Create contrast with complementary colors
Article Excerpt: “What makes an image colorful? Is it the mere presence of bright colors, or is it something more than that? Color isn’t always about having bright reds and striking blues. It results from creating color contrast in your photos and using complementary colors whenever you can…Let’s not make this more complicated than it needs to be. Complementary colors are different colors that, when placed next to one color, increase the total color contrast in the image. But a complementary can’t just be a different shade of one color…It needs to be a different type of color altogether.”~David Peterson from his article Make Your Photos More Colorful with Complementary Colors
Emphasize with color contrast
There are two types of contrast used in photography. First is the tonal contrast, mostly used in black and white photography. It is the variance between the light and dark parts of an image. In between the white and black are various tonal range, think of it as gradations of gray. The second type is color contrast. Looking at the color wheel you will see the colors near each other and those directly opposite. Color theory and concepts are complicated matters. I think there are even courses on these. It’s because colors and their relationship with one another are important to a lot of people and their profession such as designers, painters, graphic and visual artists. It is a primary element of design, and even in areas of advertising, marketing and promotion, color plays an important role. It creates mood, emotions, character, temperament and personality. Needless to say, the importance is carried in color photography. Understanding colors and how they complement and interact with each other will greatly help in composition. In an earlier post we touched on selective focus to emphasize a subject. You can do likewise with color contrast. A green apple in a red background or surrounding will stand out. In the color wheel, those colors that are directly opposite each other are called complementary colors. Of course the just mentioned example will also work the other way around – a red subject against a predominantly green background. So will yellow against violet or blue. Such as in the picture above. The yellow rubber ducky will get your attention not only because it seems to be looking at you but also because it is set in a blue surrounding. You get to highlight your subject with the deliberate use of color contrast. Now spotting this situation in the real world will need some getting used to, especially for those starting out. But for the keen photographer, he will easily notice a subject that stands out because of its color in relation to its background. He is trained to scan, spot and notice. After all, the first code of photographers is not to shoot, but to observe. Get a more detailed understanding of our topic by reading the article How Contrast Affects Your Photos by David Peterson, founder of online site Digital Photo Secrets.
Each is unique
The above piece is from the “Citylines” series at Junsjazz Art & Vision blog. The problem (if you can call it that) with these artworks is that I cannot “recreate” them; they are one time creations. Though I have the base composite image, when I try again to go through the exact process of applying creative filters and effects, the result is just not the same with the original piece. Unlike in photography when you apply the same editing process, you get the same result over and over again with a particular image. I guess that’s the individuality of art, the are meant to be created once. Afterwards you go on conceptualize and make another. There are no replicas and duplicates, which makes every original artwork a unique creation. Thank you my friends for the likes, visits, comments and follows in the less-than-a-week-old art blog. If you have time, hop over there. There is almost nothing to read in that blog, but you’ll have a whole visual world of colors to take in.~JJ
Junsjazz Images & Inspiration 