The snow has been turning into rain around here! I guess Phil the groundhog was right. There’s so much green I’m convinced spring will indeed come early! I even spotted some early plants popping up. All this new vegetation is a great excuse to talk about how to capture the color green.

Last year, we explored the color red and some of the difficulties you may have with it. Green is no different! It can present some challenges but it also is a great color to add life and vibrancy to your photographs.

Photographing the Color Green
Week 9: 2/23 – 3/1

1. Watch out for color casting! If you are using green as a main background color, you need to be careful of color casting. No one looks good with a green tint to their skin coloring. This is especially important to remember with newborns! To combat the color casting, pay attention to your white balance. Setting a custom white balance might be the way to go.

2. Look for complimentary colors. Red and green is one of the most common color contrasts. Unless it’s around the holidays, I try to stay away from this color combination. I’m not sure why, but I do! However, they do compliment each other based on color theory. Other great complimentary colors for green are purples and pinks. By adding these pops of colors to your green background, you actually enhance the greens.

3. Go monotone. The color green comes in a variety of shades. Try taking a monotone photograph highlighting the different tonal shades of green. Use shadows to give your photograph depth and to avoid it from looking flat.

4. Use a polarizing filter. A polarizing filter will help give your greens appear rich and vibrant in color. It will also help any blues to pop. When you use a filter, you prevent most of the UV reflections from appearing on your photo. The UV reflections will pool into the blue channel. By desaturating any blues, you will enhance your greens!

5. Edit your photograph. You can make your greens vibrant with the help of a little post-processing. If you use a program that has sliders, like Lightroom, you can use the sliders to enhance the vibrance, saturation, and clarity of your photo. You can also single out the green channel to boost the saturation. Be careful though! Use a light hand when editing with your green channel. You can easily go overboard and end up with an unrealistic photograph.

Your challenge this week is to share a photograph that emphasizes the color green. Make sure you share your photos on Facebook!

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