Anyone in a generous mood?! Help needed

[JustAKid]

I am hoping one of you infinately more talented than myself people would be willing to help a fellow DISer by using your time, skill, and photo editing software.

I did a photo shoot with my kids this weekend and the pictures turned out great! NO LECTURES but on a whim I used my in-camera color select option and loved the result so I took about 10 pictures this way. My favorite set of pictures of all the 300+ I took happen to be in this format but there's one problem...the color select picked up some of the foliage in the background that I would really like put back into grayscale, and then there are a few spots of what is supposed to be color that got grayscaled.

Is it possible to fix this? If so, is there any one of you who would be willing to tackle the project? I'm no photographer and so I have never invested in the photo editing software and wouldn't begin to know where to start even if I did. I basically use photos straight from my camera, as is.

As I said, there are 10 photos, and the places that need correcting are not very large. There are 3 in particular that I would REALLY like done because I plan to blow them up and use them as wall art in my livingroom.

 

[havoc315]

Going from gray to color isn't really possible.
But easy to change the color foliage to gray.

Try downloading a free trial of lightroom. Use the "brush" to de-saturate the color spots.

 

[havoc315]

Going from gray to color isn't really possible.
But easy to change the color foliage to gray.

Try downloading a free trial of lightroom. Use the "brush" to de-saturate the color spots.

 

[hakepb]

I'm sure grey to color is somehow possible, how did they colorized all of those old B&W movies? ...but I'm sure its more difficult to look OK in photos.

 

[havoc315]

I'm sure grey to color is somehow possible, how did they colorized all of those old B&W movies? ...but I'm sure its more difficult to look OK in photos.

Possible in the sense that you can manually select a color and a paintbrush, and paint in the color. You can't just restore the original color... the data just isn't there.

 

[JustAKid]

Going from gray to color isn't really possible.
But easy to change the color foliage to gray.

Try downloading a free trial of lightroom. Use the "brush" to de-saturate the color spots.

Unfortunately I have already used my free trial of light room.

I'm sure grey to color is somehow possible, how did they colorized all of those old B&W movies? ...but I'm sure its more difficult to look OK in photos.

There is just ONE color, though. Can't one use like a, IDK, replicator clone type thing to just pull that color over to cover the gray area?

 

[photo_chick]

Unfortunately I have already used my free trial of light room.

How about a trial of Photoshop or Elements? Or even Corel?

There is just ONE color, though. Can't one use like a, IDK, replicator clone type thing to just pull that color over to cover the gray area?

What looks like just one color rarely is. If you go in, at a pixel level, there will be many colors. Photoshop's content aware fill may be able to help you, but without seeing the image it's hard to say.

This is why we shoot color in camera and do all changes like this in editing. I'm sorry you had to learn the lesson the hard way.

 

[Daisy14'sDH]

Shooting in RAW would of saved you from all this! I'm sure you know that by now, next time at the bare minimum shoot with RAW + JPEG, then you can even use the software that came with your camera to desaturate, at least ith Pentax that option is there...

 

[JustAKid]

How about a trial of Photoshop or Elements? Or even Corel?

I tried Lightroom because of everyone saying how user friendly/great for beginners it was but I fear I did with it what I could do on something like Photobucket or Picasa. I'm just a ninny when it comes to that stuff.

This is why we shoot color in camera and do all changes like this in editing. I'm sorry you had to learn the lesson the hard way.

Oh, I'm happy with my decision. If it weren't for playing with the setting I never would've thought to make the changes. I'm just not that photograpically savvy. The OCD in me is just frowing that it's not perfect and that the color select wasn't an exact science. Ah well, doesn't make the picture any less adorable!

Shooting in RAW would of saved you from all this! I'm sure you know that by now, next time at the bare minimum shoot with RAW + JPEG, then you can even use the software that came with your camera to desaturate, at least ith Pentax that option is there...

The photoshoot was my first test of the new camera. I'm not even sure yet how to switch it to RAW! I've got a lot of playing to do.

 

[Daisy14'sDH]

What kind of camera? READ THE MANUAL!

 

[JustAKid]

What kind of camera? READ THE MANUAL!

What?! READ THE MANUAL?! Right after I got my camera? Are you NUTS?! Me getting this camera was probably worse than trying to contain a hyperactive child, on Christmas morning, with a sugar rush. I'll get to the manual eventually to do all the things I want to but right now I JUST WANT TO PUSH ALL THE BUTTONS!!!

It's a Canon G12.

 

[2Tiggies]

I tried Lightroom because of everyone saying how user friendly/great for beginners it was but I fear I did with it what I could do on something like Photobucket or Picasa. I'm just a ninny when it comes to that stuff.

I have come short with a few trials in the past - not editing software - but LR was one of them. What I learned from the experiences and now do is to watch and read tutorials on whatever it is that I want to download to trial first so that I don't waste 75% of the 30 days or whatever it is unable to really see if it's the right product for me.

Regarding the camera settings, I agree, with all joking aside: read the manual; and read it with your camera so you can play around with the settings as you read through the instructions. Someone asked me a few weeks ago on any 'tips for shooting fireworks'. I started out giving them all sorts of pointers on settings and gear and suddenly stopped short as I realized that was not the most important thing; the best thing you can do for yourself and your photographs is to know and understand your camera inside out. If you don't have that, you are immediately limited no matter how much knowledge you have. Unfortunately there is no short cut to achieving this. It takes time, practice and patience ..... and the manual

 

[photo_chick]

I tried Lightroom because of everyone saying how user friendly/great for beginners it was but I fear I did with it what I could do on something like Photobucket or Picasa. I'm just a ninny when it comes to that stuff.

There are tons of easy to follow tutorials online to show you how to do what you're trying to do in Photoshop.

And I agree with reading the manual. It's probably the best source of information on your specific camera.

 

[zackiedawg]

There is just ONE color, though. Can't one use like a, IDK, replicator clone type thing to just pull that color over to cover the gray area?

Technically, yes - you can often use various tools like heal and clone brushes to restore color to greyscale areas. It's going to depend on just how much of the area is greyscale that needs to be recovered, and where it is. For example, a patch of someone's solid colored shirt in even lighting, or a patch of skin right on the cheek...can probably be restored well enough to work. A jagged stretch of area going through 1 or 2 different color areas, in and out of shadow and light, would be considerably more difficult. A 'change to target' brush, clone brush, healing brush, and very small sections being worked on at once, could probably repair your photos well enough for normal use unless the unwanted greyscale section is too complex.

As mentioned, the areas that are color that you want to be greyscale are no problem at all.