by Editor Colin Dixon 
Edited and published by Yvette Depaepe, the 20st of January 2023

Colour in photography as we all know is one of the most important elements of our images.
We use specific colours and saturation to grab the eye of the viewer.
We can balance the image using complementary colours or using opposing colours such as Orange and Blue / Green and Red for example. 

'Based on a true story' by Arnon Orbach 

'Yellow bike' by Hans-Wolfgang Hawerkamp

But one of the elements I want to write about is the moods of colour.

With a dominant colour we can set a mood in our images. We see this a lot in cinematography where the colour balance in the scene determines how they want to make us feel - horror, romance, etc. Here they commonly use Analogous colours, where one colour is dominant and all the other colours in the scene are similar tones of that colour. You can also use Monochromatic Colour images for the same effect using lighter and darker shades of one colour.  We of course think of this primarily as Black and White with grey tones but the same effect can be achieved using different shades of any colour..

Evoking a certain mood or emotion through colour is key to the art of photography. To use colour effectively in your photos, it’s important to understand how it impacts mood and perception.

BLUE
With the colour blue, you can influence the mood of your photos by incorporating lighter or darker blues, depending on which of the following moods you are going for.

COLD
ISOLATION
MELANCHOLY
CALM

'Snowy Morning' by Ikuo Lga

'Blue Silence' by Jose Beut

'Pattern of light and shadow' by Akira.k

'Behind the Veil' by Colin Dixon

RED
Red is a powerful colour that can bring out a variety of emotions in people depending on how it’s used. Red in an image can bring out:

LOVE
PASSION
DANGER
ANGER
POWER

'Blood like lemonade' by Paulo Abrantes

Red Rose 3 by Sebastian Kisworo

'Dragon' by Ivan Kovelev

ORANGE
Orange can be used to give the feeling of the following:

WARMTH
SOCIABILITY
FRIENDLY
YOUTH

'Once upon a time' by Stefan Miron

'Color Harmony' by Tali Stein

'Balloons' by Witold Ziomek

GREEN
Green is the one cooler colour and can be used to express to following feelings:

NATURE
OMINOUS
DARKNESS
DANGER

'Spring Morning' by Huib Limberg

n/t by Veselin Atanasov

'Surprise!!!' By Pedro Jarque Krebs

PURPLE
Adding purples and purple tints into your images can inspire a feeling of:

FANTASY
ETHEREAL
MYSTICAL
OMINOUS

'Mystery Room' by Desmet Patrick

'Ortus Solis' by Bragi Ingibergsson

'Purple Veil..!!!' by Alfredo Sanchez

Although colour definitely has a subconscious, as well as a conscious impact on how someone perceives your work, when you are creating a mood for your images through a choice of colour, you are doing it with your own feelings and perspective. Many other people will get different feelings from your work, hence why we love what we do  because photography is an art that we create mainly for ourselves.