Four Keys to Shooting Better Colour Photos
We live in a world of colour and we assume that shooting colour is easy. But, there are a few things that need to be considered when taking a great colour image. You need to be aware of your surroundings and the colours contained in them. Not all colours work together so be careful.
When shooting for colour it is vital that you consider a few points so that your resulting images make it into the outstanding photo category. Putting into practice what we’ve chatted about earlier is great, but there are still a few things you need to consider.
1. Avoid confusion in colour
When looking at a scene that is colourful and has the potential to make a great image, make sure you take some time to think about it before clicking the shutter. As I’ve mentioned, colour has tremendous power to draw the eye into an image, so be aware of all the colours and how they will interact in your final image. Too many strong colours cause your image to become muddled, and the viewer’s eye will be confused, not knowing which colour to be drawn to. Two colours should never compete for the eye’s attention. In simple terms, there should be no conflict. It may be necessary to zoom in tightly to exclude unwanted colours from the image.
2. Learn to create a mood with your colour
Different colours have different meanings to us. A camera can only capture the scene it’s pointed at, it cannot capture the emotion and feelings of the scene. If the event or scene is a happy one, look for bright cheerful primary colours that are well saturated, i.e. heavy or full of colour. The memories attached to an image like this will be happy ones. If the scene was a tranquil and relaxing one, then blues and greens will evoke a sense of peace and serenity. A warm autumn day will have lots of browns, yellows and oranges. Dark greys, blacks and muted colours will have a sombre mood. Always be aware of what your camera is seeing so that the final image will be true to the original scene.
3. Look for a dominant colour
When evaluating a scene for a photograph, look for a colour that is dominant. Vast expanses of colour in a scene will reflect that colour onto the rest of the scene. So if that colour is not captured as the main colour, it’s reflection is going muddle the rest of the colours. For example, the Dalmation with the fire engine. With all of the reflected red you may find the white of the Dalmation may be tinged with pink due to the reflected red. Often it will be necessary to change your viewpoint or angle so that the memory of the original scene is captured true to how you remember it.
4. Keep it simple
A beautiful scene full of rich and bright colours stimulates your creativity and you tend to want to capture everything. We go back to the principle “keep it simple”. This will continually raise its head throughout your learning experience. Less is more as the old adage goes. Rather take a series of photos of the scene with a focus on single colours than one with everything in it. The human brain is amazing, and, what it views is often a series of images as it takes in the beauty of a situation. Sometimes we need to capture the scene as a group of several individual images.
So key to shooting great colour images is awareness of colour and how different colours relate to each other. Just because you are shooting colour and not monochrome it doesn’t mean you don’t consider colours. Experiment and find out what works and what doesn’t.
About the Author:
Wayne Turner has been teaching photography for 25 years and has written three books on photography.
Do you want to learn more about photography in a digital world? I’ve just completed a brand new e-course delivered by e-mail. Download it here for free: http://www.21steps2perfectphotos.com/ To learn how you can take your photography from ordinary to outstanding visit http://www.21steps2perfectphotos.com/21steps.htm
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