Using Color Wheels to Structure Relationships

Photographers are often not introduced to the same color theory painters are. At best, color theory is a matter of identifying complements to produce neutrality or color balance. But there are few strategies presented for conceptualizing color relationships in a photographic curriculum, while there are many for painters. In part, this is because painters could change color relationships so easily. The photographer couldn’t – until Photoshop. Now, the language and concepts of other disciplines becomes very useful to photographers. This video give you a taste.
But, be careful of one thing. Painters define complementary colors based on mixing pigments, which contain impurities. They use Red/Green, Yellow/Purple, Blue/Orange. True optical complements are found in photography (light without impurities). Use Red/Cyan, Green/Magenta, and Blue/Yellow instead. You can find confirmation of this by studying retinal after images. Stare at a color for 20 seconds. Then look to a neutral ground. The color residue you see will be the optical complement of the color you stared at.
Learn more about color in my DVDs.
Learn more about color in my workshop The Power of Color.