Complementary and
Harmonious Colors
By: Andrea Ghilardelli
Mastering color is an essential ability to any good
photographer. To achieve proficiency, a basic
knowledge of primary colors and complementary colors
is required. We will define these fundamental
concepts and teach how to exploit them in order to
take better photographs.
The
great physicist James Maxwell in 1859 demonstrated
that each color could be obtained starting from just
three colored light beams, one red, one green and
another blue. By over-projecting these three beams
on a white screen and by carefully dosing their
intensities, any color could be attained. This is
the basis of the aptly named "additive synthesis".
These three colors (red, green and blue, or RGB) are
called "primary colors". Adding all the
primary colors at their maximum intensities, give
rise to white; black is the absence of any light.
Each primary color also has a "complementary
color". The complementary color of a given
primary color is defined as the color that added to
the primary color gives the white light. It can
be shown (but we will omit the demonstration) that
the complementary colors for red, green and blue are
cyan, magenta and yellow, respectively. What a
photographer must always keep in mind are simply the
(fundamental, complementary) color pairs:
(red, cyan)
(green, magenta)
(blue, yellow)
Masterful
control of complementary colors is essential in
composing an image. Juxtaposition of complementary
colors always creates striking chromatic contrast.
Consequently, if you wish to make an object stand
out from its background, you should pick up a
background with the complementary color of the
object. Good examples are yellow autumn leaves
against a blue sky or magenta flowers against green
foliage. The main subject will immediately catch the
attention of the viewer. It does not matter how
small the main subject, if it has a complementary
backdrop, will always be an important compositional
element. Usually it will draw the whole attention.
Similar colors are harmonious and not complementary.
When just harmonious colors are present in a
picture, color is typically not the main attraction.
Other fundamental elements take over, such as form
and texture. An example might be green grass against
a blue sky. Let me give you a tip: if
you
are going to take a shot of a green grass, back
lighting will produce a fantastic effect, making the
green very vivid and glowing. So, keep in mind that
direction of sunlight is important, too. Be careful
when making compositions with similar colors in
black & white photography. Most of the time, what
appears clear and well defined in the colored world,
will seem confused and lackluster in black and
white.
Now you know how to compose a highly contrasting
image or, on the contrary, a harmonious picture. All
of this from a chromatic point of view. Now it is
time for the better thing you can do: experiment
what you have just learnt.
The
great physicist James Maxwell in 1859 demonstrated
that each color could be obtained starting from just
three colored light beams, one red, one green and
another blue. By over-projecting these three beams
on a white screen and by carefully dosing their
intensities, any color could be attained. This is
the basis of the aptly named "additive synthesis".
These three colors (red, green and blue, or RGB) are
called "primary colors". Adding all the
primary colors at their maximum intensities, give
rise to white; black is the absence of any light.
Masterful
control of complementary colors is essential in
composing an image. Juxtaposition of complementary
colors always creates striking chromatic contrast.
Consequently, if you wish to make an object stand
out from its background, you should pick up a
background with the complementary color of the
object. Good examples are yellow autumn leaves
against a blue sky or magenta flowers against green
foliage. The main subject will immediately catch the
attention of the viewer. It does not matter how
small the main subject, if it has a complementary
backdrop, will always be an important compositional
element. Usually it will draw the whole attention.
you
are going to take a shot of a green grass, back
lighting will produce a fantastic effect, making the
green very vivid and glowing. So, keep in mind that
direction of sunlight is important, too. Be careful
when making compositions with similar colors in
black & white photography. Most of the time, what
appears clear and well defined in the colored world,
will seem confused and lackluster in black and
white.
