How to apply color matching in photography?

Color is one of the most important elements in a photo, influencing the viewer's mood and interest in your work. In this photography tutorial, we'll introduce you to the concept of color, showing you how to best combine and use it to get the best photos.

1. Warm and cool colors

There are two colors - warm and cool. Warm colors include red, orange, and yellow, while cool colors include green, blue, and purple. What colors often appear in pictures?

Warm colors are more active and full of emotion. They seem to jump on the viewer's radar, attracting attention and creating interest in the image. Generally, warm colors are less common than cool colors, so even an image with a slight splash of "warm" color will stand out. This is one of the reasons why photos taken at sunset and sunrise, and before the fall leaves fall, are so popular.

Cool colors, on the other hand, are softer and subtler. And if warm colors are present in the frame, often the cool shadows will fade into the background. And generally, they don't draw as much attention to themselves as warm colors, although that's certainly not bad and can be used for this property, warm colors can be overwhelming; cool colors look more soothing; sunsets and sunrises notwithstanding It's even possible to turn a cool blue landscape into a warm golden one, but much of nature has cool colors.

Below, each of the six primary colors - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet - is introduced, along with the emotions typically associated with each primary color. Remember, emotion is a tricky part of photography and needs to be strengthened with practice.

2. Explore the emotions each color can impart

Red

Red is one of the rarest and most powerful colors in nature, especially for photographers important. Due to red's historical association with emotions such as passion and excitement, it's no surprise that it is a very active color.

To find red in nature, look for leaves in the fall, look for bright sunsets or sunrises or look for red rocks (found on every continent and nearly every country). In other types of photography, such as portraits, any red clothing or makeup on your subject will draw attention. When photographing in the wild, red objects (for example, the bright eyes of a tree frog or a cardinal against a snowy background) have the ability to instantly stand out.

Orange

Compared to red, orange is the most common color in nature, and sunsets and sunrises tend to be orange rather than red. By the way, brown is usually just a darker shade of orange and is commonly found in nature.

Orange comes in many hues, from the dark brown of trees to the bright orange of pumpkins. It conveys a feeling of warmth that is not as intense or strong as red, but orange is not a passive color either, which evokes a lot of Pay attention, especially when objects with an orange background are placed against a cooler background.

Yellow

Yellow is the brightest and most optimistic color, especially when used alone rather than mixed with orange or green. However, it's this mix of yellows that we see most often in nature, with even bright green grass and bright orange sunsets almost always having a yellow component.

On the other hand, if you follow the color mix, autumn leaves and even the sun at certain times of the day are bright yellows, they work well in photos, like reds and oranges, yellow is a warm color , it attracts attention whenever it is in the frame, and if you look closely at the scene, you will find ways to incorporate yellow into your photos.

Green

Although blue is the most common color in nature, we associate green with life because of water and sky. Our visual system recognizes more shades of green than any other color. Therefore, photos can include dark green, dark green, dark green, bright green and almost endless variations.

However, green is a familiar and soothing color to the brain. Because it represents a world full of life, it brings a sense of tranquility to those who enjoy spending time in nature, and in this sense, green is the "warmest" of the coldest colors.

Blue

Dark blue and light blue convey slightly different emotions. Dark blue is an intense color, and as a harbinger of storms, it evokes some disturbing emotions. Blue is softer, lighter and more optimistic. But both shades are peaceful, after all, there is always a calm after the storm.

Blue is the most common color in nature, it is found in both the sky and the water, and there is a good chance that you will find the emotion of blue in many of the photos you take. Whether blue is the only color in a calm, dark shot, or a warm, inviting color is used as the background for your subject, blue can successfully complement any emotional message in your photo.

Purple

Purple is perhaps the purest color in nature and is often only found in very specific sunsets or certain colors. Historically, purple has been associated with royalty and wealth, sharing many of the same shades as blue. In fact, it often appears in the world as a mixture of blues, creating bluish-violet colors in the sky or oceans.

Purple gives objects a sense of calm, a pleasant calm that is often unexpected.

If you have the opportunity to photograph lavender and other purple-hued flowers in full bloom, use this feature. Purple is so rare that it stands out in photos.

Harmonious Color Combinations

Not only are individual colors important, but also how they interact with other colors and are combined. These range from simple color contrasts to complex harmonious combinations. There are almost all kinds of colors in the real world, and some color combinations are better than others. Keep in mind that getting the results you want takes some practice - and often some post-processing.

Warm and Cool Colors

As mentioned many times in this article, the difference between warm and cool colors is very important, and when both are clearly visible in the same photo, they Produces strong color contrast that may arouse people's interest.

In classic color theory, all colors lie on a color wheel, with opposite cool colors being warm colors and vice versa. Red and green complement each other; as well as orange and blue, yellow and violet.

An important part of complementary colors is that when they are placed next to each other in a photo, they provide inherent contrast, similar to a composition that combines black and white.

Complementary colors and other combinations

Also, some other color relationships look attractive, such as the combination of three primary colors (red, yellow and blue), the same applies to Colors between the above colors on the color wheel, for example, yellow-orange or teal, which also have their own complementary colors and shades.

However, there are also tools that modern photographers can use to correct colors to make them more harmonious. Don’t forget about image editors and post-processing, take the time to learn how to use a graphics editor and color correct your photos so that the colors in them harmonize according to the color wheel, look harmonious relative to each other and adjacent to each other.

Conclusion

Color is one of the most profound themes in photography, with a profound impact on emotion. Therefore, there is no doubt that whenever possible, one should try to understand its properties.