Photo Tips

Composing with Color

By Lewis Kemper

Learning how to use color to compose an image is as important as learning compositional rules and controlling exposure in making a successful picture.

While just having good color will not make a successful image, the art of incorporating, color, line and form together can take an ordinary image and make it extraordinary!

In order to control color you need to understand color. We are going to start with a basic color wheel and explore the relationship between colors.

© Lewis Kemper

As you can see the warm colors are on the top of the color wheel and the cool colors on the bottom. Notice too that opposite every warm color is its cool color opposite. This can come in handy when using filters in shooting or working on images in the digital darkroom. If you want to make a color redder you can remove cyan in the digital darkroom to accomplish this, or to remove a green cast in nature you would use a magenta filter over your lens.

In this article we are going to concentrate on color interaction. Specifically we are going to be working on the relationship between warm and cool colors. Just as your eye is attracted to the lightest part of an image, your eye is also attracted to warm colors. Therefore you need to be aware about placing warm tones near the edges of your frame as you are about placing highlights near those edges. However, exception to this rule is if you have contrasting colors.

If you have an image that is predominately warm in color with an accent of cool, your eyes will be quickly drawn toward the cool color. And vice versa, if you have an image with predominately cool colors with an accent of warm you will be pulled toward the warm. In fact there is an old joke in the industry that there was a time at National Geographic that there was a rule, “If you can’t make it good… make it red!”

In the images below I have concentrated on working with these relationships by shooting images that have predominate warm or cool tones, and then adding an accent of the opposite tone.

We are going to start with a picture that is made up mostly with warm tones and has an accent of cool colors. The accent should be no more than 20% of the image. Here are some examples of what I have in mind.

Warm with Cool Accent

© Lewis Kemper

This was done in Death Valley as well. The sun was going down and I turned around to see what was being lit by the sun. I noticed the warm cliffs reflecting in the water and noticed the blue light from the shadow on the salt flat. I zoomed in to eliminate the scale and concentrate on the color relationships.

© Lewis Kemper

Again this is another sunset situation (Pt. Reyes National Seashore, CA) where I turned around to look away from the sun to see what was happening. Behind me were sandstone cliffs. The warm light of sunset was making them glow and I saw them reflected in a small creek that was flowing into the ocean. I also noticed if I got down low I could pick up the reflection of the blue sky in the water so I had the warm colors with the cool accent.

© Lewis Kemper

I found this poppy while I was photographing with a macro lens. A friend placed their red shirt down by accident and it was partially in the image. She started to remove it and I said “No, let me move it.” I placed it so that it was filling the frame. I saw right away that the red background and warm flower would be startling contrast to the green stem. The color contrast was so great that the Kodachrome film couldn’t make a smooth transition in color and added the halo around the stem!

© Lewis Kemper

This was made near Acadia National Park in Maine. I had just finished teaching a workshop and was driving back towards the airport when I came across a section of forest with amazing autumn color. I pulled over on a little gravel road and was rewarded with this scene. I spotted the two green trees, one on each side of the creek and composed the image to add these two accents of cool colors to the warmth of the scene.

Cool with a Warm Accent

Next we are going to use pictures that are made up mostly with cool tones and have an accent of warm colors. The accent should be no more than 20% of the image. Here are some examples of what I have in mind.

© Lewis Kemper

This is another old film image. I spent a summer kayaking in Glacier Bay, Alaska in my youth. My kayaking buddy and I each had these bright orange rain suits we were field testing for North Face made of a new product of the time, Gortex. Between the rain suits and our orange life jackets we really stood out in the land of ice! I had Jay paddle out in front of Reid Glacier so I could take these shots.

© Lewis Kemper

I took this one on 4 × 5 film in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I really liked the waterfall and I noticed how cool the image was. When I first got there the scene had no sign of autumn, so I gathered all the red leaves you see in the image from underneath a maple tree just behind me and strategically placed them in the scene. I think it helped!

© Lewis Kemper

This was one of my all time favorite photographic mornings. My friends and I were on a photo trip and by luck hit this beach at the lowest tide of the year. There were Seastars all over the rocks. I wandered around until I found this lone rock and pool of water. To my luck it had the one prominent warm colored Seastar amongst all these beautiful cool tones of dawn, plus the clouds were just starting to warm up.

© Lewis Kemper

These Scarlet Macaws were taken in Costa Rica at a wildlife rehab center. I had been trying to get flight shots when the pair landed in this palm. I knew if I zoomed in and eliminated all the other colors except the green leaves I would have a cool with warm accent image.

Next time you are out photographing I want you to start visualizing and becoming aware of these color relationships and how you can use them to give greater impact to your images. Have fun!