Harmony and contrast

    We very seldom see just one colour in isolation, and the other colours surrounding it will significantly affect our perception of our main subject’s colour. A red that appears fully saturated and vivid against a black background will not appear as strong against an orange backdrop, for instance. Many books have been written about colour theory and the way that colours interact, and almost all of them have at their core some variation on the colour wheel.

     The three primary colours, red blue and yellow, are at three points on a circle, and between them are the secondary colours, produced by mixing each of the three primaries, i.e. violet, green and orange. Between these again lie the tertiary colours, such as blue-green, red-orange, and so on. The relative position of any two colours on the circle tells us how they will relate to each other in terms of harmony or contrast. Colours that are next to each other on the wheel will harmonies together, while colours that are on opposite sides of the circle will contrast.

Colour harmony

     Any groups of colours next to each other on the wheel are known as analogous colours, and will always harmonies together. Harmonious colours provide a sense of restfulness and order, and there are no contrasting or jarring colours. Such a picture will generally have a limited number of colours in it. The simplest form would be to use only one colour, in various shads and hues-different tones of blue, for example. Many books have been written about colour theory and the way that colours interact, and almost all of them have at their core some variation on the colour wheel. If another colour is introduced, it will be one that is adjacent on the colour wheel-so we might look at adding to the blue tones some greens or violets.

Colour contrast

    Any two colours that lie directly opposite to each other on the wheel are known as complementary colours and will provide the maximum amount of colour contrast in a picture. While adjacent colours provide a restful, harmonious image, complementary colours will result in a photo with impact. A yellow subject, for instance will appear more vivid against a violet background than it will against an orange one.

Saturated and pastel colors

A saturated color is a pure hue that is not diluted with white or black. Fully saturated colors are more vivid and have more impact than those that are diluted with white, known as tints, or with black, known as shades. The color contrast between complementary colors will be at its strongest when they are both fully saturated-for instance, a red flower will exhibit more contrast against a green background than a pink flower will.

A hue that is diluted by white is commonly known as a pastel shade, and is softer and less vivid than the original colors. While saturated colors appears at their most vibrant in bright light, the delicates tones of pastel colors can be bleached out by bright light and often benefit from a gentler, more diffused light. Colours that are next to each other on the wheel will harmonies together, while colours that are on opposite sides of the circle will contrast. For a photo with impact, choose two or more fully saturated shades; but for a more delicate or subtle image, softer, pastel tones can be beautiful to work with.