It's rare that I share these 'colour-studies' as they are more tests than actual final photos, but I do think they offer some insight into the process.

In the past, these colour-studies were important when it came to testing gel colours. The gelatin sheet you're holding may appear one colour in your hand, but that may not be how that colour looks once you've shone a specific brand of aged bulb through it, captured it on a specific brand of daylight film and then processed it onto a specific brand of photo paper. It's no wonder that certain photographers swore fealty to one film over another; after all, the more variances in colour you can control, the better.-

As a Fuji Velvia-main myself, certain gels appeared slightly different thanks to the limited latitude and resultant contrast and saturation that provided. Colour-studies as we called them, helped to build our visual language of what certain gels looked like with certain stocks.

Fast-forward to the digital age and all of that is largely lost or somewhat redundant with the instant feedback the LCD screen provides. Fast-forward even more to today, and the proliferation of LEDs sporting millions of colours makes the understanding of each individual colour even less important, as you can simply adjust and tweak on the day to your heart's content.

With all that said, we can become lazy and complacent when it comes to colour and I personally try and force myself to use new or varying colours that are not what I would typically use.

As I said, the millions of available colours with LEDs now make that all the more accessible, if not a little daunting.

Here is one of those experiments in which I use colours that are slightly different from what I'd typically use.

These colours have grown on me, and I really like their almost underwater look, but I can't see what project I'd use them on over a more traditional palette. But again, that's the entire point. A colour study is there to offer an alternative when the need arises.

What do you guys think? Do you like the colours here? Could you see a use-case for them or is it simply difference for the sake of difference?

Model: Nausica

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