Color Harmonies
My admittedly cursory study of color theory has slogged to a halt. To get even a little understanding seems to take a whole lot of time. It is not always clear to me how to apply it to street photography. There are already so many balls in the air, can I really add the additional ball of color?
Triadic Primary Colors
I have been encouraged to press on because of the challenge, #orange_2022 that was recently concluded in Street Photography Challenge. The timing of the challenge relative to the blog was perfect. For 6 weeks, which began to feel like a really long time, I talked about the meaning of the primary and secondary colors. Out of all of this, I was reminded of some interesting, idiomatic sayings that involve color like:
Red ink.
Blue laws.
Green with envy.
Yellow belly.
In the case of orange, the fun fact was that it is the most the most polarizing color. Perfect for our times. Now, that little observation did not come as a surprise to me. As a child, I hated the color orange. I also hated green beans. But as an adult, I have come to terms with both of them. They are not my favorites, but I am not at war with them. The orange challenge changed my perception of orange. Its presence can create absolutely gorgeous street photography. Note to self: Look for orange when you are out and about.
The great thing about humans is their inclination to take building blocks, like single colors, and then begin to combine them together. When colors are put together in an aesthetically pleasing way, we call it color harmony. Some of the color harmonies which will be discussed in the color theory portion of future blogs are:
Color palettes
Cool
Warm
Complimentary
Analogous
Monochromatic
Triadic
Split Complimentary
Color categories
Jewel
Pastel
Earth
Neutral
Fluorescent
Shade
Complimentary Colors - Red and Green
When we talk about color harmonies, we are only discussing the property of hue; that is, the main underlying color. To effectively put colors together, another consideration is how they contrast; that is, the colors need to have different values of lightness or dark. Furthermore, the degree of saturation needs to be varied. If all colors are highly saturated, they will compete with each other. Finally, you will need some neutrals to act like negative space.
Monochromatic Reds With Neutrals
There is good reason to keep pressing forward on color theory. Color can set a mood in a photo. Color carried throughout the frame can have a harmonizing effect. Color can enrich a strong photo. When it is used artfully, it can create a stunning photo. Next week at the end of the blog, I will start marching through the color palettes.