Understand tonal relationships

We explain how colour and tonal relationships influence the mood of your landscapes

One way of creating impact is to exploit tonal contrast as a basis for the composition. Tonal contrast is generated when light and dark tones are juxtaposed. Our eyes are drawn to the brighter tones in an image, so it helps if a focal point is lighter than its surroundings. We see this first and then our eyes will travel around the rest of the image; this creates dynamism in the composition. Furthermore, as we tend to ‘read’ images from the bottom of the frame/foreground, to the top/background, combining a darker foreground with a lighter background creates a strong impression of depth.

These principles apply equally to colour and monochrome images, though if shooting monochrome, you need to be aware that some colours, for example red and green, look similar when converted to greyscale. Black and white film shooters use coloured filters to increase the contrast between these similar tones, and digital shooters are able to do the same by tweaking colour channels when converting to mono.

When assessing a scene to decide whether or not it is suitable for black and white, look for a full range of tones, from true black to bright highlights, as well as prominent texture and an ‘active’ sky.

When working in colour, you need to consider the relationships between colours. Colours can be harmonious or contrasting, warm or cool, saturated or muted. The most important relationship is harmony and contrast. This is best understood by looking at a colour wheel. Colours that are next to each other, e.g. blue and green, are harmonious, whereas those that are opposite, such as blue and yellow, are contrasting. Neither relationship is ‘better’ than the other, but harmonious combinations are tranquil, whereas contrasting colours create tension and are more dynamic with more immediate impact.

Colour saturation is also an important consideration. Strong, saturated colours make for powerful, dynamic images – though rather than just increasing saturation during post-production, it is better to seek out colours that are naturally saturated. Muted, pastel tones are more subtle, but extremely effective with the right subject, setting a calm, tranquil mood.

AboveFOREGROUND CONTRAST Here the green bracken provides dynamic contrast with the purple heather LeftCOLOUR WHEEL A colour wheel helps us to understand the relationships between colours. Colours next to each other on the wheel are harmonious, while opposite colours are contrasting Right above CONTRASTING COLOURS Orange and blue are on opposite sides of the colour wheel, creating a dynamic contrast

AboveMONOTONE FOREGROUND With nothing to break up the large block of single colour there is nothing for the eye to pick out Below HARMONY With a palette including browns, oranges and yellows, this is a harmonious image