Tag Archives: Purple

Blue About Blue, Learning About Color

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That sinking feeling…

I am taking a photography class and it has been fun (I originally typed “phun”, I like it) and this week we are supposed to take a Pantone color and match it to something and photograph it and then talk about what the Pantone color of the year is. You may wonder what Pantone is? It is a company in New Jersey who is known for standardizing colors in a repeatable way. I had always wondered because in previous lives I had occasion to have signs made for various things, such as compressor stations or new offices and whatever company I was working for would send the sign design and the colors were just listed by numbers and I would ask, how do you know they will get it right and they told me not to worry about it, a good print shop will get it right. And sure enough they did whether it was British Petroleum Green, Shell Oil Yellow, Lear Petroleum Aggie Maroon, Champlin Petroleum Red, or Mobil Oil Red. They always got it right.

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Great pic, except you can’t see the object I am trying to match.

Anyway I had a problem because I lost my assigned paint chip which was some sort of bright pinkish red so I decided to work things backwards and take an object and find the Pantone equivalent. Smart plan right, well guess what I couldn’t find the Pantone colors. So being the problem solver that I am I just went to Lowes with my Yeti and found the color among what they had that matched the object as close I could get it. They had several displays of different paint chips and I tried to get as close as I could. I tell you what matching colors is tiring and frustrating. Some colors that seemed close, didn’t seem so close later. They all look different depending on the light it is in.

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This was taken with my cell phone. Looks like several matches.

I know people who are good at matching colors and it is magical. Once they do it, I can see the match but I can’t come up with it on my own. Often it seems counterintuitive but it works. I guess that I’ll stick to my day job.

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Taken with my fancy schmancy Nikon D5300 with full sun whitebalance. This color looks lots less dark than the above photo.

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So the winner, after much worrying and sweating is Olympic Paint’s “Florentine Lapis” number OL635.6 and I am not happy with it. Color is difficult. I pick out what I think is closest and it doesn’t quite photograph right despite taking the photo outside with the white balance adjusted. Color problems drive me crazy. You got how it looks to my eye, and then what the camera sees, and then what the monitor displays to you when you look at my photo.

Do you have a good eye for color? Tell me about it, because I don’t.

And as a bonus here is a link presenting Pantone’s color of the year.

PANTONE 18-3838 ULTRA VIOLET!

from the page: “…Complex and contemplative, Ultra Violet suggests the mysteries of the cosmos, the intrigue of what lies ahead, and the discoveries beyond where we are now. The vast and limitless night sky is symbolic of what is possible and continues to inspire the desire to pursue a world beyond our own.”

Now you know all the secrets!! The color Violet is the solution to all our problems.

2016 Daryl Starbird Car Show – Ford Model T Skull Bucket

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I love the yellow and purple… and all the chrome, don’t you??

This latest weekend was the latest installment of the Starbird Car Show here in Tulsa. The event is just mind boggling. There are hundreds of cars on display and they are almost all one of a kind in one or another and the display of creativity, craftsmanship, hard work and pride that the owners put into their machines is just amazing. I took hundreds of photos but don’t worry, I’ll spare you.

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The spoiler and those big ole wide tires…

The guys that build the machines are car guys. I am not a car guy but I know several. I hardly ever pop the hood on my own car let alone do anything to the car. My Dad taught me how to do all the now obsolete skills. Change the points, adjust the timing, gap the spark plugs, all that stuff. All that has gone by the wayside now. But there are still lots of people who modify engines, change transmissions, put in new rear differentials. Others who do their own body work and have learned wire welding and how to paint. I salute them.

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So, is that a legal turn signal. Have you ever had a skull wink at you?

The cars at this show are done by the professionals and dedicated amateurs who have poured hundreds of hours into these creations.

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The small little death’s head on top of the headlight. Does your car have that feature?

I hardly ever miss the regular Tulsa Car show held in the Spring of the year. The cars are great but are not very distinctive. All the sedans look like Toyota Camry’s in my opinion. Nothing wrong with that mind you but I like looking at bright colors and outrageous designs.

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Well, I don’t think it gets good mileage and the tank is rather small. I think it will get you a quarter mile which is long enough.

Anyways, you may wonder why I take hundreds of pictures of great and unique cars and yet show only pics of one car. Hey if you figure it out let me know and then we will both now. I am just simply overwhelmed so I decided to just start with one of my favorites.  I’ll be doing other posts on this cars and dribbling out on Instagram as time goes by.

So, have you seen a car you like lately?

Foto Friday Fun – Unknown Lilac Automobile

This week I went the number 1500 in honor of Gaelyn, the Geopsy, aka Seasonal Park Ranger at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon’s 1500th post. As usual I’m a week or two late but at least I showed up. I put 1500 in my archive search function and this is what a I got!!

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It’s a car, I know that, and it is purple or lilac or something. I’m not really sure. In fact I don’t even know what kind of car it is. I do know that I shot it at at the Leake Car Auction here in Tulsa a couple years ago. I like the looks of it though. So its kind of like “give me one of those.” Also, led lights for trucks exterior truck electrics can be bought here!

Somebody help me so Gaelyn will know what kind of car (photograph) that I’m giving her.

FotoFriday Fun