Photographic composition with Accent Color
The previous topics were Color Contrast, Color Harmony and Muted Color . We continue with ways of exploiting color in photography with today’s topic – photographic composition with accent color. The concept is like garnish in food – a little in amount to increase the decorative impact.
In this image of Pont Cabrillo Lighthouse in the Mendocino county of Northern California, the red roof, however tiny it is, does not fail to get our attention and adds a much needed punch. A similar example of photographic composition with accent color is given below in the image from 1000 Islands where the red jackets do the job.
Accent color also works great in images which are mainly monochromatic – often due to atmospheric effect. On a cold and foggy winter morning, 3 watchmen were warming up at an apartment building in Noida, a satellite town of New Delhi. The image takes on the bluish veil of the winter. The flames from their makeshift fire pit provide the accent the image needs
The last example of photographic composition with accent color is little more complex. I have to show this as this is one of my favorite recent images – as recent as the afternoon thunderstorm we had earlier in the week. I was taking a stroll from my office to the Path station. Due to the imminent thunderstorm, the tables were empty. I was attracted by the Empire State Building outlined against the thunderclouds and so I took my phone out. The light just before it would start raining was magical. The woman asked me if it was ok for her to sit at the table. She was being polite as she did not want to be in the way and spoil my shot. I was very glad that she wanted to sit there as without her the image would not be worth discussing. The image has mainly blue and grey tones – save for brick building. So her skin tones stand out remarkably, yet in harmony with the brown patch in the back. This is a great example of accent color.
