Improving Bird Photography with Color Theory

Bird Photography  •  Photography Tips

When starting out in photography, we give a great deal of importance to improving skills like composition, getting the exposure correct, and visual story telling. And as we progress, we come across other advanced skills that can help us in improving our skills better. Color theory, for example, is a concept that’s good for photographers to understand really well. It serves as a guide to mixing colors for better visual appearance and sensory impact. In this video, photographer Tim Boyer demonstrates how you can apply the concept of color theory to take your bird photography to the next level:

“Color theory is how we use colors to evoke emotions and responses from our viewers.”

If you haven’t come across color theory before, Boyer gives you a quick run-through of the concept. You can see how to use analogous, complimentary, and monochrome colors to evoke different emotions through your images.

He also talks about how you can use different combinations of colors to lead the viewers’ eyes to what you want them to see. Using the same concept, you can also set different moods to the image. For instance, by using more of red, you can give a sense of danger or energy. Alternatively, the color yellow can evoke a cheerful and pleasant feeling, and make the viewers feel happy.

With the concepts in place, Boyer also gives a practical demonstration of how you can actually put it in practice. You can control the mood of the image by carefully selecting the background and the foreground elements. You’ll need to move around and keep an eye on how you can build the mood around the bird.

So the next time you’re out photographing birds, be sure to seriously consider the colors in your composition.