Abi Coop
Melissa Richard
Kristen Ryan
Color Theory Made Easy | by Stephanie Schweitzer
Color Theory Made Easy
Allow me to introduce you to your newest photography bestie: color theory.
My own personal love affair with color began last year, after completing an online course about color theory and composition. It opened my eyes to a whole new way of seeing. Since then, my photography has never been the same, in the best way possible.
Are you ready to see the world more colorfully too? Yes? Well today’s your lucky day! I have five color schemes and several tips for incorporating more color theory into your photography coming right at ya. Here is a quick overview of color theory made easy!
First, let’s take a peek at the color wheel.
It’s where we find all our color theory inspiration. The color wheel is essentially a rainbow-ordered pie with many slices of colors. We can use it to come up with color combinations that can enhance our photography. I encourage you to save a copy of it to your phone, so you can always have it on hand.
I’ll wait while you sort that out.
Ok, cool. Moving on!
Our first color scheme is monochrome. A monochromatic color scheme is when you feature only one of the color-wheel colors within a photograph. There may be several shades of the same color, (for example: light red, medium red, and dark red), and neutral colors such as black, gray, brown, and white can be present as well. But overall, a monochrome image will feature only one color of the color wheel.
The neat thing about using a monochromatic color scheme is that it simplifies the scene by minimizing distractions. It can make the photo feel minimalist. Sticking to one color allows you to tell a story more clearly with the other non-colorful elements of the image. Examples of non-colorful elements are things like texture, movement, light, composition, etc. With color minimized, the other elements can shine.
Now scroll back up to the color wheel, and let’s find some complementary color combinations. Complementary colors are two colors directly opposite each other on the color wheel. There are actually many pairings that can come about when we study the color wheel in this way. And these can vary depending on which color wheel you are using.
The most popular complementary color pairs tend to be red and green, orange and blue, and yellow and purple. However, red and cyan (a light blue color), green and magenta (pinkish purple), and blue and yellow are also considered complementary.
Complementary colors are great for those times when you want your image to have a lot of contrast and POP! Including any one of the complementary color pairs in your image is sure to make a statement. This can be very visually exciting!
If you really want one detail in your image to stand out, consider finding that detail’s complementary color. Then place that detail in front of its complement. For example, in the photo below I really wanted the pumpkin to pop. With the pumpkin being a rich orange, I knew it would pop against its complementary color, blue. I put my son in a blue sweater and placed him in front of a navy blue wall. You can see here how that really made the pumpkin the star of the show.
Yet another color scheme to work with is an analogous color scheme. Analogous colors are groupings of three colors next to each other on the color wheel. Again, this can vary depending on which color wheel you’re looking at, but an example would be: red, red-orange, and orange. Another example: yellow, green, blue. Think of them as neighboring color buddies. The analogous colors tend to work better when you stick to three warmer colors (red through yellow) or three cooler colors (green through purple), but they can certainly work across warm and cool tones too.
Above, you see an analogous color scheme of dark blue, blue-green, and green. You can see how the colors together have enough visual interest to create contrast, but it still feels cohesive, in that the three colors blend right into each other. I will honestly say analogous colors are the hardest for me to work into my photography, but when I do work it in, the end product always feels so peaceful and harmonious to me. It’s worth seeking out.
Analogous colors are most often seen in nature. For example, during a sunrise, when the sky goes from yellow to orange to red and even pink. Or during blue hour, when the sky fades from light blue to dark blue to purple. Or during Autumn, when the leaves start to change and one tree can have red, orangey-red, orange, yellow, and yellow-green leaves all in one. A triplet of analogous colors will always feel like one color fading and morphing into another and then another. So you can see how those color schemes can naturally occur out in the great outdoors.
Speaking of triplets of color, the next color scheme is called triadic. Triadic color schemes are created with three colors evenly spaced around the color wheel, essentially making a triangle of colors. (Can you see now why I recommended saving a copy of the color wheel?) The most well-known and easy to visualize (at least for me!) triadic color scheme is the primary colors: red, yellow and blue.
Another triad is the secondary colors: orange, green, and purple. I have yet to successfully incorporate that into a photo, but you can be sure it’s on my shoot list.
Triadic color schemes tend to be very vibrant. It’s recommended that when using a triad, pick only one of the three colors to be the main focus and let the other two accent, so that it’s not too vibrant altogether.
That said, you can successfully use many colors in one frame without things getting overly vibrant, especially if you seek out rainbows of color! One of my current favorite ways to incorporate many colors into my photography is to find the rainbow in my everyday. It’s not exactly a color scheme, per say, but it’s yet another way to incorporate color into your photography. We could call it a multi-color color scheme if that’s more official sounding. But seriously, photos with rainbows > photos without rainbows, every time.
There’s something about seeing many colors in rainbow order that evoke immense joy! So if you’d like to create a really exciting capture, may I suggest rainbow-ordering the colors in your image?
