2019-05-01_Digital_SLR_Photography

LET TINGONESTRONGCOLOUR

DOMINATECANCREATEATTRACTIVE

ANDEYE-CATCHINGIMAGERY

SOLOCOLOUR

Ma y 2019DigitalSLR Photography 63

JORDAN WHITFIELD

/UNSP

LASH

MARTIN WIDENK

A/

UNSP

LASH

ZACHROWLANDSON/UNSPLASH

USING COLOUR...

F

ILLINGTHEFRAMEwithlotsof

contrastingcolourscanmakeforan

eye-catchingimage,butnotalwaysfor

therightreasons.Imagespackedwithbright,

jarringhuesmaygrabsomeone’sattention,

butmightnotbesuccessfulin retainingit.

Another,ofteneffective,approachis to

focusona singlecolourandmakethatthe

themeofyourimage.In reality,thisis more

akintotheanalogousapproachwe

discussedonpage 56 – evenif youfillthe

framewithanobjectofa singlesolidcolour

you’restilllikelytoseeshadeseithersideofit

onthecolourwheel,dependingonhow

lightandshadowinteractswithinthescene.

Forexample,zoomin onthepaintpatinaof

anoldblueboatandyou’relikelytosee

severaldifferentshadesofblue,aswellas

possiblyshadesofblue-greenand/or

blue-purple.Macroorclose-upimageslike

thisoftenworkbecausethecolours

containedwithinarenaturallyclosetoone

another, and therefore pleasing.These

arrangementscanbecreatedintentionally

too:whenshootingstill-lifesyoucould

arrangeobjectsofa similarhuetocreatea

colour-themedcomposition,forexample.

Single-colourcompositionsareoften

foundin thenaturalworldsoforma large

partoflandscapephotography.Rural

landscapes,forexample,canconsistentirely

ofshadesofgreen,whilstanautumnal

woodlandfeaturesvariationsoforange.

Eventhelightcanhelpmakethetonesin an

imagemoreanalogous– shootat thepeak

ofsunriseorsunset,wheneverythingis

bathed in warm, golden light and differing

huesarewashedwithorangeandtherefore

broughtclosertogether.Conversely,

shootingduringthebluehour,justbefore

sunriseorjustaftersunsetcangiveyour

imagesa tranquil,coolbluehue– referback

topage 60 forhowtheoverallcolourtheme

ofanimagecanaffectyourviewer’smood

andreactiontoa photograph.Other

meteorologicalconditions,suchasfogor

mist,canalsohelptoharmonisecontrasting

coloursin a scene– haze,forinstance,can

tonedownandmutestronghues,turningan

otherwisevibrantscene into a composition

of pastel hues.