Warm colors such as oranges, reds and yellows tend to stimulate our senses and create excitement in our photographs
Sometimes a great photo is not just about the subject of the scene, but also the backgrounds and colors within the image itself. While we don’t always have a choice of backgrounds, sometimes a step to the right or left may make our photo better. To help understand this concept, let’s consider how color affects our moods and perceptions.
Warm colors such as oranges, reds and yellows tend to stimulate our senses and create excitement in our photographs. Have you ever looked at a great fall foliage photograph and been inspired to get outside and enjoy nature? Perhaps the colors enticed that excitement.
Cool colors such as blue, purple and green tend to be soothing and calming effect. Who doesn’t look at a picture of the beautiful blue ocean and beach and think how relaxing that seems?
While your outdoor and nature shots may not allow you a great choice for backgrounds and color selections, be sure to walk around your chosen picture spot and look for that small bunch of red or orange flowers to add some excitement into your photos. For those of you that prefer more studio type shots, pay attention to the colors that your subjects are wearing (i.e. think about what your human subjects are dressed in, choose a different color of flower or other subject, or choose your backdrop color carefully).
To test this theory, try shooting a sample subject with varied color backgrounds and see if you get different feelings from the same subject.
Cool colors such as blue, purple and green tend to be soothing and calming effect.