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Lens-Artists Challenge #313 – Cool Colors

Early Morning Cool Colors.

Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary defines “cool” in seven ways. For this challenge, my examples primarily relate to their number 6, which references color, “Specifically: of a hue in the range violet through blue to green.” However, my challenge is open to all interpretations, so if you have an image that meets one of the other definitions of the term, you’ll get no arguments from me about using it.

Cool colors evoke calmness, serenity, and tranquility, feelings often associated with water, sky, and nature. About eight years ago, we stayed overnight near Turtle River State Park in North Dakota. I was up early for the blue hour, and as sunrise approached, the darkness gave way to violets and greens.

Pedestrian bridge across the Turtle River.

While looking for examples containing cool colors, I rediscovered my photo collection from that morning’s walk. I remembered that unusual morning when I saw those pre-dawn images bathed in violet. The skies cast a violet light through the cloud layers, a rare sight for me. I found the originals and reset the Adobe Lightroom adjustments I’d made to confirm that I hadn’t emphasized the violet in my post-processing. The original RAW files match the colors in the images above. Purple conveys luxury, creativity, mystery, and wisdom.

Turtle River sunrise.

As the sun began to peek above the horizon, that eerie purple sky slowly transitioned to yellow, appearing to light the trees on fire. However, the transition was short-lived. The sun went behind that relatively thick cloud layer only a few minutes later.

View from Lighthouse Park on Kaua’i, Hawaii.

Let’s examine the science behind cool colors. The “coolness” of these colors is linked to the wavelength of light. Cool colors have shorter wavelengths than warm colors (red, orange, yellow). In February, Egidio hosted a Warm Colors challenge focused on the longer wavelength end of the color spectrum.

A butterfly on a thistle.

The warm color of the monarch’s wings adds warmth to a cool “garden” of thistles. The color contrast in this image helps the subject stand out from the environment. Green represents growth, harmony, freshness, and balance. It’s associated with nature and renewal.

No one ever called the Ford Edsel “cool.”

The designer attempted to create a soothing atmosphere with this Ford Edsel’s blue interior. Blue evokes feelings of trust, loyalty, intelligence, and stability. Unfortunately, Ford Motor Company apparently didn’t make enough blue Edsels.

Finally, Ford made a “cool” car, the Mustang.

Though I like blue as a color choice, I’m not a fan of blue sports cars. Mustangs, Camaros, and Corvettes are “hot” cars and should be cloaked in warm colors, but your opinion may vary.

A stark transition from the blue hour to the golden hour.

My opening images featured a slow transition between cool and warm colors as the sunrise approached. On arrival in the Dominican Republic via cruise ship, the transition between blue and golden hours was much more abrupt.

Thank you to Sofia, who hosted with Sense of Scale last week. Next week, look for Anne’s challenge, which will be posted at noon EST on Saturday. Be sure to follow her here so you don’t miss her challenge. If you’d like to post a challenge response but aren’t sure how to get started, here are the details.

John Steiner

131 comments

  11. […] I’m not arguing that blues and greens are necessarily warm. Not at all. The scene that I captured from a plane flying over Greenland was in all shades of white and blue after all. What I’m trying to say is that the label “cool” for these colours is just an arbitrary label. Perhaps it is even cultural. Did the Romans, the ancient Indians, or the Chinese or Persians all think of these colours as cool? Or is it an association that was developed later? Green has often been the colour of fertility, for obvious reasons. But blue can symbolize love and kindness in Buddhist iconography, hope in medieval Christianity, calm and intuition in classical Hindu aesthetics, mystical understanding in Islam, and divine knowledge in Judaism. This was such a cool thing to discover! I wouldn’t have looked for any of it without a prompt. […]

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  12. You’ve really given us wonderful images and thoughts about cool colors this week. Although I love your landscapes, I have to admit that I’m totally captivated by the Edsel. I love the color and the sleek lines of the dashboard! I hope all’s well with you, too.

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  19. Good challenge with nice examples, John! It’s funny that even though the challenge felt easy to meet, but it took me a while to select the pictures! So many of those that I thought might work, had one or the other element of a warm color like someone in a red cap or pink jacket or what not, in them! But here it is now:

    Lens-Artists #313 – Cool

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  28. […] John’s challenge to us this week is to depict cool colors. He says, “Cool colors evoke calmness, serenity, and tranquility, feelings often associated with water, sky, and nature.” From green to violet, the short wave colors reflect a part of the spectrum found in abundance on our blue planet. As the northern hemisphere turns away from the sun, days are growing shorter, nights are growing colder, and the change in light brings a mellow calm to the excitement of summer. I wish you well, Friends, as this season comes to an end! […]

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