Understanding Color Theory, Photography, and Camera Basics

Audio Visual Q1: Color Theory

Color Description

• Chroma: How pure a hue is in relation to gray.
• Saturation: The degree of purity of a hue.
• Intensity: The lightness or dullness of a hue (adding black or white).
• Value: A measure of the amount of light reflected from a hue.
• Shade: Produced by the addition of black.
• Tint: Produced by the addition of white.

Color Systems

• Subtractive Color: Used when mixing colors with paint. Begins with white and ends with black (CMYK).
• Additive Color: Used on computers. Begins with black and ends with white (RGB).

The Color Wheel

• Primary Colors: The basic essence; these colors cannot be created by mixing others.
• Secondary Colors: Colors achieved by mixing two primary colors.
• Tertiary Colors: Achieved by mixing primary and secondary hues.

Color Relationships

• Complementary Colors: Located opposite each other on the color wheel (e.g., blue and yellow, green and red). They can cause visual vibration and are considered clashing colors.
• Contrasting Colors: Segments of the color wheel divided into quarters.
• Adjacent Colors: Located close together on a color wheel.

Warm and Cool Colors

• Warm Colors: The warmth of red, yellow, or orange can create excitement or even anger.
• Cool Colors: Tend to have a calming, comforting, and nurturing effect (blue, green, gray, and silver).

Audio Visual Q2: Photography Composition

• Focus: The center of the photo, the main object.
• Lines: The usual path that enables the eye to move within the piece. Optical phenomena are created when objects curve away from the viewer. They create direction.
• Shape:
  • Geometric: Circle, triangle, square, etc.
  • Natural: Created by nature (drops, mountains, etc.).
  • Artificial: Created by man (car, glasses, guitar, etc.).
  • Organic: Curvilinear shapes with a natural look and a flowing appearance.
• Texture: The sensation that the image gives, thanks to the contrast of light (granulated, smooth, percussive, rough, etc.).
• Color: Explain the general shade of the color in the photo.
• Depth of Field:
  • Shallow Depth of Field: The object is more isolated from the background.
  • Larger Depth of Field: The object and the background are in the same context.
• Light: Areas more highlighted, if there are any shadows, if the light is natural or artificial, reflected or direct, etc.
• Framing: Long shot, medium long shot, medium shot, close-up. Vertical or horizontal.
• Camera Angle:
  • High-Angle Shot: Seen from above, the camera is located above the eyeline.
  • Low-Angle Shot: Seen from below, looking up.

Audio Visual Q3: Camera Basics

• Lens: Special glass that is in the hole of the camera. This makes a small picture of the object inside the camera.
• Pin-hole: A camera that has no lens but uses a very small hole to focus light.
• Shutter: Opened by pressing the shutter release button, it's like a door and covers the hole in the camera box. It's behind the lens, and when it's closed, no light can enter. When the button is pressed, the shutter opens and closes very fast.
• Shutter Speed: The amount of time that the shutter stays open.
• Aperture Ring: Controls how much light enters the camera box. It's located behind the lens but in front of the shutter.