Color Values in Photographs

Categories: Ix On The Trail With Your Camera

Another thing to remember is that, unless in broad sunlight, green will

take dark and sometimes black; and brown or tan, being of the same color

value in the photograph, will mingle with and often be lost in the

background. If you are photographing a tawny animal, and most wild

animals are tawny, try to get it when in the sunlight with a dark or

flat background, or else against a background lighter in color than the

an mal. For instance, a red squirrel or chipmunk will be lost amid, or

against, the foliage of a tree, but on a fence rail or fallen log it

will stand out distinctly.



If you have a chance at a beaver it will be near the water, of course.

Then the choice view will be where the water can form at least part of

the background. If the shore is at the back it may be difficult when the

print is made to find the beaver at all. In the interesting photograph

shown here the beaver is against the light trunk of the tree which shows

where he has gnawed it almost through. In all this the position of the

sun must be taken into account, but the rule of always having the sun at

your back, like most other rules, has its exceptions. I have found that

so long as the sun lights up the object, even when from one side, I can

secure a good picture; but I never allow it to strike the lens of the

camera, and I make sure that the subject is not silhouetted against its

background by having all the light at its back.