Inspired by Late Grandmother’s Favorite Color: Latest Readers Photo Challenge

This month’s Readers Photo Challenge focuses on the color purple.

Purple is often associated with royalty, nobility, luxury, and power. This fascinating hue is a secondary color, formed by combining the primary colors red and blue. Its shade can vary significantly, ranging from soft lavenders and lilacs to vibrant violets and deep burgundies.

There are several approaches to photographing any color effectively. You can use purple as the dominant color that takes up most of the scene, or as a striking accent in a different-colored setting. Combining complementary or contrasting colors can also make purple stand out more vividly, drawing attention to your main subject.

Flowers and plants provide an abundant source of purple hues. Species such as lavenders, lilacs, and verbenas are excellent examples. These can be found growing wild or cultivated in gardens, even in our own yards. Whether you choose to photograph them in their natural habitat or arranged in indoor settings, backlighting can make the petals glow, enhancing the color and adding depth to your photos.

Beyond flowers, several fruits and vegetables also feature the color purple. Plums, prunes, açaí berries, and eggplants are naturally purple. There are even purple varieties of vegetables not typically associated with the color, like cauliflower, carrots, asparagus, tomatoes, and potatoes.

Sunsets offer another opportunity to capture purple, although not during the “golden hour” when the sun is still visible. Between the fading golden glow and the onset of the “blue hour” of dusk, the sky can transition into beautiful shades of pink and purple. This period is brief, often lasting just a few minutes, so be prepared to act quickly.

My late grandmother’s favorite color was purple. I often remember her in her violet sweater. Purple can prominently feature in various kinds of clothing, especially sports uniforms. With high school football starting soon, those whose team colors include purple should feel free to capture their favorite athletes in action.

Photos must be taken between Aug. 20 and Sept. 3. When submitting, include your full name, hometown, the type of device used, and the location of the photo (e.g., John Doe of Stockton, Canon 5D Mk IV, Victory Park, Stockton). If the photo includes recognizable individuals, please identify them and describe the context, mentioning any relationships (e.g., “My son John Jr., 6, holds a purple rose at Victory Park in Stockton”). Feel free to share interesting anecdotes or stories about how you took the picture. Submissions are limited to 10 photos per person.

Email your entries as jpegs to [email protected] with “Purple” in the subject line. The deadline for submission is Sept. 3. Top picks will be published in the Sept. 10 Record and an online gallery will be available the same day on recordnet.com. The top three winners will receive prints of their photos, and the first-place winner will also get a $25 gift card to a local restaurant.

This article originally appeared on The Record: Late grandmother’s favorite color inspires latest Readers Photo Challenge