Exploring Color

When it comes to color in a photo it plays a really important role by conveying emotion into the photo. It does so by using many different ways to influence the mood, some examples may include warmth colors, cool colors, contrast, saturation, color harmony, and even symbolism. High contrast between colors can create drama and tension. Unlike low contrast can produce a softer, and more subtle effect. Some examples of warm colors may include red, orange, and yellows giving off feelings of warmth, happiness and passion.  Some examples of cool colors may include blues, greens, and purples that can give off a feeling of calmness, sadness, and a sense of tranquility and distance. Saturation is more or less the brightness of saturated colors that can feel vibrant and intense. Symbolism in reference to  colors can carry many different cultural meanings like red for love or danger, or black for mourning, this can help by giving the viewer an emotional response. Thus by doing this it can impact the viewer by using color to enhance the narrative and emotion of an image. 

Contrast is essential in an image for several reasons,visual interest, depth and dimension, mood and emotion, clarity and focus, and composition. Overall effective use of contrast is a powerful tool in photography and design, by helping to convey meaning and emotion while enhancing visual appeal. If i was to make an image monochromatic it could have many impactful effects like simplification that reduces visual clutter and focusing more on shades of a single color. Or helping highlight shapes and textures. Using only one color can create a sense of harmony and cohesion in the image, making it feel more unified. Unlike a duotone photo that uses two colors to create a striking visual effect. A technique that typically involves a grayscale image that is tinted with two colors one mainly for shadow and the other for the highlights. 

If I was to focus color in only one certain area in a photo it would most likely have an outcome of selective color thus focusing the viewers attention to colored area. Doing this can enhance the photios impact and meaning making it a powerful tool in visual storytelling. 

My example for this exercise will consist of a black and white photo I took earlier in the week including one main color drawing all the attention to the middle. While editing this photo I learned that I could desaturate the image while keeping the red flower red with its color with the help of my object selection tool.