Spot Coloring

[holly dysarz]

So this is my long story short,

 

I was a guest at a wedding last weekend, where the scenery was absolutely

beautiful. I brought along my Canon 30D, a few lenses and my flash(550ex),

simply to take a few pictures here and there for the couple. As I was lending

a helping hand, the bridesmaids came to me in a panic; The photographer had

not shown up. They asked if I could take some pictures of the bride getting

ready. As I entered the room, the bride was hysterical crying over the whole

incident. I calmed her down and said I would stand in and do the best job I

could (BTW I'm only a photography student and I have a greenthumb when it

comes to weddings).

 

Shortly after I had finished the shots of the bride, word came that the

photographer had shown up(I had the biggest sigh of relief I tell ya). Well

as the wedding party proceeded down the isle, their was no photographer to be

found at least one that was noticible. So, in a panic, I started shooting.

For the life of me, I was wondering what the hell was going on. Ceremony

ended and I did get some decent shots.

 

After the ceremony, I approched the groom and asked if the photographer had

shown up, he had pointed me into her direction and muttered at the same time,

we shouldn't pay her and pay you instead. At that point I knew the severity

of things. This woman was carrying a Canon Powershot 5.0MP and a Fujifilm

Sureshot(not sure if that's right..?)...but your run of the mill electronic

store digital camera.

 

I almost cried myself when I heard the distinctive at-home digital camera beep

when the camera focus and the delay before each picture. The Mother of the

bride had approached me and asked almost in tears if I would take some

pictures myself. I had re-affirmed that I am still a student and that the

expectations that they may of had previously would be thrown out the window.

I think at that point they simply were in a state of panic and really did not

show concern.

 

The newlyweds were friends of mine, so I did not have the heart to say "no,

you dumb dumb people, do not EVER get a friends Girlfriend who claims to have

done photography and done a good job(by her boyfriend) to be your

photographer".

 

So I could go on and on....about poses....the delay between shots....and her

only flash source being an on camera flash, although I think we all can grasp

the severity of everything. Post Wedding, I have shown some of the pictures

to the bride, she asked for one request, If i could take a picture of her and

her boquet, put it in B&W and make the colour red (red rose) of her flowers in

her boquet.

 

I have been able to figure out how to spot colour the red, although when I do

it, it appears to only be one colour "the red" and not show that it is

actually a boquet of flowers, just a blob of red. Would anyone have any

suggestions on working with this in Photoshop CS2 and or techniques that have

worked for them?

 

I would appreciate any suggestions,

 

Sincerely,

Holly Dysarz<div></div>

[gallarotti]

Hey Holly,<br>

the idea is not to "add color" but to layer a black and white copy of your picture on top of the original color one and then use Photoshop masks to "reveal" the colors underneath. <br>

There is a good tutorial here: <a href="http://www.skeller.ch/ps/color_spots.php">http://www.skeller.ch/ps/color_spots.php</a>

Hope it helps!

[imgnepc]

Wow... What an ordeal...

 

This is another good tutorial on it... http://tips.romanzolin.com/articles/article051.shtml

 

There are a few ways to do what you're attempting to do. I would love to see what your finished product looks like...

[kevin cook - stratford upo]

"I almost cried myself when I heard the distinctive at-home digital camera beep when the camera focus "

 

My Canons do that, I've never bothered to switch it off. I'm not sure how it affects my wedding photography though!

[phillip hurd - atlanta ga]

Holly,

You are to be commended. It takes a lot of guts to step into a critical situation and remain the stable element. Professional photographers have to deal with what you did quite frequently, and by that I mean point and clickers pretending to be professional.

 

Several years ago, I was asked to do something very similar and that is what started my second profession as a professional photographer. While I'm sure you were nervous, and the situation may not have been exactly pleasant I encourage you to use it as a building block to something better. Even though these were your friends, the amount of personality and presence of mind you have shown in this situation shows that you may have what it takes to be a professional photographer. I wish you the best with that.

 

To get your picture the way you want, all you really need to do is isolate the roses and copy them to a new layer. Then you can desaturate the background or use the levels to achieve the desired effect you want. Highlight the layer with the roses and use the saturation controls to get the roses as red or as subdued as you want.

 

Good luck with your future endeavors. :-)

[jorge_garcia4]

Is this what you are aiming for Holly?<div></div>

[buckry]

I generally make a copy of the entire layer. Then I desaturate the top layer and add a mask. Then I color in the flowers so the full color layer below shows through. If the colors aren't vibrant enough then I mess with saturation on the color layer, but normally I like to present the color of the flowers as accurately as possible since the bride chose them.

[holly dysarz]

Hey guys,

 

I have been able to achieve the look that I was going for! Thanks for all of your help!

 

Here is a sample of another picture that I was able to, tell me what you think!<div></div>

[think27]

Holly - Please read the info in the guidelines and it is also on the page where you upload.

 

1) make sure the image is 511 pixels or less

 

2) Make sure you type a caption in the caption box.

 

This way your image will show up in the thread and not as a huge file in a link. Thanks

[vlad khavin]

Holly,

 

It looks like you chose the approach of selecting the flowers and copying them to another layer? The reason I ask is because the selection seems to be outlined in the picture you posted. I don't know if this was intentional...

 

If it wasn't, when you select the flowers, feather your selection by a few pixels, which should help with that. (Others here may have better advice, but that's the way I would have at it.) In the overall image, the feathered effect should not be visible, but should get rid of that fringe, if you don't want it there. I could be mistaken and you may have put an outer glow on it on purpose...?