Seeing Orange…
This week I promised you a little bit of information about some jobs we have been working on!
We have a few jobs in the pipeline that you will hear about in upcoming weeks but this week has been a hectic whirlwind of paperwork, courses, phone calls, meetings, studio visits, more paperwork and of course some photography!
Although usually Clickety Click spend the majority of our working time photographing people this week we were working on capturing the ambience of a restaurant in Crookes – Zaras! These pictures were for use on their website to show the beautiful interiors they have created since taking over the restaurant seven months ago.
Normally we’d start a job like this by getting some shots of the outside of the building – David made a valiant effort but in true Sheffield style the rain was pouring down, leaving Eleanor and the equipment cowering in the relative shelter of the bus stop(who said being a photographer was glamorous!) So it was a relief to get into the warmth and sumptuous surroundings of the restaurant.
Our challenge was to show the warmth and atmosphere within Zara’s on a cold, wet March day to compliment the new website they are having designed. A challenge that proved not as difficult as expected as the chosen decor – plenty of warm reds and oranges – would have made you feel toasty warm even had there been six inches of snow outside! It manages to be both welcoming and dramatic – a great combination for a restaurant!
While I stood there, dripping rain water on the carpet and waiting for my glasses to stop steaming up (I know – I should wear contacts) it got me thinking about the importance of colour and the effect it can have on people. It seems strange when you think about it, that people attach meaning and favouritism to what is, on a base level, the reflection of a particular wavelength of light.
Take the colour orange for example. That’s a section of the visible spectrum between 585 and 620 nanometres (if you were wondering) and the colour is named after a derivation of the Sanskrit word for the fruit of the same name! Orange has been described as stimulating colour and is thought to stimulate emotions and appetite. At a wedding orange flowers are said to be fun and flamboyant and radiate warmth and energy and I have seen while researching online that people who like orange are usually thoughtful and sincere.
I’m not sure how much I believe in these meanings but I do think that it demonstrates the importance that human beings attach to colour. And when working in photography this means that colour is one of the most significant things we consider. One of the first edits I make when reviewing photos from a job is making sure that the colour balance is right and reflects the colours of the subject accurately. For the vast majority of our photographs we strive for bold, lively pictures with strong colours that catch the viewer’s eye and draw them in. That’s not to say that black and white photography doesn’t have its place but that’s a whole other blog post!
So hopefully the combination of the orange decor’s exciting character and some clear bold photographs will stimulate the appetite of the visitors to Zara’s restaurant and encourage customers to visit them when their new website launches and perhaps this blog post will start you thinking about the importance that colour has on your own life! And as soon as their new website is live we’ll post a link here so you will be able to see the pictures in situ!
To see some of our other photographs and our use of colour there why not visit our portfolio? And if you can’t wait for our next blog post why not become a fan on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.