# On the use of Color



## amolitor (Nov 2, 2013)

I wrote this for my blog, but it's one of those rare topics that falls into the overlap between things I write for my blog, and things I write for TPF, so I am just copying it here.

There is a device called the color wheel. This is, essentially, the colors of the rainbow in rainbow-order wrapped around a circle with the red end and the purple end connected together. Whether you proceed red-orange-yellow-etc in the clockwise or counter direction varies. How the colors are spaced varies, which means that which color is opposite which other color can vary a bit. The point is, though, that for any color there are colors that are close to it on the color wheel and there are colors that are far apart on the wheel. Some color wheels represent saturation as well, as a distance from the center. The center is white, the rim of the wheel has very saturated hues, and so on.

Colors that are opposite one another on the color wheel are called _complementary_ but this notion depends, obviously, on the wheel. I will use the word _complementary_ instead to simply mean that two colors are very far apart on the wheel. Blue/orange, green/red, yellow/purple, these are complementary. Also, however, Purple/orange, or green/violet, or yellow/purple might be considered complementary. _I am being somewhat naughty here, since complementary really does mean something specific, it just happens to depend on your color model._

A quick web search will turn up loads of pictures and examples of this sort of thing. You can start here: Color wheel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

When I say a _narrow palette of colors_, I mean a collection of colors drawn from close together on the color wheel, colors that are similar in hue. However, generally, I mean that they are similar in value and saturation as well, although a certain amount of variation is permitted here. A narrow palette of colors "goes together" in general terms. A collection of muted oranges, reddish-yellows, and warm browns might form such a narrow palette, for instance.

By far the most common color design in fashion photography and, interestingly enough, high end landscape art, uses two narrow palettes which are complementary. One is dominant, and provides colors for most of the frame, while the other is subordinate and colors a smaller percentage of the frame area. The subordinate color palette is an _accent_ color.

Some people will talk about patterns of three colors or palettes, or even four, evenly spaced around the color wheel. Again, since color wheels vary, these colors will depend on which wheel we're talking about. In addition, we start talking about exceedingly narrow palettes, or even single colors, here, otherwise the palettes overlap and we simply have all available hues and there is, in reality, no plan. I don't notice this occurring much in real work, to be honest, but perhaps it's out there. I think that these ideas tend to either disintegrate or to be read as simple a "riot of colors" idiom, which can certainly be successful.

Let us, therefore, return to the two-palette theme.

Once you recognize the pattern and know what to look for, you will start to see it _everywhere_. It is perhaps too much to say that it is the single most important thing nobody ever tells you about marketable photography, but there are moments when this seems to be true. Look up, for example, Peter Lik's landscapes, or look at almost literally any color fashion photograph at all. Gucci, Prada, YSL. Guess and Levis maybe not so much, but even there, I think. Ignore the blacks, greys and whites, they don't count.

The dominant palette pulls the frame together. It creates a very coherent look, the frame feels controlled and "put together". Ideally, the dominant palette colors the things you want to emphasize, the dress, the model's hair, the sand dune. A single palette can work by itself, but tends toward visually dull. The subject matter or the graphical properties of the frame better be pretty interesting. With an accent palette in play, you get visual interest for free.

At this point you can use the accent palette to manage the frame a bit. By saturating those accent colors, you can draw the eye to those accented regions. Fashion, both as worn and as photographed, does this a lot. The shoes, the clutch, and the lipstick are popped reds to draw attention, as well as to complement the navy blue dress and hat. Alternatively, the accent colors can be desaturated and muted, to push them into the background, to simply add a little visual depth and flavor to the picture. In this case, you might saturate, brighten, or use graphical techniques to draw the eye to whatever it is in the dominant palette that you want to be visually important.

With modern digital editing tools it is trivial to select areas and to adjust hues and saturations within them. It is somewhat startling how far you can go here without making the picture look unreal. You can apply much more radical changes to hue and saturation that you can to values. I strongly advocate for using the hue and saturation equivalents of burning and dodging, and I am practically certain that most successful commercial work uses these ideas extensively. If they're not using them in post, they're doing much the same thing by gelling lights.

While these ideas are certainly dominant in landscape and fashion, there's no reason event photographers and other commercial workers cannot use the same ideas. Put the bridesmaids up against complementary background, or otherwise use a complementary color palette. If you can't make it happen in camera, at least do some adjustments in post.

I wouldn't recommend messing with the dress colors, though. The bride's gonna notice that.


----------



## mmaria (Nov 2, 2013)

It's time to hear something about color here 


well... since yesterday all I think about is how I'm stuck with color... but not photography related, graphic design

I'm trying to do a small redesign to a logo and the biggest problem is that I'm stuck with gold-dark blue colors in it, just those two colors are present.The design include water, trees-blue, crown-blue and I can't think any wise reason why this designer chose those colors. I can't change colors, gold-dark blue (because of law) but can play with different shades.
Gold color has issues with displaying and printing and every cmyk combination of gold I try has of course their complementary combination of dark blue...well almost every combination I tried so far looks awful, considering also that it would be printed on cheap paper with an average printer.... Have few more days to try, we'll see, maybe I'll come up with something...

