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Color Photography: 9 Essential Tips for Vibrant Photos

Last updated: March 13, 2024 - 10 min read
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Hue in photography merges art, scientific principles, and culture with your own personal style. Hue can make or break the mood of a scene. And it can tell stories and create atmospheres.
Hue plays a crucial role in crafting exciting and captivating images in film or digital photography. But it’s not just about filling your images with bright colors. There’s more to it than that. That’s why our article will inform you about everything necessary for incorporating hues in photography.

 

9 Tips for Incorporating Hues in Photography

Here are nine valuable tips to master the art of incorporating hues into your photography. They will help enhance the photographic visual impact and narrative depth of your images.

1. Learn the Basics of Utilizing Hues in Photography

When it comes to color theory, the wheel of colors is the natural starting point. Exploring the wheel of colors will assist you in grasping various color schemes and color composition.
It will allow you to make conscious decisions in your color photography. You can create images with harmonious and balanced colors. Or you can break the rules to create discord and imbalance.
I don’t always strictly follow the wheel of colors. But my favorite color photos tend to follow the rules. Hue arrangement methods have been in existence for centuries. But Newton’s and Goethe’s hue circles are two of the most well-known.
The foundation of the wheel of colors is the primary hues—red, yellow, and blue. Each hue merges with its adjacent counterpart to produce the secondary shades—green, purple, and orange. There’s a whole science behind color theory.
a graphic explaining different color schemes on the color wheel

 

Complementary Colors in Photography

The wheel of colors simplifies the process of identifying complementary colors. Choose a hue from any part of the spectrum. Then, to find the hue that complements it, look for the shade that sits directly opposite.
A complementary color scheme has a bold impact. As both colors complement each other, the photographs feel vibrant and harmonious. The photos are visually appealing.
For example, the hue that complements red is green. Yellow complements purple. And blue compliments orange. So, we can see that primary hues complement secondary hues.
I search for complementary hue arrangements in my urban and street photography. It makes my photos look fun and energetic, which is how I feel when shooting in a vibrant city.

an upside-down traffic cone and building showing orange and blue complementary colors in photography
© Heather Milne

 

Analogous Hues in Photography

An analogous color scheme showcases three colors that are adjacent on the wheel of colors. This is an ideal arrangement in landscape and nature photography to reveal subtle differences in shades and saturation.
Without the strong contrast of the complementary scheme, analogous colors are often calming to look at. Analogous hues feel like they belong together. They blend and create a sense of natural harmony.

a ferns and trees in the wilderness showing an analogous color scheme in photography
© Heather Milne

 

Triadic Color in Photography

Triadic color schemes utilize three hues that are evenly distributed around the wheel of colors. A triadic hue arrangement produces vibrant images because it utilizes three contrasting shades. Each hue is clearly distinguished from the other, creating different points of interest.
These three color schemes are the best places to start with color in photography. Look for these schemes next time you’re out with your camera. You’ll start to see improvements once you factor in hues in photography.

jars of relish aligned with colored annual show passes to show a triadic color scheme in photography
© Heather Milne

 

2. Explore Cool and Warm Colors

Another aspect of understanding hues in photography is the theory of cool and warm hues. There is a bit of debate about where cool hues end and warm hues begin. But generally, we say green, blue, and magenta are cool hues, while yellow, orange, and red are warm hues.
The difference between warmer and cooler colors becomes more apparent when the two colors are widely separated on the wheel of colors. It means warm and cool hues often complement each other. The warmer tone is more difficult to identify if they’re close together.

an old Volvo parked in front of a magenta wall with a complementary cool blue sky above it showing color in photography
Cool blue and magenta. © Karen Vikke, author of our Urban Smartphone Minimalism eBook

 

3. Evoke Emotion by Using Color

Hue can significantly influence our emotions. Utilizing hues to influence mood can add power and significance to your photography.
A scary, abandoned hospital will appear less haunted if bathed in warm, yellow sunlight in golden hour. The cold tones of the blues and whites in the image below help to create a feeling of tension and unease.
Below are seven colors with some of their associated meanings and emotions. These associations help us employ hues in photography for visual storytelling.

  1. Red: Energy, excitement, passion, anger
  2. Orange: Warmth, happiness, enthusiasm
  3. Yellow: Cheerfulness, friendliness, creativity
  4. Green: calm, natural, balance, growth
  5. Blue: Serenity, cold, sadness, trust
  6. Purple: Spirituality, mystery, luxury
  7. Magenta: Innovation, transformation, non-conformity
cool blues show tension and unease in an abandoned hospital room illustrating the effect of color in photography
© Heather Milne
 

4. Make It All About the Color

Hue theory is all well and good. But the best way to learn about color in photography is to put it into practice.
Search for your preferred hue the next time you’re out with your camera. Methodically create your photos around it. In the past few years, orange has regularly appeared in my photos.
I attribute this to the “construction” orange around me as my city rebuilds post-earthquake. Although it’s not my favorite color, rich oranges have become a staple in my photography.
Explore these five methods to discover the most effective approach when incorporating hues in photography. Use your digital camera to create compositions bursting with hues.

