How to use the complementary color palette?

Today I’m going to be sharing with you, how to use the Complementary color palette. We’ve already covered the analogous color palette so make sure to check that out if you haven’t yet.

What is complementary color palette?

A complementary color palette uses opposite color tones to create contrast between the colors.

One of the most famous complementary color palette’s is the “teal & orange”

It’s simply all over social media, movies and everywhere you look.

Let’s go through how you can achieve this color palette in your own photos.

How to achieve complimentary color palette?

My number one tip is to not force it into the image. I see many photographers trying to put teal & orange color palette into every single photo they take. But it doesn’t work that way.

You have to lean into the colors already in your image.

For example, let’s look at an image of a sunset in a snowy landscape

In this image we’ve added some blue color into the shadows to really emphasize that cold feeling of winter and the snow.

In the sky though, we’ve added some orange and red tones to add contrast between the colors. This brings out the warmth of the sun to the image but also makes it more impactful.

When to use it?

The best time to use the complimentary color palette is when you already have opposite color tones in the image.

For example, blue & yellow, teal & orange, green & purple, etc

Sunset or sunrise is probably the easiest place to use this on because you can just put a tone of blue into the shadows and a tone of blue or orange into the highlights and midtones.

A complimentary color palette is used to create a high contrast and an impactful photo so keep that in mind when editing.

Similar color palettes

There’s couple different color palettes that are very similar to complimentary color palette that I like to use.

These are called split complementary color palette and triadic color palette

In split complementary color palette you use a two adjacent colors of the direct complementary color of the color you chose. That may sound complicated but it’s actually very easy.

It’s basically a complementary color palette but instead of using the direct complementary color, you use two different colors from both sides of the complementary color.

Then there’s the triadic color palette, which is little bit easier to explain. It basically uses three different colors that are evenly spread out on the color wheel.

What’s next?

Interrail trip is done and next is my service in the Finnish army. I will try to post a blog post every week but I might miss some weeks for obvious reasons.

The near future is very uncertain at the moment but I’ll get through this.

But for now, I’ll see you in the next blog post!