[Dave]

Was reading a book on Black & White Photography that stated some pro's take strong coloured filters to place over lens whilst composing shots, to ensure the colours don't distract their view of the tones, textures, shapes etc in the shot. They then remove filter before taking shot.

This got me thinking. For those people that are colour blind, do you instinctively have a better eye for composition etc, without realising it, based on the above ?

Or am I talking out my ?

[P-E]

Good one Dave.

I was told I was colour blind at school.

If you were to see most of my pictures I doubt that statement about 'better eye for composition without relising it' would hold true

I am starting to wonder if I would be happier doing B&W as the effort involved to process an image and get the colour correct is not only time consuming but does often end up in total frustration......having said that if I do process an image with the colours correctly shown it is most rewarding.

Anyway you got me waffling now Dave

Be interesting to hear if anyone else is colour blind and how they cope with their photography.

[Dabhand16]

Me too!! Only found out when doing titrations at school in preparation for my GCE's. My results were all over the place. I was told at the time that 9 out of 10 blokes are colour blind 'to some extent'. Most, so slightly, you never know (unless you have very honest friends).

That was one of the reasons I never really got into colour printing. I did transparencies in the main, and my beloved black and white. I have problems when colours get very dark or very pale. consequently, subtle hue corrections are a bit hit and miss. I'm far more adventuous with colour now with a digital darkroom that costs nothing to get it wrong. In the past, the sheer expense of the materials, equipment and chemicals made failures painful in the wallet department.

Interesting what Dave said about composition, because I find myself far more aware of composition rather than 'the too warm tone caused by incorrect white balance settings'. Having said that, I'm no expert, and have absolutely no qualifications that makes my comments any more valid that anyone elses. When I look back, most of my important photos seem to have captured the moment well. I don't do much cropping unless I want to have a new take on an image. As an example - this is straight out of the camera - no cropping or any other work:



Maybe because I know that my colour perception is suspect, I do subconsiously concentrate on composition. I'm not suggesting that my pics are all superb compositions, just that i'm perhaps more aware and by the law of averages, some are OK.

[Steve]

This is a great question but you know after thinking about it I think it is just one factor and not really any more influential than any others.

Composition is one of the areas in photography that make a massive difference to your end result and for some, they are more naturally gifted than others and good composition is almost instinct, but I strongly believe that once you know and understand the basic rule of good composition, anyone can learn and apply it regardless of if they see in perfect colour or suffer from some form of colour blindness.

Persoanlly I think mental apptitude and thinking while composing and shooting are far bigger factors. you only have to read the many replies that members give here about the occasional oversite and bad composition in their shots, many times they say I didn't think about that at the time yet they can see it perfectly when the point is raised.

[Dabhand16]

Fair comment Steve. You are probably right. The structure of the picture is as you see it at the time, although you can nudge it a bit afterwards. The situation you are in may dictate that you have to get the shot quickly and you then have insufficient time to notice the little things at the edges of the frame that should be left out or included.

[Toonie]

Most colour correction was done by women in pro labs because they have much better colour perception than men & don't suffer as much from colour blindness. I don't know if there any better at composition though.


Ps you could always try wearing a dress & see if it makes any difference

[Dabhand16]

[P-E]

Originally Posted by Toonie

Ps you could always try wearing a dress & see if it makes any difference

Nope the dress made no difference for me

[Sonsey]

Originally Posted by P-E

Nope the dress made no difference for me

Made plenty of difference for me... just not in the area of composition!!

[P-E]

Originally Posted by Sonsey

Made plenty of difference for me... just not in the area of composition!!