Immaculens
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The Color Wheel is the primary tool used in Color Theory.
Paint artists learn how to use a color wheel because at a glance it shows you what colors look good together (Complementary), or as one artist told me - if a painting in progress 'needs something', he would look at a color wheel. Complementary Colors - meaning - colors that go well together - would be Yellow (warm) and Blue (cool). This is basic Color Theory.
If we look at a color wheel and observe the different hues of Yellows (warm) - the opposite (complementary) colors on the wheel are Blues (cool). Yellows and Blues naturally look good together because they are complementary on the color wheel, they sit across from one another.
Think of nice sunsets on a lake or ocean. Blue waters, blue skies and yellow or orange sun and clouds. That is a natural example of Color Theory in nature. Above is a color wheel from Deke McClelland that is advanced yet still shows at a glance what colors are complementary to each other by spotting a color and looking across from it on the wheel.
Once I learned of the Color Wheel - I was then looking for opportunities to find Complementary Colors in all my photography compositions. Its another aspect of the Art of Photography.
You may be aware of a typical photography editing style of Orange and Teal. Why orange and teal? Look on a color wheel and you tell me. Teal sits between Blue and Green - and the opposite or complementary color is orange. Have a blue sky and yellow-orange building? shift the hue of the blue sky to be a little teal - shift the yellow-orange building to be a little more orange. Voila ~ your image is likely more appealing and interesting. I instruct photography locally in my town and dedicate about 10-15 minutes to Color Theory because I feel it is largely unknown as a creative tool and it could give you an edge over other photographers.
Photography apps like Adobe Lightroom are full of Color Theory tools. The slider for Temperature is Blue and Yellow which is Cool and Warm Complementary Colors. The Tint is Green and Magenta - also Complementary Colors. You can use Complementary Colors to manage or cancel our a color cast. If your image has a color cast of Yellow - add its compliment (which is Blue) to help cancel it out. I took drone shots of my local lake in the summer and the water was an unattractive Green. I selected the water in Lightroom with a brush mask - used the Green / Magenta slider moving it towards Magenta which cancelled out the Green to a large extent - and then I used the Blue / Yellow slider and added some Blue and presto - Blue water instead of Green.
Its not just by chance that many a formal men's suit is Blue, with Yellow or Gold accents (Gold tie and kerchief). Its typical to see Red and Green together at Christmas - although according to the color wheel - Crimson and Turquoise or Magenta and Green could also work.
In 2021, I happened upon an online course titled "Secrets of Color-Grading in Photography" by Joanna Kustra which opened my eyes to Color Theory and since then - I can't help but see Color Theory everywhere - in nature, in advertising, in interior decorating - in art - and especially when I'm composing my photography or later as I edit.. Joanna is a fashion photographer but she lays out Color Theory superbly, even showing how the great historical art masters knew about Complementary Colors likely before there was a wheel to show them. Joanna goes into some depth about Complementary Colors including Split Complementary and others aspects. Here is a link to her course as of Dec. 2023:
In addition to the Temperature and Tint sliders mentioned above, there are a few other tools of Color Theory in Adobe Lightroom such as the Color Grading Panel. Here you could for example add Blues in the Shadows - and Yellows in the highlights for a pleasing look. This technique gets into Color Grading which is widely used in film to give your image or scene a certain look and mood. In the Color Mixer Panel - I have an example of a subtle adjustment of the Hues for making any Blues a little more Teal (adjusting the sky for example), and any Yellows a little more Orange (adjusting buildings for example)
Two other tools in Lightroom to play with Color Theory are the Calibration Panel which has a few sets of color sliders, and finally the Tone Curve Panel, where you can adjust the Red (and complementary Cyan) Curves, the Green (and complementary Magenta) Curves, and the Blue (and complementary Yellow) Curves of the RGB histogram.
A final note on basic Color Theory: Warm Colors (typically seen on the right in a color wheel such as yellows, oranges, and reds) look better in a photo or art as placed in the foreground, while Cool Colors (typically seen on the left side of color wheels) are best in the background. Think of mountains in the background an artist has painted - they typically have blues or purple blues in the shadows. Typically Warm Colors look best in the foreground (likely your main subject) while Cool Colors Recede and look best in the background.
I hope this has served as a reasonable introductory outline to Color Theory and, as paint artists do - I hope you experiment with it in your photography. Having learned Color Theory, I can't not see it now and use it in my photography.
