Orange color and its impact in photography

Orange color is visible through wavelength range of 585-620 nanometers. It is the second highest wavelength to the human eye after red wavelength. In color wheel, the orange is residing between yellow and red hue on the visual spectrum. Blue is the complementary color of orange.

Orange color’s meaning

The orange word distinctly uses as color in 15th century. People called it yellow red before that. You can mostly find this color in vegetables, fruits and sunrise or sunset in our daily life. Hence, the use of this color makes an impact to the viewers mind of nourishment, refreshment, boldness, warm heart, creativity, confidence and energy.

Indians are using orange as a mark of sacred and lucky color. In Japanese and Chinese cultures, it denotes courage, happiness and good health. Buddhist monks, Hindu Swamiji also wear orange robe. Some part of middle eastern countries associates it with mourning.

Orange hue in visual art

In ancient Rome, orange-red vermilion was used to paint frescos, decorate statues and color the faces of victors in roman triumphs. Ancient Egyptians use orange hue for hieroglyphics. North and South Americans used Vermilion (a shade of orange) to paint burial sites, ceramics, figurines and murals. The famous painters like Rembrandt, Jean Aubert (Rococo style), Van Gogh, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Elizabeth Siddal used orange colors in the renaissance time.

Orange color in photography

Photographers mainly use it in landscape with golden hour and portraiture at present. They use orange filters in black and white photography to balance red and yellow color. It helps to extract the clouds in the sky and darkening purpose. People use orange to produce warm tone, smooth skin tone and cover blemishes. Orange comes in a wide range of tonalities, from dark brown like tree bark to vibrant orange like a pumpkin.

You can catch a rich, orange-based color scheme during sunset, especially if you find a really flat area. People usually take incredible photos in orange tones in the deserts at sunrise or sunset.

You might like to read the other colors impact in photography like Violet, Blue, Green and Yellow.

Acknowledgement: Various photographic websites and pexels