the best filters money can buy.

Early in the morning and late in the evening, especially at sunrise or sunset, this tinge can go very orange, unless of course its neutralised by heavy cloud cover. The eye adjusts to this colour change automatically so that its barely discernible, but a cameras image sensor cant, so the changes in this colour cast, or colour temperature can be dramatic enough to spoil or enhance an image, depending on your intention. A landscape with a blue tone isnt going to be too attractive, but a cutting-edge fashion shot might benefit from a blue cast rather than orange. For most purposes blue tends to be considered negative and avoided (its particularly bad for skin tone), and orange positive and very much sought after. Artificial light can also have a non-white colour temperature flash is generally fairly neutral, but the tungsten lighting found in household bulbs tends to be very orange. Fluorescent lighting gives off a greeny tinge, though other colours are possible too as there are many makes and types of bulbs. All but the very cheapest digital cameras come with an automatic white-balance setting that adjusts to differing colour temperatures. Most also have a number of pre-sets so you can override the automatic setting, in case it misjudges a situation or in case you want to introduce a cast to enhance your image. Some cameras let you set your white point by taking a reading manually, though even more versatile are those that let you go through the range in increments with a slider scale. White-balance settings can be used to enhance your images, by giving a landscape a very warm, orange tone, for example, but this is never a substitute for the real thing wait for a bright, clear day and get up for sunrise or wait till early evening if you want truly professional-looking warm-tone results.

1 RECOMMENDED
There are few contemporary professional photographers that stick only with black and white as a matter of principle check out the photography section in the big book shops like Waterstones and Borders for some full colour coffee-table tomes that offer breath-taking images of all sorts of subjects. Fans of nature photography should hunt out a chap called Frans Lanting; his latest rainforest book is full of the most amazingly vivid shots of the finest specimens the natural world has to offer. Landscape addicts should look out for the work of Tom Mackie and Charlie Waite two of the UKs most talented outdoor photographers. Charlie has a very instructive book about landscape photography called Seeing Landscapes which explores the artistic ideas behind this genre of photography colour plays a big part so its certainly worth a look if landscapes are your favoured pastime. If the great outdoors doesnt float your boat but the fantastically surreal does, look no further than David LaChapelle, the current experimental darling of the fashion world whose images are the very definition of vivid and ultra-saturated. His latest work, David LaChapelle Photographs, is truly inspirational if tonguein-cheek people shots are your thing.

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