Color contrast photography

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

First, warm colors and cool colors.

There are two colors-warm and cool. Warm colors include red, orange and yellow, and 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 into the audience's sight and arouse people's attention and interest in the picture. Usually warm colors are not as common as cool colors, so even a slightly "warm" image will stand out. This is one of the reasons why photos taken before sunset, sunrise and autumn leaves are so popular.

On the other hand, cool colors are softer and more subtle. Also, if warm colors appear in the picture, under normal circumstances, cold shadows will gradually fade into the background. And usually, they don't attract people's attention like warm colors, although this is definitely not very bad, and this attribute can be used, and warm colors may be irresistible; Cool colors look more soothing; Although sunsets and sunrises can even turn a cold blue landscape into a warm golden landscape, most areas of nature have cool colors.

In the following, each of the six primary colors-red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple-and the emotions usually associated with each primary color will be introduced. Please remember that emotion is a tricky part of photography and needs to be strengthened through practice.

Second, explore the emotion that each color can give.

red

Red is one of the rarest and most powerful colors in nature, which is especially important for photographers. It is not surprising that red is a very active color, because it has a historical connection with emotions such as passion and excitement.

To look for red in nature, please look for leaves, bright sunsets or sunrises or red rocks in autumn (all over every continent and almost every country/region). In other types of photography, such as portraits, any red clothes or makeup will attract attention. When shooting in the wild, red objects (such as the bright eyes of tree frogs or cardinals on a snowy background) have the ability to instantly stand out.

orange

Compared with red, orange is the most common one in nature, and sunsets and sunrises are often orange instead of red. By the way, brown is usually just a dark orange, which is very common in nature.

Orange has many shades, from the dark brown of trees to the bright orange of pumpkins. It conveys a warm feeling, not as strong or strong as red, but orange is not a passive color, which attracts a lot of attention, especially when objects with orange background are placed on a cold background.

yellow

Yellow is the brightest and most optimistic color, especially when used alone. Don't mix it with orange or green. However, what we often see in nature is this kind of mixed yellow, even bright green grass and bright orange sunset, almost all have yellow ingredients.

On the other hand, if the colors are matched, the autumn leaves and even the sun at some time of the day are bright yellow, which is very effective in the photos. Yellow, like red and orange, is a warm color, so as long as it appears in the picture, it will attract attention. If you observe the scene carefully, you will find a way to combine yellow with photos.

green

Although blue is the most common color in nature, we associate green with life because of water and sky. Our vision system can recognize more green shadows than any other color. So photos can include dark green, dark green, dark green, bright green and almost infinite changes.

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

blue

Dark blue and light blue convey slightly different emotions. Dark blue is a strong color. As a harbinger of the storm, it aroused some disturbing emotions. Blue is softer, lighter and more optimistic. But both shadows are peaceful. After all, after the storm, there will always be a calm.

Blue is the most common color in nature. It exists in the sky and water. It is very likely that you will find blue emotion in many photos you take. Whether the only color is blue in a calm and dark shot or the warm and attractive color is used as the background of the subject, blue can successfully supplement any emotional information in the photo.

purple

Purple is probably the purest color in nature and can only be found in very special sunsets or certain colors. Historically, purple has been associated with royalty and wealth, and it has many shades the same as blue. In fact, it usually appears in the world as a blue mixture, forming a blue-purple color in the sky or ocean.

Purple makes objects feel calm, a pleasant calm, usually unexpected. If you have the opportunity to photograph lavender and other purple flowers in full bloom, please use this function. Purple is rare and the photos stand out.

Harmonious tone

Not only individual colors are important, but also how they interact with other colors and how they are combined. From simple color contrast to complex and harmonious combination. There are almost all kinds of colors in the real world, and some color combinations are better than others. Remember, it takes some practice to get the desired results-usually some post-processing.

Warm and cool colors

As mentioned many times in this article, the difference between warm color and cool color is very important. When they are clearly visible in the same photo, there will be a strong color contrast and may arouse people's interest.

In the classical color theory, all colors are located on the color wheel, and the opposite cold color is warm color, and vice versa. Red and green complement each other; Orange and blue, yellow and purple.

An important part of complementary colors is that when they are placed side by side in a photo, they will provide internal contrast, similar to the composition of black and white.

Complementary colors and other combinations

In addition, some other color relationships look attractive, such as the combination of three primary colors (red, yellow and blue), which are also suitable for the colors among the above colors in the color wheel, such as yellow orange or cyan, and they also have their own complementary colors and shadows.

However, modern photographers can also use some tools to correct colors and make them more harmonious. Don't forget the image editor and post-processing, take the time to learn how to use the graphic editor and correct the color of the photo, so that the colors inside are coordinated according to the color wheel, and the opposite and adjacent colors look harmonious.

conclusion

Color is one of the most profound themes in photography, which has a far-reaching influence on emotion. Therefore, there is no doubt that we should know its characteristics as much as possible.