The colors you pick for your presentation are the most powerful design choices you make. The strong primary colors – red, yellow and blue – are often selected without much thought to other options. They are bold, brassy and obvious. But take a moment to consider the secondary colors.
Susan says:
Secondary colors are made from primary colors. Red and blue combine to make purple. Red and yellow equal orange. Blue and yellow become green. Maybe it’s because you get glimpses of the colors that make them that I feel the secondary colors are softer, subtler, more friendly. In comparison the primaries are cocky and in your face. The secondary colors evoke springtime when nature shows off her best stuff. Picking a leaf green, sunny orange, or a alpine-glow purple suggest the choices nature makes. And it roots your presentation in that organic, fertile world.
You may gravitate to the bold and decide to stick with the primary colors. That’s okay, but just maybe what you have to say is enhanced by a royal purple palette, or a striking combination of purple and green with accents of orange. It can be a revelation to experiment with the different emotional feel a secondary color palette gives your design. Straying from the obvious into new territory has its benefits. Why not give it a try?
Lucia says:
I have to admit, I wasn’t thinking of secondary colors when I shot these photos. I was thinking of the beauty of the flowers and how I was going to capture them to give them their due. Each of these photos is a close-up revealing the intricate lines and shapes of each bloom. And then there are the raindrops on the green and the dew on the orange – what can I say, I was completely hooked.
Secondary Colors and the Photographer
Now, after reading what Susan had to say about the colors, I see there is an emotional draw to these photos. There’s a softness 
and subtlety to their beauty that has a subliminal calming effect. As you can see, the impact of secondary colors can be enticing. I think I’ll be on the lookout for these delicate influences and make conscious decisions to implement them in the future.
