How to choose the right color for photos in photography?

How to use colors correctly in photos will help to get better images and attract the audience's attention for a long time. However, for some reasons, many photographers are trying to improve their skills to get technically correct photos, but forget the important role played by correct colors. In this photography tutorial, we will practice getting the right color for photos.

Combine color theory with practical photography practice.

Understanding color and how to use it correctly are very needed skills. Like any skill, it needs to be studied and practiced, and it needs to be applied in practice. These color photography exercises are designed to help better understand and use the colors in photos.

First, the color wheel

Artists and scientists have been using the color wheel since it was first designed. There are many changes now, but the basic color wheel can provide enough information about colors and their interactions. This basic circle shows three colors:

primary colour

Secondary color

The third color

These three primary colors make up the simplest color wheel. Red, yellow and blue are primary colors and cannot be created by mixing other colors. All other colors are combinations of primary colors.

The secondary colors are green, orange and purple, which are a mixture of two primary colors.

A third color is generated by mixing the primary color and the second color. Simply put, they are:

oranges and tangerines

Blood Orange

purple

violet

blue-green/cyan

Kelly

Second, complementary colors

Complementary colors or complementary colors are opposite on the color wheel. When used together, they provide a high contrast that pleases the eyes of the audience and therefore have a high impact force.

Red and green

Yellow and purple

Blue and orange

Take some photos of complementary colors, you can find a red flower and then make a composition so that only grass or leaves can be seen behind.

You can find two objects with complementary colors and shoot against a solid color background.

Third, similar colors.

Similar colors are a combination of three colors juxtaposed on the color wheel.

Using the combination of these colors can create a harmonious feeling in photos. These colors are common and pleasant in nature. Choose a dominant color, and then choose other dominant colors to help create a quieter image.

You can find something from the basic color (such as blue) and then mix it with cyan and green, which will create a quite "cool" color-balanced photo. Choosing warmer colors (such as orange-red combination) can make photos feel warmer.

Fourth, the color triad.

Three-color color scheme is a combination of three colors evenly distributed around the color wheel. Red, blue and yellow together form three colors, just like orange, green and purple, and there are three third colors.

Try to emphasize it with one main color and another, maybe red and blue pens on a yellow background, or green apples and oranges on a purple background.

Try to compose in different ways, so that one color is more dominant in your photos; Look for different angles, or try to move objects and arrange them alternately.

Five, monochrome color

Using different shadows of the same color together can produce very interesting color changes. Essentially, the hue of the color is the same, but black (if the hue is dark) or white (if the hue is bright) is added.

Sixth, creative thinking.

When looking for different things to take pictures, we should think creatively, try our best to create interesting photos with color as the main theme, in order to learn and practice the relationship between colors in photos.

When you practice for a long time, exercising color in photography will help you understand color better. After practice, you will "see" colors and color combinations more naturally and easily.