  1. Fill the frame with two or three hues in an abstract composition. Use a macro or zoom lens to get close and ensure the light is consistent across the surface.
  2. Capture the hue in an unexpected setting for visual intrigue. A vivid floral green shirt in a sea of black suits makes a statement.
  3. Photograph the same color in different settings, like in nature, urban settings, or at home.
  4. Create a focal point by capturing your preferred hue surrounded by a neutral tone.
  5. Venture into the night to see how hue-infused photos turn out when artificially lit.
two workers dressed in bright orange suspended from the side of a white building showing a pop of color in photography
© Heather Milne
 

5. Harness Time and Weather

At certain times and in certain conditions, you can shoot in black and white or in vibrant hues. But sometimes, color photography is needed to capture the splendor of a particular scene.
One of those times is golden hour. It’s that magical time when the sun is rising or setting. As the sun sinks low in the sky, the world is lit with rich, golden light. Color tones are deeper and less harsh than in the middle of the day.
High cloud cover can act as a softbox, giving you soft and even light. This gives you a lot of freedom to play with your camera settings. On a bright sunny day, hues are alive and vibrant. And you have a huge mass of blue sky to work with.
Get to know how weather affects the light at different times of the day. It can be beneficial when you’re working with color in photography.

a building painted in pinks and blues is complemented by the cool blue sky above it showing color in photography
© Karen Vikke, author of our Urban Smartphone Minimalism eBook

 

6. Experiment with Tones and Shades

Hue in photography isn’t only about bold shades or vibrant contrasts. You can also play with shapes and tones to make your photography interesting.
Consider using a monochromatic palette centered on different tones and shades of a single hue. You can play with natural tones of green and brown in woodland areas. Or an image of the ocean on a cloudy day will give you various pale blue tones.
Nature has very little pure white or black. Sometimes, an image might seem monochrome at first, but it’s actually a picture with very subdued hues.
Many black-and-white photographers add color in post-production with the use of split toning. But this can be tricky. Ensure you don’t go overboard with the intensity of the hues.

a photo of a body of water taken through the tall grass on the shoreline showing monochromatic color in photography
© Heather Milne

 

7. Enhance Hue in Photography During Post-Production

Many editing software options boost the vibrancy in your colorful photographs. Test out the HSL sliders in Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw. But keep the story of the photo at the front of your mind. Just because you can make sweeping color changes doesn’t mean you should.
If I want to add more punch to my colorful photos, I use the Dehaze and Clarity tools. Then, I adjust individual hues with the Saturation, Hue, and Luminescence sliders. This gives me complete control of each color.
If the light isn’t quite right or I want to create a different mood in the image, I might adjust the Temperature and Vibrance sliders. And if I haven’t been paying attention to my settings, I might need to adjust the balance of white.
With big blue skies, I often reduce the luminescence to give the sky more depth of color. If green leaves and grass are too bright, I reduce the saturation of the yellow rather than the green.

side-by-side comparison of a photo of a bridge over a river showing a color temperature edit
Temperature slider edit. © Heather Milne

 

8. Use the Right Photography Gear to Add Color

What if you have the perfect scene with beautiful hues but don’t have your photography gear? Use your smartphone! This is an excellent way to practice using color in photography. The best camera is the one you have with you.
A polarizing filter is great for increasing vibrancy in color photos. It reduces glare and minimizes the need for editing. If you’re keen on landscape photography, this is a great filter to invest in.
When shooting with a digital camera, always shoot in RAW. It offers the most details for each image, allowing for enhanced hue adjustment in post-production.
A lens hood blocks direct light that causes colored lens flares. But you can also use lens flare artistically, so don’t worry if you don’t have one.
And finally, take the time to properly calibrate your monitor. Ensuring your monitor displays an image accurately is essential. All the gear and techniques won’t be useful if you perceive inaccurate hues and luminosity.

a small hummingbird mid-flight surrounded by red and blue tones showing color in photography
© Heather Milne

 

9. Utilize Hues for a Striking Composition

Color in photography plays a huge part in photo composition. You can use composition to emphasize hues in photography. And you can draw the viewer’s eye to colors using leading lines, repeating patterns, and the rule of thirds.
Or you can utilize hues as a compositional tool. Use a composition with a lot of negative space to highlight the hues. Even though we use the term “negative space,” you can fill this area with the dominant color.
Hue can dominate large areas of your image. Or you can accentuate your shot with small patches of a primary hue. You can have a strong contrast of hues and try hue blocking. Or you can use similar colors to bring impact to your composition.

a tree with pink flowers grows in front of a vibrant red wall showing vibrant color in photography
© Karen Vikke, author of our Urban Smartphone Minimalism eBook

 

Conclusion: Incorporating Hues in Photography

Hues in photography might seem a bit theoretical and scientific at first. But once you grasp a few concepts, mastering hues in photography becomes instinctive.
Be intentional when you incorporate hues in your photos. Put as much consideration into hues as you would composition or framing. Experiment with various hues to create moods and explore tone and shade.
We hope this article has inspired you to excel in utilizing hues in photography. Take our Effortless Editing with Lightroom course to use post-processing to make your colors pop!