Surreal Colour (inc. Project 30: Strange Food)

The final project (aside from Assignment 5) is concerned with unreal colour. The course materials refer to the link between colour and perceptions of food. If, for instance, meat does not look the correct colour, we find it unappetising, and it can be an indication that it is not edible. However, I also wanted to look at unreal colour in other contexts too.

I started with a photograph I took of a hoverfly. This tiny insect is usually yellow with black stripes. How would it look if I changed it to bright red? I loaded the image into Photoshop, made a duplicate layer, then changed the hue on the background layer. I erased parts of the hoverfly's body, using a lower opacity eraser in some areas to give a more natural blend.

(Click the images for larger versions)

Original:

Altered colour:

The insect looks unusual, but striking! Some insects are indeed bright red (perhaps with a more orange hue, though), but being unused to seeing hoverflies this colour, it seems out of place.

How about a rose? The original picture is the pink flower, top left:

The orange/peach-tinted rose looks quite natural, although it has had a fairly significant alternation in hue. The yellow rose looks slightly unusual, but again could perhaps pass for natural. The blue rose is clearly unnatural, but to my mind, is still pretty.


Now to food! Let's start off with peanuts in a bird feeder - a fairly subtle colour change, complicated by the fact that using the hue slider alone also changed the colour of the wires. To reduce the effects of this before combining the layers, I lowered the magenta saturation (this was the predominant tone of the wire), which made the wires closer to a neutral grey, and less affected by the hue change.

Original:

Alterered colour:

I wonder if the birds would notice the difference? The addition of blue and removal of reds/browns has changed the feel of the image, too. The original seems warmer than the manipulation.


Some biscuits, next - I isolated these, to make them stand out from the background. I wanted to go for a violent, saturated shade, to see the effect it would have.

Original: 

Mmm, tasty jam rings!

Altered colour:

Not so appetising. I suppose food colouring could have achieved this effect, but the turquoise jam in particular is a bit offputting.

Finally, some meat - a slice of heart-shaped ham. Not a favourite of mine, but my daughter loves it! Would she eat it if it were green, I wonder?

Original:

Altered colour:

This project showed me that colour can have a big effect on our perception of items. It is relatively simple to alter hues in Photoshop. Translating this to my favourite photography subject, landscapes, it is easy to see how too much 'Photoshopping' can change the nature of a shot. This can be a good thing when it comes to portraying vibrant sunsets, or brightly coloured oceans - but if pushed too far, the effect can cause more harm than good, and can create an unnatural landscape that looks incongruous rather than appealing.