Hello ostrich. Hydrangeas do not have red pigments so the photo may have been tweaked (think Wayside Pictures) or it is possible that the picture might have even developed like that. Sometimes the color is off when I take digital pictures during the brightest part of the day. I then have to take additional photos, load them to my PC and check how true the color is. If not satisfied then I repeat the process.

In addition to happening often at bright times of the day, I find that the problem is common when I take pictures of my red-pink-purple roses. Yellows, browns and greens generally/mostly come out "true". Taking the picture in the mornings or late in the afternoon helps me get their true color.

Of course, I must also blame the inexperienced camera operator and the cheap/old camera as well. Sigh... But these companies have the resources to take good/true pictures so it bothers me when they do not.

Hi Luis - I'm by no means an expert in any of these details ... just a simple consumer of beauty w/ enough curiosities & eagerness to learn (a second-childhood, in my retirement! LOL).

All your points well taken ... I have learned to avoid, taking photos during the brightest sunny days as well, as using flash ... they seem to reproduce, as you posted above, * "color is off" * Since '07 I have been using, nothing but a Cannon-power shot (my earlier Nikon was too difficult to use for my hobbies).

Don't you think that, at a particular stage of maturity, a blossom, like QT for instance, can present a more enhanced tints, to appear like *FIRE*? ... then Ma nature cracks her 'paint brush' & tease the poor blossom ... & w/ a dab of cream, tames her habit to "FIRE" up?

This particular year has been strange, in many ways - consequently, have taken so many photos. I posted a few pics of my QF ... the speed at which her colors changed fascinated me!

FWIW!

To answer Ostrich's question, Yes, I had BRIGHT RED (at some point) blooms on my QF during the first two years she was kept in a pot (due to the absence of a permanent spot to be planted).
Conditions: really full-full sun + limited water supply (watered only if it start drooping).
The very first season it was planted in a ground (my ordinary conditions for all paniculatas, on and off total of 5hrs of sun + regular irrigation) 'Bright Red' effect disappeared completely and become a 'Decent Pink' which is fine with me because it is contrasting enough to be noticed next to the [still] white PG planted side by side.