Selective Color Thread-Post your Shots!

Rick M

Senior Member
Learning more about Lightroom 3


Crackle for printing-3.jpg
 

Just-Clayton

Senior Member
yes this is fun to do. i did a lot of my senior pictures this way. you can also change the color of the object.
 

Attachments

  • DSC_0046(5x7) (457x640).jpg
    DSC_0046(5x7) (457x640).jpg
    145.5 KB · Views: 527

kayte

New member
fotojack: I did it, actually not that hard at all

pick a photo, duplicate the background and then, with the duplicate selected, convert to black and white, click the eraser and erase the area that you want in colour. Right-click if you over erase to put it back to to black and white.

juno09-1.jpg


not the greatest photo but I was practicing :)
 

fotojack

Senior Member
Cool, Kayte, and thanks. Do you have to shoot in raw, though? I shoot exclusively in jpeg because I can't be bothered with raw.
 

kayte

New member
not that I know of...I shoot in Raw cuz..well I don't know really, just cuz...give it a shot and see, worst that can happen is that it doesn't work...
 

Sambr

Senior Member
not that I know of...I shoot in Raw cuz..well I don't know really, just cuz...give it a shot and see, worst that can happen is that it doesn't work...

Good for you Kayte - keep shooting RAW it gives you the most flexibility in your processing :)
 

Sambr

Senior Member
OK....what's the little avatar for sticking your tongue out at somebody! ;)

LOL not at all Jack. I know a lot of people that shoot Jpeg and produce great photos. However if someone wants to "Play around" with their processing - RAW gives them that ability to do so more readly. I used to shoot Jpeg all the time, then I discovered RAW and Nikon NX - have never looked back. Since I have purchased Lightroom and Photo Shops Elementts between the 3 if I am not happy with an image I can "tweak" it. A lot of my sports photographer friends shoot Jpeg - just because the sheer amount of shots they take one fellow at a "college level" football game will shoot 2-3k of photos a game. Anyways - I always say do what's best for you! I can only suggest my point of view.
 

Just-Clayton

Senior Member
i use the program Serif photo plus x4, same as most programs. Select a layer then convert layer to black and white, but i use a paint brush to wash the color back in. also dont forget to Merge your layers to make one photo or it wont save for you as a JPG. at least in my program. i have an online tutorial that walks you through it. if you want to change the color of the item selected go to the hue,saturation bar and adjust the hue level.
 

Will V|Photography

Senior Member
Selective color can be very overdone IMO. It works best when there is a distinct difference between what you want in B/W and what it looks like in B/W. A lot of times people grayscale an area of a photo that could very well be that color in actuality. That takes away from the conversion IMO. I use selective coloring VERY sparingly because a lot of times the photo would be better off staying the way it is or going full b/w...

Anywho, here is a selective color I did recently.


'51 Chevy (2) by FLWill, on Flickr


'51 Chevy (1) by FLWill, on Flickr

Even in these shots, whatever was converted to B/W could potentially be a similar color (or lack thereof). I wanted the emphasis to be on the pinstriping though, as the owner of the car just had it done the day before.
 

kayte

New member
Selective color can be very overdone IMO. It works best when there is a distinct difference between what you want in B/W and what it looks like in B/W. A lot of times people grayscale an area of a photo that could very well be that color in actuality. That takes away from the conversion IMO. I use selective coloring VERY sparingly because a lot of times the photo would be better off staying the way it is or going full b/w...

Anywho, here is a selective color I did recently.


'51 Chevy (2) by FLWill, on Flickr


'51 Chevy (1) by FLWill, on Flickr

Even in these shots, whatever was converted to B/W could potentially be a similar color (or lack thereof). I wanted the emphasis to be on the pinstriping though, as the owner of the car just had it done the day before.


I agree- I use selective very rarely anymore...used to do it a lot but I also found that some photos worked best full colour or full b/w...I just used my photo to find out how to do it in the program I use.

Also, I love those photos with the selective :)
 

Ranie

Senior Member
Selective coloring makes your subject pop and makes the viewer focus on what you want them to see instantly the moment the look at your picture.

5642219421_2e420fc990_b.jpg
 
Top