Civil War Sun and Shade

I've been looking more closely at the pics I've taken recently. Not just how bad they are painted but at what the colors look like. I've been thinking that the pics don't match the real things. It's also important when you consider that painters might be looking at them and thinking the colors they see are what the colors should actually look like. Sometimes it is all in how the pics were taken determines the hue of the colors seen in the pics. They don't always accurately show the colors. That's misleading. Below are some photos as an example in different lighting situations to illustrate what I mean.

Here's a pic that look pretty good in terms of color. The sack coat should be dark blue, almost Navy Blue and it does. The trousers have the right hue of the sky blue colored trousers. This pic was shot with an overcast sky.

Here's the same sack and trousers. This was shot in full  direct sunlight. Notice that the sack is very grayish-blue. It's the wrong color! What the...?! It's all about the color temperature of the sun measured in degrees Kelvin. Google that. Incandescent bulbs have a low color temperature (around 3200 degrees) while sun light has a high color temperature around 5400 degrees. It should be noted that the way the object reflects the light also counts for how saturated with color it is too. I don't want to bore you too much with this but it is kinda fascinating if you get into it... at least to me.

I did a small amount of Photo-shopping here, not a lot, but I wanted to show you what the same uniform looks like in shade. It's dark obviously but also has more color.

Here's a Frock coat and a vest in the direct sun light. Kinda looks like the Sack, washed out but they should be the same color. The Vest is actually darker in real life. It is made of a finer wool so it is probably reflecting the sun differently.

Here's the same Frock in the shade! It's a big difference, eh?

Okay so... there's a little lesson of colors for you. I'll post miniatures soon.