One-Color Challenge
This week, we’re going unichrome — monochrome, but in color
Join me in a search for one color at a time on the streets of Hong Kong. Your challenge is simple but powerful: fill your frame with a single dominant color — red, blue, green, yellow, pink — any color you choose.
No mixing allowed. Stick to just one color for each shot.
Why This Challenge?
This is one of the best exercises in seeing color more intentionally. It trains your eye to notice subtle variations, patterns, and repetition — and to compose creatively within a major constraint.
Your Rules:
- Pick one color per photo
- You can shoot multiple colors across your images, but each frame should contain only one, with shades and tints of that color.
- Neutrals (black, white, gray) are allowed to support your composition
- Sometimes the color is the background and the subject will be the neutral color.
- Avoid anything that brings in secondary colors — stay focused on the task
- Most importantly: make compelling images — composition still leads the way
What to Look For:
- Clothing, signage, vehicles, walls, packaging, umbrellas, awnings, stuff on the ground. Things we've looked for before!
- Repetition of the same color — or one big burst of it
- Reflections, shadows, and surfaces that reinforce the dominant color
- Unexpected places where your chosen color pops
- Human moments that fit the color palette — a red jacket in front of a red wall, a yellow umbrella juxtaposed with a yellow umbrella
Tips:
- Zoom in or go wide — just make the color the dominate element
- Use neutral backgrounds to isolate and emphasize your chosen color, or just the opposite. Or it’s all color—it’s a world of possibilities
- Don’t force it — let the color come to you
This challenge is all about seeing the city through a different filter — one color at a time. It’s harder than it sounds. And that’s what makes it a challenge
Bonus Challenge:
- Do I even have to say it: one color all day!
### Meet at 2:15 sharp:
Cheung Sha Wan MTR Exit C2, street level, 2:15 PM sharp.
From there, explore the surrounding streets, Its an area that is more open, less crowed and seems to have big blocks of color. (I'm just trying to find new areas to explore all the time!)
### Regroup between 3:45-4:00:
BOHOLIC, G/f, Sea Panorama Court, 561 Fuk Wa Street, Cheung Sha Wan. 3:45-4:00PM Reservation under Robert, and we'll probably seated upstairs. Please stay a while to share your experience, thoughts, and maybe some images while grabbing a drink (or more).
After all this:
Please post 5-7 of your images from the shoot. And PLEASE, be a participant in commenting on other images. Gut reactions and general comments are always welcome. Comments can be subject-related, but better are those that address image-making. It's part of the process and valuable for your fellow photographers.
