How to take better travel photos: Use color effectively

April 28, 5:10 PMSeattle International Travel ExaminerAnnika Hipple

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This article is the second in a series designed to help travelers (and others) improve their photography. The first article presented what photographers call the rule of thirds. This week the focus is on the importance of color. 

Developing an eye for color will help you add interest to your photos. Colors are important in creating the mood of a photograph. They give the image emotional resonance and energy.

Understand the feelings colors create

Reds, oranges, and yellows are vibrant colors that create a feeling of warmth and energy. Blues, greens, and purples give a photo a sense of stillness or tranquility. Grey, black, and white can create a stark or cold feeling.

The photo below, of Bryce Canyon in Utah, gives an impression of warmth - and not just because of the desert landscape. The orange tone of the stone and sand contributes to the feel of the picture.

In contrast, this photo of boats on the Ganges River at Varanasi, India, gives a sense of peace and calm. This is largely due to the predominance of purple and bluish tones, a result of the early morning light.

The photo below of the Fishermen's Memorial in Seattle demonstrates how color can create a sense of cold. The dark grey statue against the greyish-white sky give the photo a stark, desolate feeling.

Use complementary colors

You may remember learning the complementary colors in elementary school. Red and green, orange and blue, and yellow and purple are all pairs of primary colors that work well when used together. Look for opportunities to pair them in your photography: a red berry on a green plant, perhaps, or an orange boat on a blue lake. Pairing complementary colors can create an effective balance of warmth and coolness, of energy and calm.

Sometimes finding complementary colors is easy, as in the first photo, from the Mindo cloud forest in Ecuador, where the red flower contrasts nicely with the green foliage. The second photo was taken at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California. A large part of its effectiveness is due to the way the orange jellyfish stand out against the blue background.

Other times, you may have to look a little harder to find complementary colors, but keeping an eye out for opportunities to use them can lead to more effective photos.

Look for spots of color to add interest

If you're shooting a fairly monochromatic subject, look for spots of colors to create interest. Examples include a lone red leaf lying on green lawn or a person with a yellow raincoat walking by a gray building.

In the photo below, the lone red boat stands out from the rest of the boats at Seattle's Fisherman's Terminal. The spot of color makes the photo much for interesting than it would have been with just white boats.

Similarly, the little red house on the rocks adds a point of interest to this photo of crashing surf at Landsort, Sweden.

Keep an eye out for patterns and matching colors

Using color effectively is closely related to spotting patterns, another photographic technique that will be discussed in a future article. This photo from Taxco, Mexico, would have been much less interesting if all the pigs in the truck had been pink. It was the presence of a lone black pig that caught my eye. It breaks the pattern and makes the picture.

As with all photography, color is often a matter of serendipity. In the photo below, from Amber Fort in Rajasthan, India, it was pure chance that my friend's clothing happened to match the colors of the orange mounds of spices and the white bags below. This color coordination adds an extra element of unity to the photograph.

Color is only one of the many tools at the photographer's disposal. However, if you can develop an eye for color and use the various techniques described here, you'll go a long way towards adding interest to your photography.