During my second photography class, we talked about color.

We looked at the color wheel and talked about how visual excitement can be created when complimentary colors are in the same image.

We talked about the different White Balance (WB) settings on our camera. He had us all go outside to shoot the same scene using all the different WB settings on our camera. This was a big aha moment for me as I always thought that the settings were there just for the different types of weather. I didn’t know that the WB settings also can be used to control color in a photograph. Try it. It is pretty cool seeing how the same photograph can end up being tinted differently depending on the WB setting you use.

I learned another very valuable lesson when we went outside – always make sure your lens is locked down tight onto your camera! As I was putting the strap of my camera around my neck while walking outside, my lens fell off my camera. Boom onto the driveway it went flying! My heart stopped! Thank goodness it was just my kit lens. The little hood I had attached hit the ground and I managed to scoop it up before it hit the ground a second time. I think the hood saved my lens as it seems to have survived. At least the photos I took that night looked ok. I will find out soon enough when I use it again.

We also talked about how color can convey various emotions in a photograph. For our second assignment, we were each assigned a color and an emotion. I got red and passion. I really struggled with this at first. I would have been so much happier with blue or green or yellow or even white! But, after taking a bunch of photos on two outings, I finally narrowed it down to a few possible choices.

For this assignment, we had to turn in two photos, adding red to the second photo. The photo also needs to be a photo from our genre (in my case – lines in nature) and a photo using some of the elements that make a good composition (entry/exit points, lighting, color, rule of 3rds, fore/middle/backgrounds, balance, symmetry, framing, postive and negative space, the power of the written word, the power of bright light, and the power of human form).
I’m not sure how much I was able to convey passion, but at least I was able to stick to my genre and add red to the second photo.

Here are the two photos I turned in…

the original:

and the photo where red was added: