Lesson 5 – Shoot Monochrome In Color

Thanks for sticking with me this far- I'm sure you get a lot of emails! Today's tip revolves around thinking about color in a different way.

In photography, color matters and it plays a significant role in helping to define the story we're trying to tell with our imagery.

When framing our shots, we're often taught to use elements of balance and contrast to create strong compositions. For example, when using color a primary element, 

I often try to incorporate a mix of hot and cool hues, like orange and blue. Opposites on the color wheel, these two colors together can create a pleasing balance for the viewer. 

Other times, I like to feature a spot of red or oragne - the hot colors. This helps pull your viewer right into the scene, 

A complete different approach is to USE A SINGLE COLOR SCHEME in your images. In other words, creating a monochromatic image, but instead of shooting in black and white, you're shooting in color. 

What if you play a little trick on your viewers and focus on something else in the frame that's NOT THE MAIN SUBJECT?This is not a commonly used technique, so if you do it well, you an create some pretty compelling photographs. 

By bathing an entire scene in a single color family, you trap your viewer in an almost surreal slice of the world. You can also dictate the overall mood of the shot, depending on the particular color you use. 

Of course, without the element of color variation, your main and secondary subjects won't have the help they usually do, they'll have to carry the scene. 

You'll need to make effective use of other compositional ideas, like the ones we've already covered, such as relationships, abbreviate and focus. 

With careful framing, your monochromatic color images can have as much or more visual power than a traditional color photograph.

With careful framing, your monochromatic color image can have as much or more visual power than a traditional color photograph, simply because we're not used to seeing this way. We're surrounded by color in our lives, and if you break your scene down to just one, you can tell a unique story. 

Here's a post about the visual power of shooting in black and white.