This is probably theme for another thread.... sorry....


----------



## amolitor (Nov 2, 2013)

Using a color and its complement certainly does not guarantee success


----------



## terri (Nov 2, 2013)

Very nice, Andrew.   There is actually quite a bit of information on the color wheel.   :thumbup:   It's nice to see it get some love.    

Good info!


----------



## runnah (Nov 2, 2013)

You'd be shocked by how many designers I have met who have zero color theory study.


----------



## amolitor (Nov 2, 2013)

I dunno anything about color theory either, but I can read wikipedia, look at pictures, and move sliders around in GIMP!


----------



## runnah (Nov 2, 2013)

amolitor said:


> I dunno anything about color theory either, but I can read wikipedia, look at pictures, and move sliders around in GIMP!



I feel like we've talked about this before. 

Anyways, it's a very interesting subject. Not only what colors go well together but how different colors and combinations make people feel.


----------



## amolitor (Nov 2, 2013)

We have. I posted some of this before, mostly with respect to popular/marketable landscape. I hadn't really noticed that fashion does the same thing, and I don't think I'd experimented as much with selectively fiddling with color.

Just to hit that point again: It's _amazing_ how much you can tinker with the colors selectively without anyone noticing. Select her lips, and CRANK the saturation, it just looks good, not weird. Select the brick wall and shove the hue all over the place, it still looks fine, and now, look, it matches her hair so much better! And so on.

Lots of people on TPF who are trying to shoot fashion, or make money in landscape, or whatever, are never ever going to make it because they don't understand and they cannot see how much the color theory matters in Actually Selling Pictures. They get the lights in the right place, just like it shows in the book. The model is very expensive, gorgeous, and skilled. The poses are perfect. The result is.. well, it looks like some jerk with a camera. Because he's got 17 colors on the set and not one of them sets off her hair worth a crap.


----------



## limr (Nov 2, 2013)

I have no interest in fashion photography and I don't do much landscape, but this is still really fascinating and useful information. Thanks!


----------



## robbins.photo (Nov 2, 2013)

amolitor said:


> There is a device called the color wheel.



Sounds like voodoo.  Yes.. evil voodoo.  I must alert the villagers.  Honey, where's my torch and pitchfork?  Oh, and I need my hat.  No, not that one.  The one with the belt buckle on it.


----------



## mmaria (Nov 3, 2013)

Few times I posted critique related to colors in photos and ...gave up... so that's why I'm glad there is a thread about color. 

I'll simplify few things about colors in photography. as amolitor said, you can find a lot information, just google it! 

- Red, green and blue are most dangerous colors. They demand attention, your eyes will notice those colors first. If you have those colors in background they would be very distracting and draw attention away from your subject.  Look for a background that does not contain those colors. If impossible, then tone them down, desaturate, change hue... do something in pp.
 It is very hard to cope with grass in a photo f.e Have you noticed that green of the grass in a photo (in a pro photo if I may say like that) is never the actual green of grass?
- If you want to accent something then go for red, green and blue.
- Most pleasing background would contain colors within same color family. 
- If you have to have blown background, make sure that it's blown evenly.
- You have to ask yourself what do you want to accentuate? what feeling you want to create? and use colors accordingly  
- Why is a devil red? an angle white? what colors are traffic signs/lights?
- When photographing someone think about what colors should they wear? what people want to say about themselves?
- What colors do you have in your home? bedroom is place to relax and have sweet dreams. Would you paint it with red?



 There is so much more about color. This subject matter is very interesting for me . If I have no control with conditions when I shoot I'll certainly correct color in pp. Tools I use the most in ps are curves and hue/saturation adjustment layer. 

 Everyone should read and learn about color, how it affect our brains and what feeling it produce...It is not just about using it in photography, but in life in general.

Hope someone will find this useful!


----------



## pgriz (Nov 3, 2013)

Good contribution, Andrew.  Photographers tend to think of photography in terms of gear, yet being a visual medium, we should have much more discussion on the use of line, shape, colour, tone, perspective, proportion, and balance in creating a pleasing, informative image.


----------



## Ysarex (Nov 3, 2013)

robbins.photo said:


> amolitor said:
> 
> 
> > There is a device called the color wheel.
> ...



Voodoo indeed. Color in our culture is right up there with astrology and numerology: Color Therapy Healing Live Online

If you want a guaranteed method to determine your winning lottery numbers based on your personal color, just send $14.95  (shipping and handling) for your free copy of *The Color of Success.*  We'll rush out -- *ABSOLUTELY FREE* -- this life-changing book by the  world renowned author (and great humanitarian) Dr. K. Trupeau. Unleash  the raw power of your personal color. Dr. Trupeau want's to share these  transformational secrets with you *ABSOLUTELY FREE* so call right now --  1-800-snakoil, that's 1-800-762-5645 -- to get your free copy of *The  Color of Success.*

Joe


----------



## pgriz (Nov 3, 2013)

Joe!  Just checked Amazon, and they're out of this book.  Please, please, please, since you seem to be in the know, can you arrange for a copy?  Whaddaya take?  PenPal?  Wisa?  American Egress?


----------

