The Colors of Life

The wondrous displays of color that define the world around us are manifestations of light and, as such, each possesses a unique frequency. The attraction we feel to certain colors is not a matter of pure chance. It is easy to overlook the colors that saturate our personal and professional environments. Yet these, whether in the form of the paint on our walls or the clothing we wear, can influence our thoughts, behaviors, and feelings to an extraordinary degree. The colors we like best are often those that we need most in our lives, and there are many ways we can utilize them. Basking under a colored lightbulb or gazing at an area of color can stimulate or calm us depending on the color we choose. For example, red stimulates the brain, circulatory systems, giving us an energy boost, while blue acts to soothe the body and mind. Human beings evolved to delight in vivid sunsets and rainbows, to enjoy the sensations awakened by particularly eye-catching color, and to decorate our spaces and ourselves with bright colors. In essence, we evolved to love the light because of its harmonizing influence on every aspect of the self.

Shooting Tips: This is a picture taken at the Del Mar Fairgrounds of their amazing Ferris Wheel in motion. We mounted our trusty Nikon D7000 on a tripod and equipped it with a 10-20mm Sigma wide-angle lens. Finding a good vantage point was somewhat challenging – it had to be out of traffic and still capture the immensity of the spinning wheel. You can gauge the size by some of the people on the foreground. Setting the camera to Manual Mode, the aperture was adjusted to f13 and then the shutter speed was varied depending on the speed of the wheel and the effect we were trying to achieve, in this case it was 1 second. The camera ISO was set to 100 for minimum “grain” and White Balance set to Auto (primarily due to the various temperatures of the lights all around) and as always, camera RAW (or NEFF for Nikon shooters) was used so that small non-destructive adjustments could be made later. To avoid camera shake during the 1 second exposure, a wired remote shutter release was used – this way you don’t have to physically depress the shutter (and cause the camera to move resulting in a blurred or even jerky image). Much of these types of shots are the result of experimentation since there are so many variables of light and motion tempered with a bit of experience. It is a good idea to preview the images as they are shot, look at your Histogram to ensure that highlights are not overexposed and make adjustments on the fly…and of course, have fun!

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