Color Accent in landscape photography
Each photograph, including a landscape consists of three main components: light, color and form. An image is considered successful if these three elements are in harmony with each other. In this post we are going to speak about the color.
As you probably know there are warm and cold colors. Warm colors include red, orange, yellow; cool colors – blue, violet. The green color has both warm and cool tones, and a landscape photographer should take into account this fact.
Objects of warm colors seem to be closer than they really are. Besides they easier attract attention of the viewer. In landscapes cold colors often serve as the background for warm hues. An image with a little warm colors on the cold background usually appeal to the viewer, while an opposite combination is less harmonious and pleasing to the eye.
Taking into account the peculiarities of warm and cold hue, you can play with colors and apply some techniques, which will help you to convey your message. For example you can use color filters to make the colors of an image warm or cold. You can also adjust White Balance for this purpose, if you want, for instance, to accentuate the coldness of a winter evening, or the warmth of a summer forest.
In fact in some situations it is recommended to use a warmer white balance. In addition to special effects that it may add to a photo, it may help you to get rid of cold tones, which often the result of the sky reflecting on the grass and trees. Use a polarizing filter to see how much the blue tone from the sky influences on the colors of the whole picture.
A polarizing filter allows the photographer to put accents on the most important parts of your landscape. For example you can use it if you want to make the clouds more prominent on the sky. For better results put it perpendicular to the sun direction.
Besides, some polarizing filters as Redhancer, Greenhancer, Bluehancer, etc increase saturation of separate colors, while do not change others hues. For example, if you want to emphasize red flowers in the green meadow, you can use a Redhancer. But be more careful with the other ones, as they may change tones of the whole image. Digital photographers should remember to adjust White Balance manually with a filter on. Technorati Tags: landscape photography, digital photography, photographic tutorials, photo tips, color theory
Besides, there are polarizing filters that can change the color scheme of separate parts of an image. These filters can color the sky or the lake surface into red, green, orange, etc, while the rest of an image will be unchanged. It is a good practice which opens great opportunities for creativity.
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