first attempt at selective color

Well everyone else is doing it.............




Have to admit, that was fun. I'm in the process of going thru photos to find other ones to do.

Well I'd say that the red is too vibrant for this to work and perhaps because of that the edges are rather too prominent. More detail and levels in the red would probably help as well.

Mike

Has the effect of a cut and paste, mainly because of the prominent edges.

Im no expert but it just looks like a big red blob to me.
I think you need something with a bit more detail in the background when doing selective colouring to give the person looking at the photo something to compare the colored bit with.

Fun doing them though isn't it

Thanks for the input, I took down the saturation of the red and blurred the edges a bit, and it looks better. But yeah, maybe this photo isn't a good candidate for selective color (chose it b/c it looked easy). The lack of detail in the flower and background isn't doing it any favors.

What does everyone think the key is in doing selective color well?

Firstly, using the technique sparingly and with the right sort of subject. That is, asking the question does the use of selective colour actually improve the image.

Secondly, subtlety.

I think selective colour works best when the colour in question is muted, so the viewer has to look twice to see that selective colouring has gone on at all. For example; flesh tones in a portrait.

Just my $0.02

Wot he said

I quite like it even the cut and paste in your face aspect
Nice!

Heres my attempt, did this a few years ago but I think its rather fitting that it should re-emerge around this time of year.

[IMG]http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j168/impotentspider/remembrance.jpg[/IMG]

As Mikew says, I think the red is just too red, too much contrast with the B/W.


I feel awful saying this on someone else's thread, but I love the shot by the spider

I'm sure the OP wont mind, I did say I liked his poppy

As for mine I have to confess the shot was pure accident, we were on holiday in Crete and visited the allied war cemetary, I spotted the cross and was about to take a snap, my wife had found another cross around the other side of the memorial and was bringing it round with the intention of arranging it next to the first, she introduced the shadow just as I pressed the shutter, I scolded her for ruining my shot and proceeded to take several more with just the original cross and a few with the two together, to this day I dare'nt tell her that this one was the best of the lot

GivingTree, think the poppy is just a little too dominant in your pic, still nicely done.
Love this process.
impotentspider, that's a great shot, just the right amount of 'popping' on the poppy.
Perfect 'placement' of the shadow as well

ali