Jon Adams and Andrew James explain how you can master the art and science of colour and create images with real impact

Jon Adams and Andrew James

Colour is such a natural part of our perception that most of us rarely think about it. As photographers, we simply react to subjects and scenes we find attractive or thought-provoking, and raise the camera to our shooting eye. We start weighing up the composition, the focus point and the way elements are balanced within the frame. We might think about the depth of field we’d ideally like, and how fast our shutter speed needs to be. But when it comes to colour, it’s just there: an integral, fixed part of the scene that’s as remote and immovable as a mountain in a landscape.

Over the next dozen pages, we’re going on a journey that delves deeper into this core photographic element. We’re going to open the door on this seemingly fixed idea, and discover that it can be moulded and shaped to help you create better images. You’ll discover not only how colour works in terms of its makeup and how you perceive it, but also about how you can choose it, adjust it and even change it completely to suit your photographic vision.

Some techniques depend on the way you set up your camera, and others rely on simple software skills using a raw converter or Photoshop, but all will get you thinking about colour in a more profound way.

Graphic designers and artists think actively about the use of colour in their work - they start with a blank sheet and have to make choices about the colour palette they employ, and where they put it. As a photographer, you can do this too - and you’re about to learn how!

HOW TO TAKE THIS SHOT

TAKE A MACRO MIX OF OIL & WATER

1 Add oil to your water

Put a small drop of washing-up liquid into a tumbler of water and give it a stir, then leave it until it settles and clears. Add a few drops of olive oil (or any other kind), which will clump into droplets on the surface.

2 Pick a colour base

Place a few sheets of coloured paper under the tumbler. The oil drops will act like a lens and the colours will form your background. Shine a torch from different angles to boost the contrast and saturation.

3 Shoot macro

Fit a macro lens and set up your camera on a tripod, pointing straight down at the glass. Focus on a small area using Manual Focus and Live View, and shoot in Aperture Priority mode. Move the torch for different effects.

The science of colour

Get a little colour theory under your belt

Cast your eyes to the right, and you’ll see a nature shot of a bee heading off from a flower on a nectar hunt. But think in terms of pure colour, and there’s a certain harmony going on: magenta flowers, green foliage and the yellow insect ‘popping’ out. The reason this shot’s colour palette is eye-catching is that it has a primary colour (green) and its opposing secondary colour (magenta) working together.

The primary colours of light are red, green and blue (RGB). Cameras (and your eyes) mix these together to form all the colours you see. Opposing these are the secondary colours: cyan, magenta and yellow (CMY). They’re opposites: for example, cyan is a mixture of green and blue, and contains no red. Similarly, magenta is a mix of red and blue (with no green), and yellow is a mix of red and green (with no blue).