Spot color
- Thread starter garyyamane
- Start date
In this case it's stop color, not spot color.
On a more serious note, it's something you have to use with parsimony otherwise it gets boring very fast.
BackdoorArts
Senior Member
Selective Color, as it's commonly known, is either highly effective or highly annoying to most viewers. It can be very addictive when you learn how to do it, and that is when restraint becomes your best friend. Never do it because you can, do it because the color adds a voice to the photo that wouldn't be there without it - like the girl in the red raincoat in Schindler's List (though I am of the opinion that we could have lived without that).
It's hard to make any rules about it, but my biggest one is, "Don't shoot a photo where only the Stop sign is in color". Why? Because it's what everyone starts with and always goes back to. Nothing personal - just making a point.
The odd thing is, 10 people can do the exact same selective color with the same subject and only one will be done in a way that has artistic as well as technical merit. That's because the technique is a means to a message, but if you don't know what you're saying then it's just words. Light and texture around it have more to do with it than the color, in my opinion. If the photo doesn't work as a pure B&W then it won't work as a selective color shot. And if it works as a B&W then it needs to work better with the color added. If it has no add'l impact then leave it monochrome.
But heck, photography is supposed to be fun, so if you like doing selective color don't let people like me talk you out of it. It's fun, it really is. So shoot what you like and like what you shoot. But be warned, most people who do selective color only like theirs, and everyone who doesn't do it hates (almost) everybody's. So do it because you like it and take your lumps when you get 'em.
It's hard to make any rules about it, but my biggest one is, "Don't shoot a photo where only the Stop sign is in color". Why? Because it's what everyone starts with and always goes back to. Nothing personal - just making a point.
The odd thing is, 10 people can do the exact same selective color with the same subject and only one will be done in a way that has artistic as well as technical merit. That's because the technique is a means to a message, but if you don't know what you're saying then it's just words. Light and texture around it have more to do with it than the color, in my opinion. If the photo doesn't work as a pure B&W then it won't work as a selective color shot. And if it works as a B&W then it needs to work better with the color added. If it has no add'l impact then leave it monochrome.
But heck, photography is supposed to be fun, so if you like doing selective color don't let people like me talk you out of it. It's fun, it really is. So shoot what you like and like what you shoot. But be warned, most people who do selective color only like theirs, and everyone who doesn't do it hates (almost) everybody's. So do it because you like it and take your lumps when you get 'em.
garyyamane
New member
Yeah, I have mixed feelings about it with the stop sign as well and I suppose creating some controversy is ok.
BackdoorArts
Senior Member
I don't know that it is controversial as much as over-used, or perhaps more correctly, unnecessarily used in most of the cases where it is.
There's a thread for folks to post their Selective Color Images here, and there are obviously fans of the genre. I've used it on several occasions, usually to either highlight a subject, subtract from background noise, or a little of each...
With the first, I wanted to accentuate the color of the fire without oversaturating, so I selectively desaturated everything beyond a point. With the second, I really liked the capture of the ribbon, but it didn't stand out the way I wanted it to in a full color or B&W image...
The main thing is, as with any technique, to use it where you feel it's appropriate and don't just use it simply because you can. When you use something just because it's in your toolbox you wind up building something with just a hammer, and while it's a sense of accomplishment and fully functional, others often don't appreciate it as much as the person who did it.
And please, don't take my words to be discouraging. If you like the technique then practice with it, and look for feedback, because this is one of those techniques where collecting criticism is almost more important than listening to advice as it will help you focus on how and where to use it.
There's a thread for folks to post their Selective Color Images here, and there are obviously fans of the genre. I've used it on several occasions, usually to either highlight a subject, subtract from background noise, or a little of each...
With the first, I wanted to accentuate the color of the fire without oversaturating, so I selectively desaturated everything beyond a point. With the second, I really liked the capture of the ribbon, but it didn't stand out the way I wanted it to in a full color or B&W image...
The main thing is, as with any technique, to use it where you feel it's appropriate and don't just use it simply because you can. When you use something just because it's in your toolbox you wind up building something with just a hammer, and while it's a sense of accomplishment and fully functional, others often don't appreciate it as much as the person who did it.
And please, don't take my words to be discouraging. If you like the technique then practice with it, and look for feedback, because this is one of those techniques where collecting criticism is almost more important than listening to advice as it will help you focus on how and where to use it.
Is the message supposed to be putting an end to deaths of those in the military? Sort of a peace theme? If so, then that's what I got out of it. I kind of like this shot. I don't know exactly how to say this, but it also seems too simple of an approach to the issue. Again, that assuming I'm understanding the theme of the picture.
With something like this, I'm thinking you'll get a little different reaction from each person who views the photo. I'll be interested to see what others have to say.
With something like this, I'm thinking you'll get a little different reaction from each person who views the photo. I'll be interested to see what others have to say.
Horoscope Fish
Senior Member
Selective Color is, in my opinion, a powerful tool remarkable for its singular ability to destroy a shot.
While most any tool can damage a shot, Selective Color seems to me to be one of very few tools that can wield what amounts to the "Five-Point-Palm Exploding-Heart-Technique": It will either make your shot or break your shot.
....
While most any tool can damage a shot, Selective Color seems to me to be one of very few tools that can wield what amounts to the "Five-Point-Palm Exploding-Heart-Technique": It will either make your shot or break your shot.
....
sonicbuffalo_RIP
Senior Member
I think it's a technique that we should learn how to use, but that being said, it seems to be overused in most cases.
In most of the times I doesn't like it, it has to be done with very much care, as well in technique as in how it changes the content and the message your bringing. I've don it in the past to try and master the technique, Now I usely use the technique to desaturate something that is demanding attetion that it doesn't earn by taking out some collor but not everything.
So for me mastering the technique is a good thing but be careful when you use it.
So for me mastering the technique is a good thing but be careful when you use it.