Color Psychology

YELLOW= Happy

I wanted to take a photo that focused on the color yellow because it is a color that always puts someone in a good mood. When I think of yellow, I automatically relate this color to ideas of summer, joy, and brightness. For this picture I had taken a series of photos of my sister smiling at the camera, but when I looked at my collection of photos, I thought this one was the most interesting. The fact that she isn't looking at the camera makes the picture more intimate, like the viewer happened to stumble upon Molly basking in the sun, smiling to herself while perhaps thinking about a happy memory. I think that this photo is interesting to look at because it has dominant principles of pattern and repetition of the dandelions in the background. I also like how Molly's blond hair even fits in with the theme of yellow because it has yellow tints in it. Although I am proud of how this photo turned out, I think that it is still far from perfect. Originally, this photo had far less dandelions in the background. Having a sparse amount of yellow dandelions in the frame might have caused the viewer to wonder whether the dominant color should be yellow or green, because a lot of grass was showing. I decided to copy and paste several clumps of dandelions into the green areas. When looking at this picture from far away, I don't think it's obvious that I did this. However, when you enlarge the photo it is very obvious that I did a slightly sloppy job of pasting dandelions because you can still see the edges of the new layers. Even though the photo has this flaw, I still think that it conveys the color yellow very well because it gives the viewer a pleasant mood and is interesting to look at.

BLUE= Calm

I think that this photo conveys the idea that the color blue symbolizes a calming atmosphere. I think that Molly looks very peaceful and content in the picture as she looks up into the sky. I really like how this photo turned out because the colors turned out to match almost perfectly. By doing this assignment, I have found out that some of the best pictures taken were ones that were taken accidentally or had elements in the photo that were not planned. I had always wanted my sister to wear blue and white clothing, but I did not realize that these would match so well with the umbrella and the sky. I think that the umbrella that Molly is holding is one of my favorite parts of the picture. Before taking the photo, I had been looking for an umbrella of any shade of blue and happened to find this one in our car. Little did I know that it would coordinate so well with my sister's outfit, the sky, and the clouds! In order to make sure that blue was the dominant color in this photo, I had to tone down the grass a lot and give it a more blue-ish tint. I also think that the cement pipe that Molly is standing on adds a new sense of movement to the picture because of its curved edges. I think that this photo has a great feeling of unity, also. The matching shades of blue and white and the soft edges created in the circular shapes of the clouds, pipe, and umbrella unify the photo as a whole. Movement is also directed to the upper left corner because the wind moves Molly's hair in that direction, the clouds are traveling that way, and the umbrella is also angled in the upper left direction.

WHITE= Innocence

I think that the color white in this photo conveys the feeling of innocence. I like the way that Molly is looking off into the distance and seems to be contemplating something. I also like how her posture, position of her hand, and soft lighting on her face gives the photo an aura of purity. I think that the color white is also often associated with beauty. White swans, for example, are white and are often thought of as beautiful. The color white also reminds me of ballerinas because they often wear light colors in order to accentuate their beautiful and graceful movements. This photo also incorporates the idea of innocence is beautiful because it is untainted and clean looking. I think that both Molly and the budding apple tree in the background look beautiful and pure. The bright lighting also helps create an even deeper contrast between the highlights and shadows found throughout the photo. The principle of pattern is used in this photo because of the repetitive pattern of flowers in the background. This busy background also helps create emphasis upon Molly because she is wearing a plain white shirt and doesn't have too much detail on her. In order to make white the dominant color in this photo, I had to tone down the green leaves a lot. I think that the subtle shade of green makes the white pop out even more. The overall softness of this photo is very beautiful.

GREEN= Earthy

I think that out of all of my color psychology photos, this picture has the most obvious dominant color. I like the monochromatic approach because it helps define the numerous shades of green within the photo. I also like the composition of this picture because it follow the rule of thirds pretty well. I think that this photo helps convey the idea that green represents an earthy, natural mood. The fact that Molly's dress blends so well into her surroundings helps demonstrate that her personality is in tune with nature. Her body language and expression also shows how she is interested in her surroundings and is naturally beautiful. I had to do the least editing with this photo because it already had many vibrant tones of green. I think that I just enhanced the shadows and highlights in order to make the hundreds of leaves or things like the contour in Molly's cheekbone stand out. This photo shows the element of value because it has numerous shades of green that help create the shapes of the leaves. The element of shape (dominantly in the shapes of the leaves) thus helps emphasize the principle of pattern, because the leaves repeat throughout the entire composition.

The Yellow Wallpaper
"Succumbing to Insanity"

One of the basic themes in the short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" is how oppression can lead to insanity. I think that one of the reasons why the protagonist fell to insanity was because she had no sense of control over her life because her husband decided what treatment she should receive without consulting her opinion. The photo that I took basically shows the woman's descent into insanity. The image of me in the white shirt represents the woman with her mind still intact, but she is being haunted and pulled towards her own "insane self", represented by the other faded images of me in the black shirt. I hoped that the expression that I have while wearing the white shirt is one of fear. When I am wearing the black shirt I have expressions of confusion, despair, and am attempting to push away the feeling of insanity that is descending upon me. The three faded images remind me somewhat of "A Christmas Carol". For some reason they remind me of the different ghosts that visited Scrooge on Christmas night. I like to think that in this photo, the three faded images could be subconscious forms of the woman who is trying to repress feelings of insanity but is falling deeper into its black hopeless depths. I think that one of the problems that could arise from this photo would be the fact that I failed to include any hint of a yellow wallpaper within the image. I had several reasons for not doing this. First, I figured that most people would automatically assume that they must take a picture of someone literally in front of a yellow wall because they thought that the yellow wallpaper was the main point of this story. Although I agree that the yellow wallpaper is a prominent feature in the story, I don't think that it is the main point. The woman is the main focus of the story, so I decided to take a photo depicting her. The yellow wallpaper is a symbol for her descent into insanity. The wallpaper is old, decrepit, and is peeling away from the wall. This is a parallel to the woman's "sheild of sanity." While the wallpaper begins to peel more away from the wall as the story progresses, the woman's sanity begins to peel away from her mind as the story continues. I think that the four images of me in my picture also help show a timeline of the story because as the image travels on and as the story progressed, I start to fade away, as did the woman's mind in "The Yellow Wallpaper." I edited this photo by putting most of the light on the image of me on the left side of the photo. I also used the burn tool to emphasize the blackness in the right side of the photo.