Colours are the most powerful ingredient in photography, they call the attention of the viewers, it is always eye catching to absorb the beauty of the images. Colours are one basis a photographer needs to understand to be able to evoke the emotions from the viewers and also create a powerful visual effect that is pleasing to the eyes. One thing colour does is to enhance the beauty of your images only when used appropriately. It’s also a compositional aspect of photography just as the white/black.
What are the major colours we need to know as a photographer?
MAJOR COLOUR COMBINATION
- Primary colour
- Secondary colour
- Complementary colour
- Analogous colour
PRIMARY COLOUR: These are three major colours that when combined can produce other colours. As a creative photographer, you’re inspired by the colours you see around and this can tell greatly in your works. The combination of RED, GREEN & BLUE will give you an out-bosting colour when properly applied or used. In photography, these colours are the basis in the camera sensor. In our post-processing, the way we use these colours is very important and we also define our own colour by using the RGB numbers.
SECONDARY COLOUR: Secondary colours are the opposite colours to the primary colours which are Red-Cyan, Blue-Magenta, & Green-Yellow. They mostly can be used to replace or correct excessive colours from the primary colours. This is called colour correction. Secondary colours can be used to remove the primary colours. For example, when you have excess red in your image one can use cyan to remove its excessiveness.
COMPLEMETARY COLOUR: According to the name these are colours that work well or complete each other. These are colours from all the previous colours mentioned. The combination of the primary to secondary creates a complementary colour. Usually, there are three of primary colorus, three secondary colours, and six other colorus. Favorably, there is a colour wheel that helps you decide which colours are complementary colours. The colour wheel guides you in knowing about colour applications. Complementary colours always provide an appealing contrast to the eyes.
ANALOGOUS COLOUR: When you hear or can feel the subtleness in a colour, then you can say it to be an analogous colour. Looking very closely at the colour wheel there are colours next to each other which completely complement each other. These colours are a group of three that are next to each other on the colour wheel. For example, red-orange blue-lemon these colours create a monochromatic look.
Understanding this basic colour science the primary, secondary and complementary as a creative and as a photographer will greatly influence the way we take photos. We also need to learn, practice how these colours are related to each other. Whenever you’re shooting always find colours that will work together for you.
COLOUR TIPS FOR YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY
- Use a pop colour: Explore the beauty of light and bright colours to make your subject stand out. A pop of colour helps you create very powerful and compelling emotions to the eyes.
- Use colour to tell a story: Do you know the application of colours in your photo can tell a lot of stories on its own? Colours have a great way of provoking thoughts and conversation around the image.
- Use colourful background: Colourful background is so beautiful and attractive to the eyes. Find a colourful wall or create your own colourful background by painting or using a ready-made colourful backdrop for your work. Creating this colourful background and adding a subject in front, establishes other perspectives to your photo; making it more relatable.
- Understanding receding and dominant colors: There three basic dominant colours called the warm colours. They are Red, Yellow, and Orange. We have the warm and the cooler colours. The warm colours are first appealing to the eyes compared to the cooler colours which are also the receding colours. They are Blue, Green and Purple. The warm colours or the dominant colours are attention seekers because they call your attention leaving the receding colour to fade away.
