As in life, color is complex, and is shallow to make visual judgments based on stereotypes or rapid observations. Color Design is a visual perceptual process of balancing color harmoniously in the frame. In photography we see the world as light, where white light is a combination of red, green, and blue light. This is an additive process, where color varies in hue, lightness, and saturation. The image is formed and processed by the camera’s system (optics and image sensor) – to reproduce the original scene.

Based on the Maxwell Triangle, yellow is directly opposite to blue, equally the other complementary colors, green and magenta, and cyan and red. Their contrast is enhanced by the intensity of the hue.  In the picture of the yellow rose against the cyan sky, the proportions are 2:1. For proper visual balance, the frame must represent these proportions.
Having said this in the real world, not all colors are pure, nor are they fully saturated.  Therefore, one must combine them in the context of their settings.  Some harmonious combinations of these color can be applied to generate contrast; others to contribute to make a coherent image.

In the same manner one can use the visual space to place a color as a spot.  There is a natural relationship between color and temperature, and we can refer it as cool/warm contrast.  So, these color temperature effects can be experimented using a color chart or the Maxwell triangle.

Unity is also called proximity. It is the principle of keeping like elements together and diverse elements further apart. Unity pulls elements together.

In design rhythm is repetition, but this repetition does not need to be completely regular – it can change at times- just like music.  Rhythm allows your designs to develop an internal consistency that makes it easier for viewers to understand. Once the viewer recognizes the pattern in the rhythm it can relax and understand the whole design. Repetition rarely occurs isolated, and brings a sense of order into the design.  And for this reason, repetition attracts attention and prompts viewers to investigate further.

Balance is the distribution of heavy and light elements on the frame. Larger, darker elements appear heavier in the design than smaller, lighter elements. This is known as visual weight.

Do optics distort the scene?
This question was asked to the class by Professor Bill Du Bois (RIT), on my first semester.  We say yes, of course, haven’t you used a wide angle lens, or an extreme fish-eye? – to our revelation the answer was NO! – it is the angle of view, that distorts the image, not the optic.

Sometimes you are looking for the right visual tension in composition, in order to create an interesting shot.  Some practice will tell you- which is the right quadrant to place the subject.

The Principle of Completion
I like this one, it actually fits my personality- since I like to simplify everything.  Poets represent images using simile, metaphor or synecdoche; in photography or graphic arts, viewer’s imagination complete the total picture. Subconsciously your mind already have a record of that object (program of experiences) – so… do you see the ball and the tennis racquet?.

Depth of Field
Since camera lenses can only be focused on only one object distance at a time.  Theoretically, objects in front of and behind the object distance focused on will not be imaged sharply on the film.  In practice, acceptable sharp focus is seldom limited to a single plane.  Depth of field is defined as the range of object distances within which objects are imaged with acceptable sharpness ( Leslie Stroebel, Depth of Field,  Photographic Materials and Processes, p. 160). 

On the sunset image taken from my Florida home’s backyard at f5.6 @1/30sec., the focus is on the plane one third from the foreground.  This focus range provides the illusion of sharpness on all planes: from foreground to background.  In addition depth of field increases rapidly as the distance between the camera and the subject increases (Stroebel, p.163).  One more point, small lens apertures of f32-f64, correlate with greater depth of field, as large aperture of f2.8 -f0.7 correspond to shallow depth of field.

A word of caution, although stopping down the lens aperture increases depth of field, it also increases the diffraction of light, which tends to reduce image sharpness overall.  As I recall, the photographic movement of the 30′s, lead by photographers Willard Van Dyke and Ansel Adams, was named f/64- which refers to the smallest lens aperture of a view camera.

The images of the round marble above were taken in my Florida studio (October 22, 2012).  Notice the shallow depth of field, as the focus plane changes from shot to shot, at a large aperture of f5.6.  The 4x close-up was taken with a bellow extension tube, no aperture was recorded.

Peter Nicastro, well known instructor of portraiture, in the “The Dynamics of Light in Portrait Photography” (1975), defined backlighting as an advanced photographic technique. To enhance the subject, as on texture light or split light (90 degrees), the light from behind the subject separates the subject from the background, and- as shown on the photo below, enhances fine detail of the subject.

These photos were taken in Jacksonville Beach in June 2012. Canon Xi f5.6@f11 ISO100.

Color is a visual experience.  It is a perception, and therefore the word color refers to physiological and psychological responses to light in much the same way that taste, smell, touch and sound are responses to other physical stimuli ( Leslie Stroebel, Color Theory,  Photographic Materials and Processes).

These are the color attributes: Color or Hue, Brightness or lightness, Saturation, and Chromaticness (psychological measure).

Wavelenght
First we need to understand the nature of light.  I always say in class, “we humans are limited creatures”, true when it comes to perception of light.  The human visible spectrum is between four hundred and seven hundred nanometers (400-700nm); the mantis shrimp has such good eyes, it can perceive both polarized light and hyperspectral color vision. 

A nanometer is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one billionth of a meter (10 to the -12 or 10^12).  1micron(1μm) is equal to one millionth of a meter(10^6). Infrared (IR) light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometers (µm), and extending conventionally to 300 µm.  I guess you get my point, we can only see white light; which is the combination of red, green, and blue light (the primary colors).

Through the color filtration process, objects absorb and reflect primary colors.

For instance, the red apple is not really red; when exposed to white light, it absorbs blue and green, and reflects the third color, red.  So, it all depends on the light temperature the apple is exposed to.  In the sequence below, the red apple is exposed to three color temperatures, ranging from 20,000 Kelvin degrees to 2,000 (daylight, shade, and fluorescent).