Black and White
One can also use colors in muted tones or even black and white to communicate a feeling in a photograph. Muted colors can give a photo a softer feel. I used the foggy days this past week and the dulled colors of the end of winter to my advantage in creating a feeling in my photos. I found many opportunities to capture nature’s colors in muted tones. The colors enhanced the way I was feeling on these days; quiet, still, even gloomy. The gray days of last week were captured with a tone that the muted colors enhanced.
The black and white photo is an expression of color also. Colors like red and green tend to be darker in black and white photography than yellow and blue. Since the sky was such a dull blue-gray, I knew taking a photograph against that backdrop would help the subject stand out even more as a black and white print. The dark browns of the trees, deep gold of the sunflowers, and the dull green of the newly forming grass were the right colors to pop against the sky when changed to a monochrome print. This photo had eye appeal right away to me. I noticed the natural framing with the trees and the horizontal and vertical lines made with the stalks of the sunflowers were stunning against the light background. A shutter speed of 60 and an aperture of 14 created this photo.
Muted Colors
The photograph of the melting snow, dead grass, gray sky, gray poles, and foggy appearance of the day makes me feel something personal. It is something like loneliness but I think it is more like stillness. The poles, somewhat out of perfect alignment, add to this feeling. They also give some shape and line for the eye to follow. The small stream of melting snow gives the photo perspective and again adds to the feeling. This picture would have a totally different feel and mood if it were filled with the bright colors of green grass and blue sky. One can really see there is a place for muted colors with this photograph. A shutter speed of 125 and aperture of 8 helped create this photo.