I know many here have knowledge of colour theory, however an old thread on B&W 23 yellow filters popped up this afternoon and I want to give out some basic information on reading colours and their ever present bias.
Most people think of a colour wheel as a six segmented pie, with three Primary colours and three Secondary colours.
That is the most basic education a photographer or artist may have, and it's more detailed than that, as the bias or 'leaning toward' of each colour that determines the actual colours involved.
Think of a 12 segmented pie.
For each of the Primaries, Red, Blue, Yellow, there are two biased positions.
For example, Red is actually two primaries, an Orange-Red and a Violet-Red, the O-R is a warm colour, leaning to the Orange side of the pie scale.
Violet-Red is a cool Red, influenced towards Violet or warm Blue.
Yellow Primaries consist of an warm Orange-Yellow, like the B&W 23 I referenced.
The other primary Yellow is a cool Green-Yellow, again leaning towards the Primary cool blue.
Blue itself both leans towards a warm Violet-Blue, a Red influenced Colour, and, in a cool Green-Blue, moving into the Green of the cool Green.
Those are the Six Primaries of the 12 section pie (Wheel)
Each of the Secondary colours also have a bias, leading off with the Blue-Green, a cool hue, and the warm Yellow-Green, a commonly used filter for smoothing out blemishes on girls/women skin/face.
The Red-Orange is obviously warm and the cool side consist of the Yellow-Orange, Yellow descending into the green bias.
Each of these secondaries can a more neutral tertiary position on a more complicated colour wheel, by mixing a cool biased hue with a warm biased hue, two opposites, like a Orange-Green with a Violet-Blue mix.
Last, the secondary hue, Violet, is made of both Red-Violet, a warm colour and a blue-Violet a cool hue
When reading the old thread on the B&W 23 had some confusion about whether or not it's an Orange or a Yellow and it's effect on b&w photographs.
Marketed as a Yellow by B&W but, perceived as an Orange by many here, it is in fact, a warm Yellow.
Yellow hues run a wide gamet of mostly warm Yellows, and it is easily demonstrated by looking at an artist's colour chart, the Old Holland oil Paints Colour Chart, viewable on line.
www.oldholland.com
Look at the Cadmium Yellows, starting with a Light or Pale Cadmium Yellow, a Cadmium Yellow, (the most commonly used Cadmium Yellow paint) Medium Cadmium Yellow, and a Heavy Cadmium Yellow.
On the other side of the Yellow scale, generally biased towards the cool, is a Citrus Yellow.
When trying to determine a difficult colour bias, hold the filter with a neutral colour, like a plain Black & White Grey, in the back ground under strong daylight.
The filter can also be tested by holding it up to skylight, between 10:00pm to 2:00pm.
The IMPORTAINT thing is to always be aware that colour contrast filters will have bias towards the cool, warm (and a neutral), and that bias will also, almost always, impact your photograph.
I hope this is of some help when it comes to the interpretation of filter colours.
Most people think of a colour wheel as a six segmented pie, with three Primary colours and three Secondary colours.
That is the most basic education a photographer or artist may have, and it's more detailed than that, as the bias or 'leaning toward' of each colour that determines the actual colours involved.
Think of a 12 segmented pie.
For each of the Primaries, Red, Blue, Yellow, there are two biased positions.
For example, Red is actually two primaries, an Orange-Red and a Violet-Red, the O-R is a warm colour, leaning to the Orange side of the pie scale.
Violet-Red is a cool Red, influenced towards Violet or warm Blue.
Yellow Primaries consist of an warm Orange-Yellow, like the B&W 23 I referenced.
The other primary Yellow is a cool Green-Yellow, again leaning towards the Primary cool blue.
Blue itself both leans towards a warm Violet-Blue, a Red influenced Colour, and, in a cool Green-Blue, moving into the Green of the cool Green.
Those are the Six Primaries of the 12 section pie (Wheel)
Each of the Secondary colours also have a bias, leading off with the Blue-Green, a cool hue, and the warm Yellow-Green, a commonly used filter for smoothing out blemishes on girls/women skin/face.
The Red-Orange is obviously warm and the cool side consist of the Yellow-Orange, Yellow descending into the green bias.
Each of these secondaries can a more neutral tertiary position on a more complicated colour wheel, by mixing a cool biased hue with a warm biased hue, two opposites, like a Orange-Green with a Violet-Blue mix.
Last, the secondary hue, Violet, is made of both Red-Violet, a warm colour and a blue-Violet a cool hue
When reading the old thread on the B&W 23 had some confusion about whether or not it's an Orange or a Yellow and it's effect on b&w photographs.
Marketed as a Yellow by B&W but, perceived as an Orange by many here, it is in fact, a warm Yellow.
Yellow hues run a wide gamet of mostly warm Yellows, and it is easily demonstrated by looking at an artist's colour chart, the Old Holland oil Paints Colour Chart, viewable on line.
Colour charts - Old Holland Classic Colours
www.oldholland.com
Look at the Cadmium Yellows, starting with a Light or Pale Cadmium Yellow, a Cadmium Yellow, (the most commonly used Cadmium Yellow paint) Medium Cadmium Yellow, and a Heavy Cadmium Yellow.
On the other side of the Yellow scale, generally biased towards the cool, is a Citrus Yellow.
When trying to determine a difficult colour bias, hold the filter with a neutral colour, like a plain Black & White Grey, in the back ground under strong daylight.
The filter can also be tested by holding it up to skylight, between 10:00pm to 2:00pm.
The IMPORTAINT thing is to always be aware that colour contrast filters will have bias towards the cool, warm (and a neutral), and that bias will also, almost always, impact your photograph.
I hope this is of some help when it comes to the interpretation of filter colours.
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objects, Planets, Nebula, suns, etc.