Cheers ~
Paint artists learn how to use a color wheel because at a glance it shows you what colors look good together (Complementary), or as one artist told me - if a painting in progress 'needs something', he would look at a color wheel. Complementary Colors - meaning - colors that go well together - would be Yellow (warm) and Blue (cool). This is basic Color Theory.
If we look at a color wheel and observe the different hues of Yellows (warm) - the opposite (complementary) colors on the wheel are Blues (cool). Yellows and Blues naturally look good together because they are complementary on the color wheel, they sit across from one another.
Think of nice sunsets on a lake or ocean. Blue waters, blue skies and yellow or orange sun and clouds. That is a natural example of Color Theory in nature. Above is a color wheel from Deke McClelland that is advanced yet still shows at a glance what colors are complementary to each other by spotting a color and looking across from it on the wheel.
Once I learned of the Color Wheel - I was then looking for opportunities to find Complementary Colors in all my photography compositions. Its another aspect of the Art of Photography.
You may be aware of a typical photography editing style of Orange and Teal. Why orange and teal? Look on a color wheel and you tell me. Teal sits between Blue and Green - and the opposite or complementary color is orange. Have a blue sky and yellow-orange building? shift the hue of the blue sky to be a little teal - shift the yellow-orange building to be a little more orange. Voila ~ your image is likely more appealing and interesting. I instruct photography locally in my town and dedicate about 10-15 minutes to Color Theory because I feel it is largely unknown as a creative tool and it could give you an edge over other photographers.
Photography apps like Adobe Lightroom are full of Color Theory tools. The slider for Temperature is Blue and Yellow which is Cool and Warm Complementary Colors. The Tint is Green and Magenta - also Complementary Colors. You can use Complementary Colors to manage or cancel our a color cast. If your image has a color cast of Yellow - add its compliment (which is Blue) to help cancel it out. I took drone shots of my local lake in the summer and the water was an unattractive Green. I selected the water in Lightroom with a brush mask - used the Green / Magenta slider moving it towards Magenta which cancelled out the Green to a large extent - and then I used the Blue / Yellow slider and added some Blue and presto - Blue water instead of Green.
Its not just by chance that many a formal men's suit is Blue, with Yellow or Gold accents (Gold tie and kerchief). Its typical to see Red and Green together at Christmas - although according to the color wheel - Crimson and Turquoise or Magenta and Green could also work.
In 2021, I happened upon an online course titled "Secrets of Color-Grading in Photography" by Joanna Kustra which opened my eyes to Color Theory and since then - I can't help but see Color Theory everywhere - in nature, in advertising, in interior decorating - in art - and especially when I'm composing my photography or later as I edit.. Joanna is a fashion photographer but she lays out Color Theory superbly, even showing how the great historical art masters knew about Complementary Colors likely before there was a wheel to show them. Joanna goes into some depth about Complementary Colors including Split Complementary and others aspects. Here is a link to her course as of Dec. 2023:
In addition to the Temperature and Tint sliders mentioned above, there are a few other tools of Color Theory in Adobe Lightroom such as the Color Grading Panel. Here you could for example add Blues in the Shadows - and Yellows in the highlights for a pleasing look. This technique gets into Color Grading which is widely used in film to give your image or scene a certain look and mood. In the Color Mixer Panel - I have an example of a subtle adjustment of the Hues for making any Blues a little more Teal (adjusting the sky for example), and any Yellows a little more Orange (adjusting buildings for example)
Two other tools in Lightroom to play with Color Theory are the Calibration Panel which has a few sets of color sliders, and finally the Tone Curve Panel, where you can adjust the Red (and complementary Cyan) Curves, the Green (and complementary Magenta) Curves, and the Blue (and complementary Yellow) Curves of the RGB histogram.
A final note on basic Color Theory: Warm Colors (typically seen on the right in a color wheel such as yellows, oranges, and reds) look better in a photo or art as placed in the foreground, while Cool Colors (typically seen on the left side of color wheels) are best in the background. Think of mountains in the background an artist has painted - they typically have blues or purple blues in the shadows. Typically Warm Colors look best in the foreground (likely your main subject) while Cool Colors Recede and look best in the background.
I hope this has served as a reasonable introductory outline to Color Theory and, as paint artists do - I hope you experiment with it in your photography. Having learned Color Theory, I can't not see it now and use it in my photography.
Cheers ~
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