Including a small area of red can sometimes do wonders for a photograph! With this in the back of my mind, I am always alert to something red appearing in my image finder!

Whether it works or not, probably depends on a lot of other factors, like what else  is in the photograph! But there is no doubt, that if you get it right, a small focal point of red can catch the eye and improve a photograph. I will leave readers to decide whether this works or not, in any these photos which I took recently in Florence, Italy.

Red is a warm colour and in general, warm colors will appear to advance, i.e. to stand out in a picture or photograph. But the effect also depends on the surrounding colours and – I think – on how much space (area) they take up in a photo. The relative brightness of different colours – whether they are in light or shade – will also affect the result. If red takes up the majority of the photograph, like this tiny red car (below), then the effect gets a bit lost although I still like the result!

At the other end of the scale, if the red areas are too small, like these red jackets in this river shot (below), then the effect is also diluted.

The effect is also a bit muted if there are multiple red areas in a photo, as in this street market scene below.

In conclusion, I think it works best to highlight an otherwise fairly ordinary photo, like the first one (above).