THEOUTDOORWORLDIS BURSTING
WITHNATURALCOLOUR–BOLDAND
BEAUTIFULORSUBTLEANDMUTEDLANDSCAPES
62 DigitalSLR PhotographyMay 2019
ADAM BURTONADAM BURTONAbove:Thepinkandpurpleoftheheatheris mirroredin the
skyabove,creatingcolourbalance.Left:A co o lb l u eWhite
Balance complements the nature of this coastal landscape.USING COLOUR...
LO O KAT MOSTNATURAL
SCENESANDYOU’LLF I N DAVARIETYOFHUESTHAT SIT
FAIRLY CLOSETOONEANOTHER
ON THE COLOUR WHEELL
ANDSCAPEIMAGESTHATfeature
harmoniouscolourstendtobevisually
pleasing.As coveredpreviously,images
madeuppredominantlyof harmonious
coloursinvitetheviewertostayforlonger.
What’smore,thecoloursfoundin nature
themselvesareveryanalogoustoo,soit’s
anapproachthatgelswellwithlandscape
photography.Lookat mostnaturalscenes
andyou’llfinda varietyof huesthatsitfairly
closetooneanotheronthecolourwheel.
Typically,coloursin naturearemoresubtle
andmutedthanman-madehues,which
helpstopreventtoomanycolourclashes.
Wherebrightandboldcoloursdofeature,
suchasin brightwildflowers,forexample,
capturingthesesmallin theframeis oneway
tousethemasaccentsof colourandtostop
themfromoverpoweringa scene.
Alternatively,pairthemwithsimilarhuesin
thesky,sayat sunriseandsunset,toachieve
goodcolourbalance.
Evenscenesthatoffer largeswathesof
discordantcolours,suchasthosethatclash
andcontrast,canbecapturedeffectivelyby
shootingthemundertherightlight.During
themiddleoftheday,whenthecolour
temperatureofnaturallightis at itsmost
neutral,twocomplementarycolourscan
fightforattention,howevershootthesame
sceneduringdawn,duskorthebluehour,
andthosetwocoloursarebroughtmuch
closertogetherbythelight’scolour
temperature.Of course,therewillbetimes
wherecolouris everythingin a landscape,so
ratherthantryingtosubduebrightandbold
tones,capturethemin a waythatmakes
theirhuethekeyfeatureoftheimage–
thinkofa seaofbrightredpoppiesstanding
out against their green supports. Light stillmatters,sothispoppyfieldwilllookgreat
complementedbythewarmthofgolden-
hourlightorsaturatedunderanovercastsky.
It canevenlookgreatundera clearbluesky
in full-sunbutwe'dadviseusinga polariserto
removeglareandboostsaturation.
Gettingcolourrightin-camerais hugely
importantin landscapephotography.
Alongsideusinga polariserto helpsaturate
naturalcolour,muchof thiscomesdownto
selectingtherightWhiteBalanceforthe
sceneyou'refacedwith.Thisdoesn’talways
correspondwithwhatthecamera‘thinks’is
rightforthescene,however.Yourcamerawill
oftentryto neutralisestrongcolourcasts,
whichcanroba sceneof yourintendedtone
oritsnaturalhue.Of coursethiscanbe
correctedin processingif youshootin Raw
but,if youwantto getit rightin-camera,
changingyourWhiteBalanceto Daylight
oftenprovidesthemostconsistentresults.
Thankfully,digitalphotographyallowsus
toeasilytweakandmanipulatecolour
post-capture.Whenediting,it’sabout
tweakingcolourtocomplementthescene- youmightchoosetoboostthebright,bold
coloursof a strikingsunsetforimpact,
whereasyou’dbemoreinclinedtoreduce
thesaturationof a tranquilsceneevenfurther,
orcooldowntheWhiteBalance slightly to
bolster the calming effect.