USING CONTRAST IN YOUR PHOTOS

Contrast is another weapon to add to your photography arsenal that helps you make more memorable photos. Contrast is primarily used to make your subject or focal point stand out – it stands for the difference in tones in an image, but can be applied to other types of contrast as well.

Imagine a field with nothing but white daisies…pretty but boring, right? Now place a red peony somewhere in the scene, where does your eye go? Exactly – to the part of the image that contrasts the rest.

Types of Contrast

There are many types of contrast that you can use to draw the viewer’s eye towards your subject or focal point:

COLOR CONTRAST: Use an item of contrasting color to draw the eye. The more contrasted the colors are, the more the focal point will stand out. For example, a yellow raincoat against green grass, or an orange umbrella against cold grey concrete.

TONAL CONTRAST: This refers to light vs. dark. In black and white photography the most obvious example would be shooting against a background that opposes the skin color of your subject. It could also mean wearing something dark (or holding something dark) against a light background. In color photography, it could mean pink vs. red, or bold colors vs. pastels.

FOCAL CONTRAST: By ensuring your subject is in focus while blurring the surroundings you create a type of focal contrast that draws attention to the subject, since the rest of the photo is out of focus.

PATTERNS: Contrasting patterns can be used to make part of your image stand out – such as placing your child in a solid, single color outfit against a brick wall.

Applying Contrast

Contrast works best when you keep it simple. The more colors and tones that are introduced to the image, the less your subject or focal point will stand out. You may want to play around with different levels and types of contrast to find what works best for your images.

Want to learn more? Check out this post at Photoshop Tutorials that contains some great examples of contrast.