Colour Relationships - Part 2

In Part 2 of the "Colour Relationships" exercise, we are asked to produce three or four colour combinations which appeal to us.  In my case I have selected the 4 images below.  Although I was looking for suitable colour combinations, I was also struck by how many images in my photo collection repeat the combinations below.  In particular the Red : Blue and Green : Yellow are recurring themes.  Does that say something about me?

Orange : Red : Green
ISO 200  1/60 sec, f/22

The image above is pretty much in the 'warm' part of the colour wheel.  The background is orange and the pale red / pink of the flowers works well against the warmth of the wall.  The colours achieve harmony because they are adjacent.

Green : Yellow
ISO 200 1/200 sec, f/5.6

Yellow and green are adjacent in the colour wheel, so they work well together.  The paintwork of this taxi in Bangkok is certainly eye-catching.  Green is in the 'cool' side of the colour wheel whereas yellow is in the 'warm' side, though to me, the image is neither 'warm' or 'cold'.

Blue : Green : Red
ISO 200  1/125 sec, f/11

Red and blue are the dominant colours in this image of a Gnat vintage jet trainer.  Red and blue are a third of the way across the colour wheel so would be considered contrasting colours and therefore not considered harmonious.  To me, however, there is synergy between the two colours and they work well together.  Perhaps it is the tension between the colours which gives it dynamic appeal.

Yellow : Orange
ISO 100  1/250 sec, f/5

Yellow and orange exude warmth, and indeed they are adjacent colours on the 'warm' side of the colour wheel.  It is strange how rust, in all its colours can give this impression of warmth, despite being an indicator of decay.

Colour relationships Part 1

Referring once again to the colour wheel, we look at the way colours interact, particularly those opposite each other in the colour wheel.  These opposites are known as complementary pairs and will have the maximum colour contrast.

It becomes noticeable, when complementary colours are combined, that the brighter colour is much more dominant, particularly when they are in equal blocks of colour.  It is in response to this psychological effect to colour, that,  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe postulated the proportions which such complementary colours should take in order to appear equal, in other words so that no one colour being dominant.

He assigned the following values to the six colours: yellow 9, orange 8, red 6, green 6, blue 4 and violet 3.  This gives rise to the following ratios:

• red : green            1:1
• orange : blue         1:2
• yellow : violet        1:3

In order to achieve a sense of harmony, images which have a limited palette, and which are constrained to the complementary colour, should utilise the above ratios.

The images below have attempted to demonstrate this:

Red : Green
1/350 sec,  f/6.7

This red / green combination works well.  I do seem to be using fruit and vegetables a lot in this.  

Orange : Blue
1/90 sec,  f/6.7

Orange and blue was much more difficult to find, but the pepper in the market came to the rescue.  Again I think that this illustrates Goethe's ratios.

Yellow : violet
1/15 sec,  f/9.5

I replaced my original image with this one of a crocus head.  Even though I used a macro lens for this, I still had to do a substantial crop in order to properly illustrate the ratio.