In the following image, I wanted to create a flatlay of my son’s favorite things, to celebrate his 4th birthday, and I found that the layout looked best once I got everything arranged in rainbow order. Prior to that, we had everything scattered in random color order, and it felt chaotic. So now, whenever I have many colors in a scene and I have the opportunity to rearrange things, I tend to put them in rainbow order to create the perfect flow of color with that happy bright rainbow vibe.
While there are even more color schemes out there, I find that the five we’ve already explored above — monochrome, complementary, analogous, triadic, and rainbows/multi-color — are enough for endless inspiration. However, if you find you’ve already mastered them and want to push color theory even further, then I’d recommend looking into split complementary, rectangle (tetradic), and square color schemes, AKA color harmonies if you’re feeling fancy. But to be honest, these are color schemes I haven’t even tapped into yet, and I’ve been doing this for over a year now.
If they are present in my photos, it’s by total coincidence, like the rectangle (tetradic) color scheme here:
Another avenue worth exploring, after you’ve mastered everything here, is the way color can evoke emotions. Red for anger, blue for calming, that sort of thing. Understanding the psychological effects of the different colors can really help you communicate an emotion, and you can use that information to intentionally choose colors that better convey your message. But for now, we’ll leave that there, since we’re getting beyond the scope of this humble little blog post.
Want to learn more about composition and use of color? Check out these courses we have available:
Now that you know more about the color wheel and how to use it, let’s talk about the
practicalities. How can you take this knowledge and incorporate it into your future photography?
First, it’s important to recognize that color theory doesn’t often happen on its own. Aside from photographing the color schemes that exist in nature, as mentioned earlier, you’ll have to do a little prep work to incorporate these different color schemes into your photography.
One easy way to incorporate more color is to buy an array of colors for your kids’ wardrobes. Think of it this way: you’re going to have to buy clothes for your child (or yourself) anyway. Why not purposefully pick out shirts in every color of the rainbow? And this doesn’t need to be an expensive endeavor. I purchase most of my kids’ clothing at the local consignment shop. We’re talking $1 to $4 per shirt. I walk down the aisles of their sizes, grab a variety of colors, try to avoid clothes with busy patterns or logos, and boom, now I have every color available to work with next time I’m inspired to take a photo.
Last fall, I purposefully chose a bright yellow jacket for my eldest. I was going to have to get him a new winter jacket anyway, and usually I would go for something more subdued, like navy blue. But now that I know more about color theory, I knew a yellow jacket would be the perfect pop in all our outdoor adventures this year. It came in particularly handy when we happened upon these purple garage doors, completely by chance! Purple door + yellow jacket = complementary colors and one poppy portrait!
While finding those purple doors were a happy coincidence, there are many times you can anticipate what colors your subject will be surrounded by, and so you can pick your subject’s outfit accordingly beforehand. For example, if you’re about to head out on a walk in the woods during the spring or summer, you’re almost certain to be surrounded by lots of greenery. So dressing your subject in complementary red, purple, or even pink will really help him/her pop against the scenery. If you’re going to a rich yellow wheat field, may I suggest putting your subject in the complementary purple or blue? Or perhaps your intention is to create a more calming scene. Instead of choosing a complementary color, pick an analogous trio instead, and aim to incorporate those colors into your subject’s appearance.
Another easy way to get more color in your shots is to have more color in your home! Take a look around the photography interwebs and get a feel for what color backdrop you love. Now find a wall in your home that could use some more color and GO FOR IT. Paint a feature wall!! And don’t look back! I assure you, you will not regret having a wall in your home painted just for your art, and in the exact color you love. I have two rooms painted in my favorite colors — a navy blue room and an emerald green room — and you can bet your sweet bippy I take photos in those rooms alllll the time.
If you’re a little nervous about doing something that permanent, or you just don’t have a wall for it, another option is to buy a backdrop in your favorite color. You’ll find so many ways to create different color harmonies with that one backdrop color, I promise you. Even if you’re not into portraiture, you can use this colorful spot to plant your subjects and just let a moment unfold naturally . . in front of the beautiful color.
Still not convinced? I promise there are colors all around, even without painting a wall or buying a backdrop. Head to your local mall, your downtown streets, an airport, your church, a walking path, a local greenhouse, you name it! Every new place has a new array of colors just waiting to be discovered. You can make it a fun activity, for yourself or even your kiddos! Do a color hunt to find the individual colors of the rainbow around town. Once you know where the specific colors are, you can dress accordingly and have different photo shoots in your various colorful destinations.
Also, don’t be afraid to think outside the color wheel. Sure, green and red are complementary, but that doesn’t mean green and pink wouldn’t make a stellar, poppy combo as well! Even if certain color combos don’t fit with any of the defined color schemes, they can still have awesome contrast, if they’re nearly complementary, or blend well together, if they’re close to each other on the color wheel. Have fun playing with different color combos and see what sort of feel these new combinations give to your images.
Now with your new found love of ALL THE COLOR, it’s time to get out there, see the world in this new colorful way, and capture it to your heart’s content. The world is your rainbow-colored oyster! Get snapping!
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