Lesson 14: Basic Color Theory

Chelsea London © 2019 | Fujifilm X-T1 | 35.0mm | ƒ/1.4 | 1/1000s | ISO 500

As photographers, we have a lot of tools available to us: compositional rules, lighting knowledge, the exposure triangle, and so on. Color is just another one of those tools. While it can be an intimidating element to a photographer, color can help solidify a voice. Knowing and understanding color theory - the way painters, designers, and artists of all trades do - a photographer can utilize color to their benefit.

You may already be aware of the concept of additive and subtractive color (RGB vs. RYB), which is something we will touch upon in the next post in this series. For the sake of this lesson, we will be talking in generics about color theory and are focusing on Red Yellow Blue (RYB).

In this lesson we’ll look at orders of colors, variables of colors, and color schemes. By the end, you should be able to recognize different color orders and schemes, and how to use variables to bring out the most in your images.