I think I'm missing out

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
Joined
Dec 22, 2017
Messages
3,032
Location
Wolf Creek Montana
I think I'm missing out on some beautiful pens due to my inability to distinguish color. It's a problem for me and I think others too. What happens is when you post a picture of a pen, wood or acrylic, onto like colored materials the colors blend together making the item, in my case, disappear. I've seen it on two photo's today and the only thing I could see on the fountain pen was the nib. I love seeing all the beautiful works of art on this website and I like to comment on all of them but some I can't see. I read the comments and in some cases can only imagine what I'm missing. I'm hoping those that read this will understand and perhaps use a different colored background so people like me can enjoy their masterpieces.
 
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad

jttheclockman

Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2005
Messages
19,082
Location
NJ, USA.
Tom what you ask is probably impossible to control. I try to keep white as a neutral background to keep from detracting from the pen. Maybe you can share examples or at least colors that work for you.
 
Joined
Dec 22, 2017
Messages
3,032
Location
Wolf Creek Montana
Thanks for asking John. Here's what my problem is. If you show me a red card, I can identify it as red. Show me a pink card and I can identify pink. Put the two together however and they are both red in my mind. So the pictures I was referencing were both shot using a very similar background color which when viewed by me blends the colors all to be the same. The fountain pen color and the background color were so similar that all I could see was the nib, nothing else. My wife did tell me that it was a very nice pen though.
How to correct it? If you are showing a photo of a dark wood pen, use a different lighter background color. I normally use blue as my background color because most of my items are darker wood. If it's an acrylic colored pen, say primary color is orange, use any color that is not in the same spectrum. If you were to use red, yellow or even light brown, the colors blend together. It's my problem and I know it will never fit for all photo's but hopefully in the future it will be a consideration. It's also why I don't turn a lot of acrylics either, I can't figure out what goes well together. And it's also why my wife does my clothes shopping and on special occasions where I have to "dress up" she makes sure she checks me before we leave the house. It can be very embarrassing at times so I have a pretty boring selection of clothes.
 

Lucky2

Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2012
Messages
1,502
Location
New Brunswick/ Canada
Tom, I am wondering why you would post this same issue twice, but under different titles? I just read one posting about this issue from you, and the next posting was the exact same posting. I don't know about other's, but I find that it is a bit annoying when people do that.

Len
 

Curly

Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2010
Messages
4,828
Location
Saskatoon SK., Canada.
Most men are colour blind in some way and you would have a greater deficiency. I'm a little red/green deficient where my yellow/blue is fine. I can see the differences you can't but put a pile of coloured cards down and ask me to put them in order and I'll get some wrong. It's genetic and passed down from the mothers side of the line. My uncle was totally colour blind and could only see black and white just like the old TVs. He loved photography, stuck to black and white, never bothering with colour film because he couldn't see it. There is nothing to be done to fix it, just live with it. In general do pens on a neutral grey work for you or do the metal parts get lost?
 
Joined
Dec 22, 2017
Messages
3,032
Location
Wolf Creek Montana
Tom, I am wondering why you would post this same issue twice, but under different titles? I just read one posting about this issue from you, and the next posting was the exact same posting. I don't know about other's, but I find that it is a bit annoying when people do that.

Len
Two different forums. I posted one in photo taking and one in casual conversation. That's the reason for two posts. It's easier to copy and paste than to write it all over again. Sorry if it annoyed you, I was try to reach two audiences.
 
