Black & white & a splash of colour!

[davidmolliesmum]

i love photos that are b&w with a splash of colour.... here is my first attempt at some! any helpful tips etc would be much appreciated!!

 

[jann1033]

the adobe after capture mag has one on the front cover (NYC with yellow cabs taken in 2004 with a rebel xt(?)) it may be on their website as well. i've fallen in love with the auratoning in that mag...not as easy to do with out any instructions but it makes a b&W with highlights of metallic,,,very cool imo. unfortunately the B&W from my printer is not very good so i need to get another source till i come up with $700 to get the printer i want

 

[momonlongisland]

I've just discovered and also love the B & W with a splash......yours are adorable. How (which program) did you do it? I've been using GIMP (free download) software and they are coming out great, but yours have such good precision drawings on the colored parts!! My compliments!

 

[GrillMouster]

Professional photographers consider selective coloring to be passe, like the cheesy "couple in a brandy snifter" portrait that some people thought was elegant or classy. You'll still find plenty of photographers that do selective coloring, because their paying customers ask for it, but it's not something that many are proud to share with their peers. It may be snobbish to put down selective coloring, but the biggest problem that I have with it is that 99.9% of the time it's done poorly. In most instances, the area in color is NOT the most important part of the image, and it usually distracts the eye away from what should be most important. For instance, in portraits the focus of attention should usually be on the subject's eyes and face. However, selective focus images invariably have the dress or flowers in color, disrupting the heirarchy of importance within the image. Using the images in the original post as an example, the message that each image transmits to the viewer is that the children are unimportant background, the most important thing is this sole flower, or Tinkerbell. I dont' think that's what the photographer had in mind whe she took the pictures, but that's what happened after selective coloring was applied.

Not every image is a good candidate for effective selective coloring. Try taking a close-up of your daughter, then applying selective coloring to just her eyes (maybe a little on her lips). Not too much, just a little color.

Good images simplify, focus attention on the subject, and eliminate anything that distracts attention away from the subject.

 

[jann1033]

Professional photographers consider selective coloring to be passe,

normally i might agree as to the does it really "add anything to the photo" argument...really that is up imo to the photographer....but i have to say i liked the one i mentioned( link follows but it's small, might be a larger one somewhere else on the site) http://www.aftercapture.com/issues/thismonth.aspx and since it was on the front of a mag this month, don't think i'd necessarily be all that dogmatic about the passe part
personally i don't really care for the blue eyes or what ever, i'd rather see it punch up something you might miss otherwise which i think the one i linked to is a good eg of...in color or in B&W, how much would the cabs stand out but it does the trick there.

 

[waytoomanywebkinz]

I think Grillmouster brought up some interesting points that I hadn't really though of - half the battle is figuring out how to do it - then you can worry about what to accent. Practice makes perfect- OP!

 

[davidmolliesmum]

I've just discovered and also love the B & W with a splash......yours are adorable. How (which program) did you do it? I've been using GIMP (free download) software and they are coming out great, but yours have such good precision drawings on the colored parts!! My compliments!

i used paint shop pro 9 (also a free download package)
i am not in any way a professional photographer, just enjoy taking 'different' pics of my kids. i'm also not sure if i'd like to do the b&w with my daughters eyes coloured, may look slightly scary!
thank you for your comments!!

 

[jann1033]

i used paint shop pro 9 (also a free download package)
i am not in any way a professional photographer, just enjoy taking 'different' pics of my kids. i'm also not sure if i'd like to do the b&w with my daughters eyes coloured, may look slightly scary!
thank you for your comments!!

lol! a couple months ago that after capture mag cover had a face i think was b&w with red behind it...it creeped me out so bad i didn't even read the magazine

 

[davidmolliesmum]

ok....decided to give it a bash... colouring the eyes...
i think its very subtle, you can hardly notice a difference with my sons, (his are blue) can i add some more blue, how so i do it, cant seem to figure out how to??

 

[davidmolliesmum]

and this one..... not the best quality but better for picking individual peice for colour..imo

 

[momonlongisland]

I don't your daughter's eyes came out spooky. It's very hard to find a photo to use to achieve good quality looking b & w / color shots. I've looked through hundreds of photos trying to find one to use. I'm actually not sure how to post pictures on here (lol) but I have found that landscaping - especially flowers blooming work the best ANDDD if you have a good quality, really blue ocean photo try colorizing those. All black and white, but put the color back in the ocean!!! Have fun!