This exercise was really intriguing. I had played around with effects in Photoshop before but had never really stopped to look at the implications of trying out different ‘filters.’ It was helpful to apply them to the same shot and see the changes; how the blues, greens and reds in particular altered with each application.

I think this will be a very useful reference set for later work.

This exercise felt less constrained than the others so I used it as an opportunity to play and experiment. I took photographs of colours that caught my eye. I really liked the back lighting on the peonies and how they became translucent, the vibrant violet against the red and the grey sky through the window.

The leaf on the car bonnet was purely opportunistic. I had taken my camera with me and had been photographing puddles and raindrops and then spotted the leaf. I was really attracted by the way the leaf became almost luminous against the blue backdrop.

I had spotted the barriers in the snow while driving home one afternoon and went back the following day with my camera, I really liked the way the red punctuated the almost monochrome backdrop of snow and road.

I also liked the way the red jacket interrupted its green surroundings. I probably didn’t have a long enough lens at the time, as it might have been more effective if the figure were larger in the landscape. Nonetheless, I thought it reinforced the relationship between red and green as complementary colours and how they interact when in a different ratio than the 1:1 of the colour relationships exercise.

If I thought finding the primary and secondary colours was hard this exercise proved even trickier. Not only did I need to find specific colours but I had to think about them in a particular relationship to each other and also had to make some sort of composition that worked visually.

I’m not necessarily convinced I managed to get exactly the right ratios for each shot but the exercise certainly gave me a feel for the way complementary colours can work together. It was as we were taking down the Christmas decorations that the red and green idea came to me. I had moved the small artificial tree into the kitchen and as soon as I saw it against the red wall I grabbed the camera and started to play with different angles.

The blue and orange image started with me thinking about what I had in the house that was pure orange. I thought if I started with the orange I would then find a suitable blue to work with afterwards. I had several pieces of fruit and peppers but nothing that really inspired. I then remembered that my carrot, apple and ginger juice always came out very orange. This made me think of the jug and voila! The image should possibly feature more of the juice but this was the version that I preferred in terms of composition.

Finally, and the biggest challenge of all, was the violet and yellow. The inspiration for this one came some time after the others when I had to use the yellow cotton for something else. I wondered about using it in a close up with something, possibly some fabric but couldn’t find anything suitable. Then the peonies on the windowsill started dropping their petals and I just played with them and the cotton until something emerged. After much fretting about what to do this was the image I was happiest with of the group.

In line with the guidance for this exercise I tried as hard as possible to find naturally occurring colours rather than relying on painted or dyed surfaces. This became much more challenging than I had anticipated because of the onset of winter.  Not only was the colour palette becoming more limited outside the availability of natural light for taking the photographs was also an issue.

Probably unsurprisingly it was not too difficult to find green, although there was a wide range of possible tones. It was harder but not impossible for orange.

By the time I got to blue and violet it was becoming almost impossible and I was having to really look hard to find possible examples. Although as with previous exercises I did find that once I had an idea or spotted a possible colour it then generated other possibilities.

Working through the colour wheel of primary and secondary colours did take much longer than I had anticipated and although I was really looking forward to working with colour I did find it quite frustrating to have to be so specific about what I was looking for.