Perhaps because snow has been so much a part of life in much of the country this week or possibly because things become somewhat monochromatic during winter, I have been pondering white. Anyone who has painted a room "white" knows that there are thousands of variations on the theme of white and it can drive a person mad deciding which is best.
The adjective
white is defined in the
Oxford English Dictionary as "of the color of milk or fresh snow, due to the reflection of all visible rays of light." Further explanation from
Wikipedia continues
"White light is the effect of combining the visible colors of light in suitable proportions (the same present in solar light)." "Since the impression of white is obtained by three summations of light intensity across the visible spectrum, the number of combinations of light wavelengths that produce the sensation of white is practically infinite."
In the past, there was debate about whether white was the absence of color but in actuality (thanks to Newton), we now know it is comprised of all the colors in the spectrum in varying amounts. Because of the reflective power of white, of minerals and other naturally occurring materials, "pure"white (except light) is difficult to find in nature.
The photograph below captures a white created by humans and painted on a stucco wall.
New Mexico's White Sands - the world's largest gypsum dune field - is another tone of white. But if you are lucky enough to see snow at White Sand's you will see how much bluer in tone the snow is than the sand which at first glance is startlingly white. I have yet to see that event.
This snow detail also shows not only a slightly cooler tone of white but its own reflective power.
I tend to think of shells as being white compared to their ocean and beach surroundings. Below is a shell photographed on a cool white copy paper. If I digitally desaturate the shell, removing the natural pigments, the paper and shell become uniform in color.
The study of white as a color, with its endless variants, is as important a subject to a photographer as is light. Once again, I wish I had taken physics in college. Now it is catch up time!
until next Monday,
DB
a passion for the image
