Color Psychology - How To Use Colors To Tell Your Story with Photography
What is Color Psychology?
I have always been a nerd for symbolism. One of my favorite things about creating art is playing with brain associations to represent common ideas. (And what is photography if not art!) Using color theory, you can add emotion, personality, and ideas to your photo session. I love this concept because it makes the experience of creating photos more meaningful and unique to you! Color psychology refers to how the perception of colors impact human behavior. We have a tendency to associate different meanings with different colors, and those meanings can vary across cultures.
What do the Colors Mean?
Because color psychology is somewhat subjective, I encourage you to write out your own associations with these colors. However, if that sounds cumbersome or you’re really just here for a quick read, here are some common color associations found by experts in the field.
Red: intense emotion, passion, strength, courage, excitement, confidence, and masculinity
Orange: optimism, social energy (extroversion), enthusiasm, spontaneity, freedom, bold, and playful
Yellow: creative, new ideas, uplifting, cheerful, warm, knowledgeable, and quick wit
Green: balance, growth, peace, community, femininity, motivational, and healing
Blue: loyalty, integrity, calming, sincere, compassionate, analytical, and sensitive
Purple: fantasy, mystical, dignity, wisdom, luxury, romance, and introspection
photo credit: Harris Visual Media
photo credit: Heart and Pine
How to Use Colors In Your Photos
You can get creative with how you incorporate colors in your photos. Here are a few ideas to get you started!
Use pops of color - I wish I was a person that looked amazing in bright orange. I’m very pale and bright colors don’t contrast well with my natural look. If you find yourself wanting to use a loud color, but you don’t want it to overwhelm your photo, you can use it in small doses! You can achieve this by using props, such as flowers, confetti, smoke bombs, and balloons. You might also consider accessorizing with a bright color by painting your nails in that color or wearing colorful shoes, hair accessories, and jewelry.
Tip! If you are going to use a very loud color or if you’d like to use a lot of different colors, it might be a good idea keep the rest of the photo as neutral as possible. For example, your family can all wear beige/white and one colorful accessory (dad has a purple tie, mom has red nails, son is wearing blue socks, and daughter has a pink bow- you get the picture!)
Showcase all of the personalities - You can showcase all the personalities of your family with well placed use of color. You might associate your partner with the color red, yourself with the color blue, and your children with green and purple. Using this example, you might choose a green background (such as a national park in the summer), use red accessories or props, and use periwinkle (a bluish purple color) in your outfits.
Go beyond personality - When I was first exposed to color psychology, I delved into thinking about what “color” individuals in my life represented with their personality traits. (My son is an Orange through and through!) You can tell a beautiful story using personalities as your inspiration. However you might want to take a different approach. You could use color psychology to tell the story of the past year for you and your family. If you had a lot of personal growth in your family, maybe you do a green color pallet. You might use color to embody values your family holds. Maybe loyalty and compassion is important to your family, so you employ the color blue.
Play with different hues - Hues are different shades of the same color- Navy is a dark hue of blue, cobalt blue is a bright hue, and powder blue is a pastel. You can use hues to highlight different emotions. Darker hues are often considered more moody and dramatic. Brighter hues are more bold and energizing. Pastels convey light heartedness and gentleness.
If you want to have fun with colors for your next photo session, let me know! I love collaborating with clients to create works of art that feel personal and deeply rooted in emotion. I’m sure we can come up with some unique concepts together.
