Finding Creativity As A Color Blind Photographer

I vividly remember a test I took in second grade.  The test was a cluster of small colored dots surrounded by other dots of a different color.  Hidden inside was a number or a letter. I didn’t see any numbers or letters though.  That’s how I learned I was color blind.  Not to mislead, I do see all colors, hues and saturation but I might not be able to tell you the name of them.  But a simple confusion of color has not hindered me becoming a professional photographer My biggest problem is with distinguishing between shades of blue and purple or green and yellow, though to a certain point, all colors affect me.  When comparing blue and purple for example, my brain tells me that blues are light, purples are dark.  Throw a lavender in there and I’m likely to tell you that color is blue.  Same is true for yellow and green; yellow should be lighter, green should be darker, neon greens confuse me.

In my photography, color is nearly everything, and overcoming this setback has been one of my biggest challenges. I spent a number of years trying to be as accurate as possible with color representation. I calibrated my monitors to ensure perfect color balance, but even then I had skin tones that were too red or a landscape over-saturated to the point of having a purple sky.

About three years ago I gave up with trying to make perfect color images.  It simply killed my motivation.  It was then I started to look for Photoshop actions and Lightroom presets that would give me creative freedom without hindering the overall photo quality.  I’m capable of shooting a properly exposed, white balanced photo, but they can be stale and boring if done all the time.

What resulted from this mental change was far more dramatic photographs.  While I’m not totally responsible for the outcome, since I use many post processing techniques, I do take credit for the variations, changes and other tweaks I make to my images.  Without a doubt, digital post processing has enabled me to create photos that I both enjoy and feel represent my personal vision.

I understand that the final result of my images isn’t always technically correct and often times skin tones, skies or other elements of the image may not be a direct representation of how they looked in real life.  I’m OK with this.  My interpretation of photography doesn’t always conf0rm to specific guidelines or standards, it’s doing what I feel looks right.  How I achieve this, my disability, or any creative post processing shouldn’t affect how anyone feels about the final image.  The final images should stand on their own merit .

Tagged as: color, creative inspiration, landscape, Photographer, Photoshop, Portraits