Colour Relationships

There are two main types of colour relationship, complementary and contrasting. Complementary colours are those opposite one another on the colour wheel. Contrasting colours are a third away from each other on the colour wheel. Another type of relationship are similar colours, these are colours that are next to each other. Placing two contrasting colours in a photograph creates the most dramatic and interesting image. When two complementary colours appear in a photograph they make one another appear brighter. Similar colours don't provide much interest as they don't create much drama within photographs. Below, I have captured complementary colours at specific ratios in order to balance one against the other.

Orange and Blue

ISO-400, 55mm, 1/250sec, f/6.3

One of the many modern "coloured" building in Manchester, the bricks are orange, the windows and their frames are blue. Cropped to approximately achieve a colour ratio of 1:2. Orange is around twice as bright as blue and therefore to achieve perfect balance, twice as much blue needs to be present in a photograph.

Red and Green

ISO-400, 55mm, 1/8sec, f/5.6

To capture this image I piled some strawberrys onto a silver tray containing a thin layer of water coloured with green food colouring. I was attempting to capture a colour ratio of 1:1. Green and red are approximately as bright as one another and therefore equal amounts should be present in order to create a balanced image.

Yellow and Violet

ISO-400, 30mm, 1/13sec, f/10

Finding it extremely difficult to find violet and yellow subjects together I created a simple still life scene using a lemon and a violet coloured blanket to represent a colour ratio of 1:3. Yellow is approximately 3 times as bright as violet and therefore three times as much violet needs to be present in order for a photograph to appear balanced.

Other Complementary and Contrasting Pairs

Orange and Green

ISO-400, 55mm, 1/125sec, f/6.3

Green and Orange are a third away from each other on the colour wheel and are classed as contrasting colours. Orange is a slightly brighter colour than green and therefore more green needs to be present in order for the relationship between the two colours to appear balanced.

Violet and Orange

ISO-400, 55mm, 1/25sec, f/9

Violet and orange are another contrasting pair. Orange is much brighter than violet and so the smaller amount brings balance to the photograph.

Red and Green

ISO-200, 55mm, 3.2sec, f/9

Here I have created a colour accent using the complementary colours red and green. The imbalance of the colours draws the eye straight towards the centre (green stem area) of the tomato. Colour accents are extremely useful when a photographer wants to draw a viewers attention to a specific location in a photograph.

Warm and Cool Colours

Different colours or colour combinations can be used in photography to portray temperature. The range of tones between purple and green are most commonly accepted to be cool colours, whereas, the range between yellow and red are recognised as warm. Using a mixture of both warm and cool colours within a photograph will create a strong contrast. Looking back at my photographs from projects 32 and 33, I feel that blue feels the coolest and red the warmest. I have taken three photographs that display warm and cool colours, one cool, one warm and one containing both.

Ice with Blue background (cool)

ISO-400, 55mm, 1/20sec, f/8

For my cool image I placed some ice onto a silver tray containing a thin layer of water and blue food colouring. The blue tone appears cool but combined with the ice (which we know to be cold) it creates a very cool looking image indeed.

Yellow, Orange + Red chopped Peppers (Warm)

ISO-200, 55mm, 1/2sec, f/5.6

Next, I chopped three peppers (yellow, orange and red) and lay them next to one another in sequence using the orange pepper as a background. This has created a very warm looking photograph.

Orange with Blue background (Warm on Cool)

ISO-400, 36mm, 1/10sec, f/4.5

Finally, I re-used the silver tray containing blue water and placed an orange ontop. The contrast between the warm and cool colours gives the photograph a neutral temperature, it doesn't appear warm or cool.