Digital Photography Online

Programmers know that any color can be represented in the RGB (Red / Green / Blue), i.e., by mixing in different proportions of three primary colors - red, green and blue. For example, purple (magenta) is obtained when mixing red and blue (additive coloring), yellow - red and green, etc. I recall shades are obtained by changing the brightness of colors. Thus, the brown color is a yellow tinge. Mixing red, green and blue in equal proportions, we get white.

This is what some photographers use.

Having the camera fixed on a tripod and made three consecutive exposures, for example, a waterfall, each with a different filter (one of the three primary colors) are shot tones normal, but with a lot of beautiful colored reflections. Try to do this if your camera has a film-style multiple modes, but do not forget to set the shutter speed each time by one-third of face value, measured through the three filters together. By the way, the three filters together, should provide a neutral gray color.
On the other hand, subtracting from the white one or the other primary color, we can get all the other colors (subtractive coloring). Thus, subtracting the green, we get the purple, subtracting red - blue, white and subtracting from the blue - yellow. Mixed blue, purple and yellow in equal proportions, we get black. This scheme is called the CMYK (Cyan / Magenta / Yellow). Letter «K» is an indication for an additional component - black. And it is mainly used in printing.

Now turn to the so-called «color circle» well-known by artists. This range is built in such a way that the colors that are against each other are complementary.

For example, purple is the complement to the green, green - purple, blue - to yellow, blue - to red, etc. This is of great practical importance both for digital as well as for film photography, but more on that later. Regarding colors, located near each other, then they can see what color it will turn out as a result of mixing the two colors. For example, if you mixed blue and red will be purple, red and yellow - orange. Knowing these characteristics of the color range is useful to us when setting the white balance of digital cameras.

Here you see the same color «circle», but a rectangular shape and further grouped by color: the colors are complementary colors right on the left and vice versa.

Explore now how important it is for the photographer’s knowledge of complementary colors. From the practice of shooting on the film camera is well known: when we have the lighting filament lamps are yellow, and then use the blue color filters (80, 82) to obtain the appearance of white light. Look at the plate - the colors are complementary. That is blue-yellow color of the filter delays. If we shoot in cloudy weather or winter snow, it is recommended to use filters yellow tones (81, 85). As can be seen from the right boards, they are a complement to blue, and delay is the blue color. Thus, we see that the additional color effects neutralize each other.