While popular photography styles and trends change over time, there's one type of photo that will never go out of fashion: a well-balanced image with appealing, impactful colour. Taking harmonious colour photographs is sometimes easier said than done — between changing lighting conditions, moving subjects, and camera settings, achieving the perfect colour balance can be tricky.
Enter: colour theory.
For decades, designers, artists, and photographers have used colour theory to determine which colours can be combined for maximum impact. But what is colour theory, and how can it be applied to photography? Read on to find out.
The Basics of Colour Theory
Colour theory is the process any visual creative — whether a painter, illustrator, designer, or photographer — goes through when choosing a colour palette for their work. It's generally more nuanced than simply holding colours next to each other and deciding if they look good together.
Instead, most practitioners decide on the feeling or mood they want to evoke, then use the principles of colour theory to choose colours that help them achieve it.
The Colour Wheel
The Colour Wheel is a simple graphic that demonstrates how all colours are related to one another, mapped as a spectrum. By highlighting the relationships between colours, it makes it easy to see which ones work well together — and which ones clash. There are plenty of free Colour Wheel tools available online if you don't have a printed version handy.
Top Tip: The main colours on the Colour Wheel are known as "hues". They can be darkened to create "shades" and lightened to create "tints" — useful knowledge when working with monochromatic combinations.
Colour Combinations
When working with the Colour Wheel, it's important to understand the five main types of colour combinations:
- Complementary — Pairs of colours found on opposite sides of the Colour Wheel. As total opposites, these create strong contrast and visual impact.
- Analogous — Groups of colours that sit next to each other on the Colour Wheel. Using these together can be visually overwhelming, so choose one as the dominant colour and use the others sparingly.
- Monochromatic — Multiple shades and tints of a single colour, such as using various shades of blue in one image.
- Triadic — Three colours evenly spaced on the Colour Wheel, typically producing a bold, high-contrast effect.
- Tetradic — Four colours evenly spaced on the Colour Wheel. As with analogous combinations, choose one dominant colour and use the others as accents.
Warm and Cool Moods
In addition to helping you choose colour combinations, the Colour Wheel can be used to create warm or cool "moods" in your images. Cool colours include blues and greens, while warm colours include reds and yellows. Understanding this distinction helps you set the emotional tone of a photograph before you even press the shutter.
Applying Colour Theory in Photography
Because colour theory relies on the ability to choose the colours of settings and subjects, it's generally easier to apply in a studio environment than outdoors. During an indoor portrait shoot, for example, colour theory can guide your choice of backdrop, your subject's outfit, and even the colour gels you use with your studio lighting. As you become more familiar with the theory, you'll be able to choose gels that either contrast or harmonise with the colours in your frame.
While it's trickier to apply colour theory to landscape or outdoor photography, it's not impossible. You may have less control over your subject or setting, but getting familiar with the Colour Wheel means you'll be ready to recognise and capture harmonious or contrasting colours whenever they appear in nature.
Managing Colours Throughout Your Shoot
To make sure your colour theory knowledge translates into great results, develop a clear colour management workflow for every shoot:
- Adjust your white balance carefully — Incorrect white balance can throw off your entire colour palette before you've even started editing.
- Shoot in RAW — RAW files give you far more flexibility to adjust colours in post-production without degrading image quality.
- Calibrate your monitor — If you edit on a monitor, calibrate it regularly to ensure you're seeing an accurate representation of the colours in your images.
Master Colour Theory and Take Better Photos
While colour theory can seem complicated at first, it's well worth mastering. By understanding the Colour Wheel and learning to quickly identify effective colour pairings, you can significantly enhance the visual impact of your images.
Ready to put it into practice? Try your hand at portrait photography, experiment with studio lighting, and keep exploring Ted's Photography Blog for more tips and techniques.