About the Wajdas

Photographing Herbs | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Color Composition

Color composition is one of the most critical factors in taking a quality photograph.

We may not always understand which individual color or colors communicate the signals we get, but we receive much of our visual communication via colors and their combinations.

Colors are organized into three categories: primary, secondary, and complimentary. There are three primary colors--yellow, blue, and red--and they are considered the purest of the colors. We identify many sensations with each of these: red is hot and fiery, blue is cool and relaxing, and yellow is cheery and bright. The secondary colors--orange, green, and purple--are made of equal parts of two primary colors. Our response to them is often the result of one or both of the constituent primary colors, as in the case of the color orange, which is considered hot and bright. The complimentary colors are not actually colors, but are color combinations which, when positioned together, "compliment" each other. The basic compliments are red-green, orange-blue, and yellow-purple.

The juxtaposition of two colors may change how the eye perceives an individual color. For instance, red next to blue becomes stronger, while red next to yellow is still bright, but not as vibrant as it is next to blue. This visual response is also seen as individual colors stand out or recede in a combination. For instance, in a bed of red Oriental poppies, blue delphiniums, and yellow yarrow, the poppies will always stand out from the other flowers, regardless of how many or few there are in the bed or if they are in the rear or front of the view.

A note of caution: several colors can provide difficult to reproduce successfully, particularly blue and white/cream. The truest color is generally achieved by reducing the brightness of the lighting source (e.g., wait for a cloudy day) or by providing light from the back of the flower or plant (Angel 1998). I have also found that a standard ultraviolet (UV) filter over the end of my lens minimizes some of the effects of natural sunlight on my subject, most notably the washing out of color. >>

Page 1 Photographing Herbs
Page 2 Color Composition
Page 3 Lighting
Page 4 Scale and Perspective
Page 5 Background and Natural Elements
Page 6 Camera Care and Film
Page 7 Conclusions and Works Cited