Joined
Dec 22, 2017
Messages
3,032
Location
Wolf Creek Montana
Most men are colour blind in some way and you would have a greater deficiency. I'm a little red/green deficient where my yellow/blue is fine. I can see the differences you can't but put a pile of coloured cards down and ask me to put them in order and I'll get some wrong. It's genetic and passed down from the mothers side of the line. My uncle was totally colour blind and could only see black and white just like the old TVs. He loved photography, stuck to black and white, never bothering with colour film because he couldn't see it. There is nothing to be done to fix it, just live with it. In general do pens on a neutral grey work for you or do the metal parts get lost?
Most men are colour blind in some way and you would have a greater deficiency. I'm a little red/green deficient where my yellow/blue is fine. I can see the differences you can't but put a pile of coloured cards down and ask me to put them in order and I'll get some wrong. It's genetic and passed down from the mothers side of the line. My uncle was totally colour blind and could only see black and white just like the old TVs. He loved photography, stuck to black and white, never bothering with colour film because he couldn't see it. There is nothing to be done to fix it, just live with it. In general do pens on a neutral grey work for you or do the metal parts get lost?
Most metals don't bother me. I sell a lot of chrome stuff and occasionally it will have gold accents. Gold, copper and rose gold can throw me but like I said I don't use a lot of them. If I ever have any doubts I always ask my wife.
 

JimB

Member
Joined
Mar 18, 2008
Messages
4,683
Location
West Henrietta, NY, USA.
Two different forums. I posted one in photo taking and one in casual conversation. That's the reason for two posts. It's easier to copy and paste than to write it all over again. Sorry if it annoyed you, I was try to reach two audiences.
Posting the same thing in multiple forums just makes it harder for everyone to follow the conversation. I believe most people use the 'new posts' feature so they see all new posts regardless of the forum it is in. If everyone started posting the same thing in multiple forums it would be impossible to follow any conversation.

I think your point about backgrounds is an important one. I often see the issue you mention. Even though I don't have the problem you do I find it difficult to view many pens because of the similar color background to the background is very busy. My personal pet peeve is when people take a picture of the pen and the background is made of the same material. It makes it nearly impossible to make out details.
 

1shootist

Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2018
Messages
818
Location
Frisco,Tx
Tom,
I'm trying some back ground colors..would you tell me if one of these work better with the shade of wood/pen on it.
The background colors are in this order top down...yellow, pink, orange, green, blue.
SmartSelect_20190705-150251_Photos.jpg
SmartSelect_20190705-145444_Photos.jpg
SmartSelect_20190705-150321_Photos.jpg
SmartSelect_20190705-145428_Photos.jpg
SmartSelect_20190705-150312_Photos.jpg
 
Joined
Dec 22, 2017
Messages
3,032
Location
Wolf Creek Montana
Posting the same thing in multiple forums just makes it harder for everyone to follow the conversation. I believe most people use the 'new posts' feature so they see all new posts regardless of the forum it is in. If everyone started posting the same thing in multiple forums it would be impossible to follow any conversation.

I think your point about backgrounds is an important one. I often see the issue you mention. Even though I don't have the problem you do I find it difficult to view many pens because of the similar color background to the background is very busy. My personal pet peeve is when people take a picture of the pen and the background is made of the same material. It makes it nearly impossible to make out details.

Thanks for the info on the "new posts" section. I'll have to try it out.

As for like colored materials, it upsets me when I see great reviews and then can't see the beauty of the pen. I was at an art museum a few years back and everyone was ranting about this one painting that was different shades of blue to make some kind of image. I stood in front of the painting for probably 10 minutes and saw...you guessed it, blue. When I was asked what I thought of it all I could say was, "Nice blue".
 
Joined
Dec 22, 2017
Messages
3,032
Location
Wolf Creek Montana
Tom,
I'm trying some back ground colors..would you tell me if one of these work better with the shade of wood/pen on it.
The background colors are in this order top down...yellow, pink, orange, green, blue.
View attachment 221810View attachment 221811View attachment 221812View attachment 221813View attachment 221814

The blue at the bottom works best for me based on the color of the wood. I can really see how the grain pops here and this is a beautiful pen indeed. However, the green and purple work well too. Thanks for asking. I wonder what others think of the different colors?
 

1shootist

Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2018
Messages
818
Location
Frisco,Tx
The blue at the bottom works best for me based on the color of the wood. I can really see how the grain pops here and this is a beautiful pen indeed. However, the green and purple work well too. Thanks for asking. I wonder what others think of the different colors?
And I like using the foam sheets for taking my pics now, it even offers protection from scratches on a freshly made pen....an added bonus all the way around.👍
 
Top Bottom