Impact of an Accent Colour
Colour is an effective anchor in photography. Picking one accent colour helps to maximise the impact of a photo. Bold colours capture attention and can make the simplest photo appear much punchier.
1. Dominant Colour on Book Cover
The quickest way to make accent colours pop is to identify the dominant colour on a book cover and picking a background analogous to that colour. An example of this is what I did with Small Damages by Beth Kephart. The oranges on that cover are very striking.
I could’ve used a white background to avoid distractions. Instead, I placed the book on an orange background. This way the colour orange became a much stronger anchor.
Same goes with the audiobook of How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr on my iPhone. I matched a light purple background, which also served as a border around my phone. Using the purple accent colour also added another layer of interest to a photo that could’ve just been a plain old boring phone.
2. Stack Accent Colours
Generally, you can’t go wrong with book stacks. What makes book stacks appear more put together though is when their colours match. In this case, the combination of red books elevated that book stack. At the same time, reducing the colours in that book stack ensured that the camera on top remained the focal point.
3. Add Matching Items
There are so many photos of open books, so how can you set yours apart from the rest? You guessed it! Pick an accent colour. In my example I used brown. The wooden background alone wouldn’t have been anywhere near as interesting without the chocolate placed on top of the open book’s pages.
I wish I could take bookish photos are pretty as yours! I’m going to have to start practicing when I get some spare time to see if I can improve! I love the first photo. The orange background makes the photo look amazing! Great post! Rita xx
THESE TIPS ARE GOLD. You’re one of the best bookstagrammers I know out there (your pictures always stand out on my feed because they’re so bright and colorful), so thank you so much for sharing these tips with us, Jo! <3 I also read somewhere that you don't use filters for your pictures at all (I hope it was you and not someone else, heh), which I just find amazing. I think I’ll have to go to the art shop soon to get some materials for my photos, now! It’s really frustrating, because my pictures have the same backgrounds over and over again — either my wooden flooring, or my pale bedspreads. Ugh.
I think the biggest problem I have with my pictures are the shadows, though. I don’t have any fancy photography props like a tripod or spotlight or even a DSLR (I use my phone most of the time, lol), so the shadows look *awful*, especially when it’s a dark-colored book I’m using. Reducing them in vsco doesn’t work either, because the picture turns too pale. How do you take your pictures so the shadows are less striking?
Thank you, Megan! <3 I'm so honoured you think so *blushes* And yeah, that was me. Haha. I've not used any filters for any of my bookstagram photos so far. For now, I don't plan on using them either.
As for repetitive backgrounds, I do end up using white a lot. That way I can focus more on the composition since I don't have much time nowadays to attempt more elaborate photos. I find construction paper is a great go-to resource. It's inexpensive and when I run out of it, my sister usually has her stash, which I can use.
Actually, I talked about softening shadows before at https://wordrevel.com/bright-colours-soft-shadows/. You can refer to it :) But to summarise, I use a white foam board to reflect the light on the side on which the shadows are cast. When I don’t have foam boards on hand, I improvise with drawing blocks or even blank sheets of paper.
You make it sound and look so simple, but this is seriously something I’ve never thought about.. Playing with colored backgrounds to bring out the color from a book is something I should try more often! Thanks for the tip :D
The more you play around with colours, the more you’ll develop an eye for it :)
You know how I feel about these posts, Joséphine–they’re pure genius. I love the tips that you give and definitely agree with this. Plus that first picture is just stunning. The orange really packs a punch.
*blushes* The more you say so, the more I’ll worry about running out of ideas. Haha. And yes, I decided to share this because a lot of people seem to be under the impression that minimalism means plain empty and white. It doesn’t have to be that way :)