Indigo is an intriguing color, and one of my current favorites. It's sort of dark and mysterious, luscious and rich, and often contains tinges of black, green, and grey. Looking through my photos, as I was trying to select examples for you, it was sometimes difficult to tell the difference between a dark blue and an indigo.
The first photo, of a security keypad, was taken in a darkened alcove. The original photo was more silvery, but I darkened it somewhat and then added a photo I'd taken of some clouds, which lightened the center part. The golden background sets off the indigo colors quite well.
The next photo, of a tree, clouds, and the ocean, was taken in Encinitas and, obviously, I tweaked it using an HDR-ish effect to bring out the texture in the clouds. The color indigo comes into play more at the right side of the frame. But look at that little splotch of sunlight on the sea just to the left of the base of the tree -- I love that small touch.
The final photo is one I took in Kyoto, a box I saw in a darkened alcove. The dark indigo surround makes the lighter, complementary yellow color of the box stand out beautifully. And because I metered off the brighter yellow, the darker surround became even darker. Nice!
©Carol Leigh
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