I spotted this burgundy Dahlia in a beautiful garden yesterday. The Dahlia was perfect but a wide shot showing the surrounding plants did little to enhance it… even though they were also beautiful in their own right. The plants around the Dahlia were bright orange Red Hot Pokers, a clump of pale pink Phlox, purple Malva and a swathe of golden grass – probably Calamagrostis brachytricha.
Photographing the Dahlia from various angles gave me three slightly different shots of the flower but a completely different background colour. Colour is one factor that makes us respond emotionally to images. So that means that we can influence how people feel when they look at our photographs and read the words on our blogs. How do you want people to feel when they visit your blog?
I’d be very interested to know which colours you prefer to see when you visit a blog or website. Does colour influence you?
Which background colour do you prefer above… Green, Gold or Orange? Why does that colour appeal to you?
Please send me a comment with your thoughts. Thank you!
Gillian 😉
The one you chose for the top pic/macro with the orange background is the one that appealed to me….I love all colors of any flower….yellow is my favorite. You have a wonderful eye!
Thanks very much MaryLou. It’s good to know what you think.
Gillian, I liked the bottom row right picture with the orange background. I like flower pictures that also include the budding in them and I liked the shading of oranges and lavender. I have never thought about taking a close up shot from so many angles, but I know when I take my garden pictures from different angles I get totally different scenes! Really interesting what you notice on one picture and don’t on another!
Thanks for taking the time to reply Cady. It is amazing how we can all get the shot we want if we just change our point of view isn’t it?
Love the top pic the most, the interplay of colours was really eye catching and unusual. Agree that the picture with the other plants didn’t pop as much. As for websites, I don’t like ones where the main colour choices make it hard to read (esp white text on black or colour). I wouldn’t read a mustard coloured website but that aside if the writing was good enough I could ignore most background colours. Generally though I prefer white backgrounds. But strong images – which you really do have and I wish I did! X
Thanks Ella. I agree with you about mustard although it is popular in fashion retail this season so we may yet see more mustard blogs popping up! It is much harder to get a good photo with bold colours. Pastels are easier. Thanks for offering your thoughts. Much appreciated.
That’s interesting – I didn’t know that about bold vs. pastel. Next on my list of things to master is decent photography! Got my first SLR this year as a bday present but am still very much at the learner stage. I even have the ‘for dummies’ book! xx
Have a look at Jane Burkinshaws blog http://www.loveyourlens.co.uk/blog/
She writes simple clear articles explaining the basics and has lots of info on Pinterest too. https://www.pinterest.com/PictureItBig/
Ooh, nice – thank you! Will check those out. x
The orange definitely provides a great backdrop to the burgundy. Use of bokeh can really enhance a subject.
Thanks Eliza. It’s good to hear what you think.
I do like lots of colour, so the last background appeals to me a lot. But the dahlia shows up much better with the paler backgrounds, especially green.
Thanks Cathy for taking the time to comment. This has been quite an interesting experiment.
Absolutely love this one, Gillian. Burgundys always grab me 🙂
Thanks Jo!