This exercise will help you practice working with different color combinations. Each of the five photos you’re after takes a different approach to finding the right color balance.
Here’s what you’re looking for:
A monochromatic image. You have a few options for creating this one. You can shoot in black and white mode if your camera allows. You can shoot in color and convert to black and white in an editing app. You can also use an editing app to convert your full color photo to a monochromatic color scheme such as sepia toning.
A monochromatic subject. For this one you’re looking for a scene that’s basically all one color. Don’t edit the color this time. Find it out in the world.
A dominant color. This one should have a good color range, but one color should clearly stand out.
A pair of analogous colors. This one will have a dominant color as well, but it should also feature colors near to it on the wheel.
A pair of complementary colors. Again you’ll work with a dominant color, but a significant part of the rest of the photo should be the opposite color on the wheel.
Extra Challenge
Look for those same five color combos, but seek your goals in nature. That’s a wide-open category including flowers, trees, wildlife and more. Spring and fall are good times of year to find color in nature. If you’re doing this exercise in the fall, the leaves should start changing. And if you’re doing it in the spring, plants should be blooming.
For some more in-depth tips, have a look at these articles from PictureCorrect:
You can also find more links to articles about nature photography on this Pinterest board.