5 Ways to Have Fun with Colour

Alongside light and composition, colour is one of the fundamental ingredients to creating a strong image that captivates your viewer. Here are 5 ways to have fun with colour in your photography in an intentional, impactful way.

1. Pops of Colour

A splash of colour in your image will instantly catch the eye and draw the viewer to your subject. This technique has the advantage that it can be used at any time of the year, and in any weather conditions. Drab, brown wintry scene – have your child stand out in a bright yellow coat. Overcast, rainy day – choose a colourful rainbow umbrella. Sun-drenched sandy beach – grab that vibrant red bucket! Combine your pop of colour with compositional tools, such as placing it on a rule of thirds or surrounded by plenty of negative space.

2. Repeated Colours

Our brains love to seek out patterns, so using a particular colour multiple times within your frame creates a powerful and visually appealing image. Keep a watch for these instances when you are out shooting. Perhaps you might spot a coloured door that matches your child’s outfit, or a bee collecting pollen on a sunflower. If your work involves set-ups, choose props that match. A napkin the same shade as the icing on the cupcakes, a vase the same colour as your daughter’s pretty hair clip, for example.

3. Spotting Colour on Your Travels

As you are out and about keep a watch for interesting colourful places. You might spot a fun billboard, a row of coloured beach huts, a decorated shop window or some funky street art. If you don’t have your camera with you, time to stop and shoot right then, or the place is really busy, you can make a note to come back to that location another time. When I spotted this wall whilst away in Italy, I knew I wanted to capture an image there. It was quite crowded though, so we came back later on in the day. Even then I had to stitch two images together to get the full width as there were so many people I couldn’t move further back!

4. Shooting at Different Times of the Day

We all know about golden hour, when everything is bathed in magical golden light, but how about trying other times of the day? One of my favourites is blue hour, which comes a little before sunrise (I never see this one!) and a little after sunset. With only the blue wavelengths of light from the sun passing through the atmosphere, the tones seen are colder blues and purples. These colours can create an entirely different feel to your image than the warmer tones of golden hour. The mood set can be mysterious, romantic or even ominous.

Another time of day in which I love to shoot is at nighttime. Artificial lights come in the whole rainbow of colours and they stand out well against the dark backdrop. Capture the fun hustle and bustle of a busy town after dark, or a pier lit up and reflecting in the water. I must advise you though to stay safe, and to not go alone if you are going anywhere isolated!

5. Play with Colours in Post-processing

There are numerous Apps, software and tools to use for manipulating the colours in your image after you’ve taken the shot. Whether that’s enhancing the colours that are already there, adjusting the white balance for completely different mood, or colour swapping a particular item within your frame. Your image can be brought to life or even completely transformed by a few simple changes to the colours when you edit.

As an example, I took this same image in two very different editing directions. Firstly, a complementary colour scheme (opposite colours on the colour wheel) with oranges and blues, plus I composited in the moon! Secondly, an analogous colour harmony (colours adjacent on the colour wheel) with pinks and purples. Both versions look visually appealing, but each creates a different atmosphere and evokes different emotions.

I hope you enjoyed these 5 ways to have fun with colour in photography! If you would like to delve deeper into all things colour, check out my brand new mini course: “The Magic of Colour”! You’ll learn all about the psychology of colour – how different colours make us feel and how they can be used to intentionally define the mood of an image. I’ll walk you through colour theory, considering how colours interact with each other, across a variety of lighting situations. We look at the colour choices we can make when shooting to create a strong, captivating image that tells a story. Finally you’ll discover many post-processing tools for taking control of your colours as you edit, enhancing or changing colours to meet your vision and take your work to the next level. Find this course in the Hello Storyteller Academy now!

For more inspiration, follow Abi on Instagram!