DAVID CURELEA PHOTOGRAPHY - Fine Art Photography -

One of my first inner-dilemmas when entering the photographic world was the attaching of too much importance to the area of capturing a subject in its true-to-life colors. I felt this was extremely important.

My anxiety was partly influenced by the many over-the-top images of certain subjects, such as sunsets or landscapes that seem 'too good to be true'.

These feelings of anxiety also stemmed from my thoughts on buying a digital SLR and wondering if its colorspace will match "real-life" color, as well as my preferences for color rendering.

Everyday as we travel through life, our eyes are exposed to a phenomenal amount of variation. Often we see the same subject or scene thousands of times, and it only captivates us when the right light dynamically changes the scene's color. So what is the subjects' real color? It's extremely varied.

Significantly, I recalled too that very

often I wear sun-glasses and have no problem enjoying my surroundings simply because it is not 100% what the naked eye would normally see - if anything my sun-glasses are a part of me and they enhance my enjoyment of the environment.

And so, when I think of a photo being enhanced with a filter or process - it is essentially 'matching' by compensating for what I would normally see with my sun-glasses, as an example. Or more importantly, compensating for how I want it to be seen - based on mood, etc. Again, be tasteful, not over the top.

The more I learn about light and color, the more I create art in various forms of light, the more I realise that just capturing the 'real color' in some strict, constricting way - would totally hamper my enjoyment, creativity and art.

I hope this article has alleviated some confusion you also may have felt within the color space.
© David Curelea