tutorial: selective color in b&w
Andy
Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
now let's take a look at the parking ticket man
here's the original photo, out of the camera with no post:
he's a little underexposed, yes? no problem. also, the image is a bit boring. i'll get some of my best inspiration when i sit down at the computer in my digital darkroom..... it came upon me that i should really feature the cop and the ticket. so, here's what i did: i work in adjustment layers, so you can easily see the effects of your different adjustments.
first, i created a levels adjustment layer (layer>new adjustment layer>levels), and brightened up the exposure some. use autolevels, or adjust the sliders manually. i then used the "layer mask" (it's the circle in the square icon in your layers palette) to brush over the areas i didn't want to blow out (like the hood of the truck, and the cop's cap). use a soft-edged brush, size it appropriately for the area you want to "undo" and make sure black is the foreground color. click on the layer mask (right next to the mini-pic of your photo in the layers palette) and begin brushing away. experiment with different opacities of the brush (slider is at the top of your screen), you can see that you are able to eliminate 100% of the effect of that layer or varying amounts depending on where you put the slider. in short, think of the layer mask as a "selective undo" within the layer, it "un-does" the effect you are applying on that layer.
second, i went b&w (use your preferred method, whatever you are comfortable with). i've done alot of different posts on black & white... here is a week's worth of reading for you next, create a layer mask for this layer, and using the brush tool, paint back over the cop and the ticket...restoring the color to just these elements. because you are using a layer mask, it's easy to fine tune the points where the color stops ... don't worry about "coloring outside the lines" becuase all you need to do is either switch to the eraser tool or change your brush color to white, either way, then you can "undo your undo" in the layer mask. sound complicated? it's not, just practice it, i guarantee you'll get the hang of it rather quickly. here's a good tip: work at least at 100% magnification, somtimes even much higher, to get the color parts exactly right. save here as a .psd and flatten.
next, i made a blur layer, i wanted the background to be a bit more oof. duplicate the background layer (ctrl-j) and select filter>blur>gaussian blur (now experiment with the proper amount by using the slider). i then added a layer mask and "unblurred the cop.
a crop, some usm on the cop, and that's it!
enjoy (getting the most in post) photography,
here's the original photo, out of the camera with no post:
he's a little underexposed, yes? no problem. also, the image is a bit boring. i'll get some of my best inspiration when i sit down at the computer in my digital darkroom..... it came upon me that i should really feature the cop and the ticket. so, here's what i did: i work in adjustment layers, so you can easily see the effects of your different adjustments.
first, i created a levels adjustment layer (layer>new adjustment layer>levels), and brightened up the exposure some. use autolevels, or adjust the sliders manually. i then used the "layer mask" (it's the circle in the square icon in your layers palette) to brush over the areas i didn't want to blow out (like the hood of the truck, and the cop's cap). use a soft-edged brush, size it appropriately for the area you want to "undo" and make sure black is the foreground color. click on the layer mask (right next to the mini-pic of your photo in the layers palette) and begin brushing away. experiment with different opacities of the brush (slider is at the top of your screen), you can see that you are able to eliminate 100% of the effect of that layer or varying amounts depending on where you put the slider. in short, think of the layer mask as a "selective undo" within the layer, it "un-does" the effect you are applying on that layer.
second, i went b&w (use your preferred method, whatever you are comfortable with). i've done alot of different posts on black & white... here is a week's worth of reading for you next, create a layer mask for this layer, and using the brush tool, paint back over the cop and the ticket...restoring the color to just these elements. because you are using a layer mask, it's easy to fine tune the points where the color stops ... don't worry about "coloring outside the lines" becuase all you need to do is either switch to the eraser tool or change your brush color to white, either way, then you can "undo your undo" in the layer mask. sound complicated? it's not, just practice it, i guarantee you'll get the hang of it rather quickly. here's a good tip: work at least at 100% magnification, somtimes even much higher, to get the color parts exactly right. save here as a .psd and flatten.
next, i made a blur layer, i wanted the background to be a bit more oof. duplicate the background layer (ctrl-j) and select filter>blur>gaussian blur (now experiment with the proper amount by using the slider). i then added a layer mask and "unblurred the cop.
a crop, some usm on the cop, and that's it!
enjoy (getting the most in post) photography,
0
Comments
thanks for being pushy though. I've always been afraid of layer masks, i really didn't know you could get away with hand brushing stuff. Always tried to extract or select edges/colors/whatever. I'll give it a go!
moderator of: The Flea Market [ guidelines ]
I write software for a living... but I think my head just imploded.
Thank you very much for the tutorial
Now the questions
- I've noticed that you've removed the logo on the truck, and a mirror from a car parked in front of the truck. Any special technique used to do that (like duplicating a piece of the radiator and paste it where the mirror used to be ...) ?
- It seems that the original pic was slightly off WB-wise, a little yellow. Certainly that uniform looks cleaner after your processing
The resulting pic is a "wow"
Thanks for the tutorial, again
Thierry
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
hiya thierry
i think the wb was ok, but the final image has a lot of desaturated areas, eh? so the colored areas look even more vibrant. i used the clone stamp on the hood of the truck, and yeah, waxy's right, i cropped out that car bumper.
thanks for stopping by! always good to see you.
Portfolio • Workshops • Facebook • Twitter