5 Photo Composition Hints. The Second Element - Color
This article is
an attempt to combine photographic principles with laws of nature and science. The aim is to find harmony in photography
as an art.
Color can be understood emotionally through the analogy with senses
of taste and smell. And in music it's like style of performance. A
spectrum of tastes and smells represents qualities of objects (just like
"sweet" is a description of sugar but not the sugar itself), so does
the color. Cookery, perfumery and colorful photography search and bring
into life the most emotional and sensual combination of taste, smell
and color.
Since its appearance photography was deprived of
color and, they said, it's a reason of a great number of photographic
masterpieces. There is an opinion that colorful photography is a
disease, its peak happened to be these days for technical reasons and
it will pass. And even nowadays some photographers reject color in
their work. Someone does it because of conservative views,
honors the tradition and someone doesn't know how to use color in
composition.
There is also an opinion that so called "natural
color" is as valuable as raw taste. And if you don't have a taste of
color and don't know how to "cook" a colorful photo you won't get a
"tasty" shot.
Speaking about color today, we can't but notice a great popularity of cross processed color of film, which can be created with the help of cross processing and chemicals or ... Photoshop! It's a quick and simple way 'to cook a tasty shot". Here you can find Photoshop cross processing tutorial and share your results on our photo forum.
How To Use Color?
Of course, color can influence our consciousness so hard that we can't
have a good look at the model's face if she is dressed in colorful
clothes. In this case the portrait can be saved with black and white
converting, but at the same time we understand that it's important to
learn how to use color to stress the story we want to share with our
viewers.
A photographer should remember about color emotional influence and create his shot according to its aim. For example, if
you are doing in commercial or kitsch photography the colors may be
oversaturated. At the same time unnatural colors are associated with
abstraction.
Marilyn, 1964. Andy Warhol. Silk - screen, ink and acrylic on canvas.
Artistically found color combination, rightly put
color accents allow to create a unique compositional solution. Colors,
used with balance and harmony, should be also combined with light, perspective and space.
You can build color composition in two ways:
1. Subordination. One color spot is main and dominant and the rest of colors correlate with it in harmony or contrast.
2. Coordination.
A composition is created with the help of different gradations of one
color, which are interconnected and coordinated with each other.
You can vary the next aspects to get the color composition you need:
- Choose the right object and place of shooting.
- Use a lighting spectrum you need (e.g. shooting in the concrete daytime.)
- Use white balance you need (in some cameras you can even set color temperature manually)
- Base your shot on color spots and the whole shot color spreading.
- Use filters during shooting. They can both correct color rendering and influence it for artistic purpose.
Primary colors in photography are Red, Green and Blue and when they are mixed, we get White color. Secondary colors
are placed in the color circle against primary colors - cyan and red,
magenta and green, yellow and blue. When two primary colors are mixed
we get a secondary color. Here you can find the color wheel that can detect any color in numbers.
Every
color can express an emotion or association. E.g., blue color is
associated with the sky or see wide space and also with clod and
solitude. Red color - with blood, love and hate, revolution... In
psychology there is even a personnel test based on color preferences by Max Lusher. So we can use colors in composition to make people feel concrete emotions.
So,
color is an independent element in composition, that can be varied by a
photographer. It's like salt - we shouldn't overdo it or put too little
of it. Color should be used to a turn, then your shot will be tasty!
The First Element - Texture
The Third Element - Subject
The Fourth Element - Space
The Fifth Element - Light
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