A Visual Effect in Photographs

The depth of field or the wormseye, Three point perspective distortion? All I know is that it takes the right lens for the depth of field, the distortion probably depends on your physical distance from, and angle with respect to, the object plane.

Somebody with more photography experience might be able to offer more help.

Looks to me the structure sits on a raised platform several feet above grade, and the camera is right at the corner, just below the finished grade of the platform - probably mounted on a tripod, and they used a fairly long exposure time; the blossoms to the left look slightly blurred, hard to tell at this scale.
 
Last edited:
The depth of field or the wormseye, Three point perspective distortion? All I know is that it takes the right lens for the depth of field, the distortion probably depends on your physical distance from, and angle with respect to, the object plane.

Somebody with more photography experience might be able to offer more help.

Looks to me the structure sits on a raised platform several feet above grade, and the camera is right at the corner, just below the finished grade of the platform - probably mounted on a tripod, and they used a fairly long exposure time; the blossoms to the left look slightly blurred, hard to tell at this scale.

Thanks. About the photo, you're right about most of t he info, just that the 'blossoms' to the left are not blossoms but leaves and thorns of a tree I can't name. So I don't think the exposure time was long.

So, question back, you don't think this can be achieved with a photoediting program after the photo is taken? I specifically want to know how the colour effects were achieved -- the blue remaining while the rest of the colours were faded out.
 
I would guess at it being the result of selective colour post processing which means you can have a mix of colour and black and white in the same photograph. Also I would not be surprised if they had used HDR techniques, though maybe not. Here are a couple of recent selective colour pics I have done, though different style to what you showed here.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3483/3245490403_49ef1a542a.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3658/3287951232_900f938a25.jpg

Catalina:catroar:

Yes, those, exactly. How did you do those?
 
I found this really useful online tutorial for doing it using the free GIMP editing programme. The ones I posted were done in another way which was not really successful for most shots....the tutorial for GIMP is better.

Catalina:catroar:

Something someone just showed me which was much easier is :
Make a new transparent layer on top of the original layer, then change the layer type to "Color", then use the paint brush, with black as the color, to paint over anywhere that you want to be grayscale.

What you're doing here is painting the rest of the picture grayscale rather than painting the opacity back into colour to the parts you want coloured.

But thanks so much for all the help! :cattail:
 
That could end up being a lot more work I would imagine as most selective colour is mostly B&W with just a touch of colour.

Catalina:catroar:
 
That could end up being a lot more work I would imagine as most selective colour is mostly B&W with just a touch of colour.

Catalina:catroar:

Not really if you use a really big brush. :) I find it easier than the method detailed in the online tutorial, but that's just a personal preference I suppose.
 
Not really if you use a really big brush. :) I find it easier than the method detailed in the online tutorial, but that's just a personal preference I suppose.


LOL, I started using a big brush, but soon decided it was not a good idea for me as a lot of my photos I was experimenting with had tight little corners etc.

Here are a couple I have done using the tutorial.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3506/3296144750_80cc742975.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3574/3297264367_de5509afbe.jpg

Catalina:catroar:
 
LOL, I started using a big brush, but soon decided it was not a good idea for me as a lot of my photos I was experimenting with had tight little corners etc.

Here are a couple I have done using the tutorial.
I've done ones with tight corners too. In that case you just move the pic up to about 300% and use a smaller brush. :)

I can't post up my results because they are personal photos, but I've loved the results I've had too. Am working on a vase and flowers now though. Will post that if I get time to finish it today.

I guess I just have a different preference.
 
It's fun learning new techniques. Up til now I have mostly just gone with taking the photo, cropping a little if needed and that is it....needed to expand to fill some gaps that were facing me in funtime. I also have a drawing tablet which is supposed to be even better for doing SC, but haven't had the time to try it out on this as yet. LOL, I am in the process of negotiating the sale of some of my work, and I suspect now if they see this it might extend to include some selective colour work. Flowers are good, though I haven't done any SC on them as yet. Look forward to seeing some of your work.

Catalina:catroar:
 
Last edited:
Here. I got sick of doing it midway. Can you tell?

attachment.php
 
Looks good to me!

How about a single Red Rose in a Crystal vase, do you do requests?

I don't have Photoshop, I'm poor, and the selection tool in Paintshop is crude by comparison - I don't have a scanner either, I'm a fuckin' mess, lol.
 
Last edited:
hm, in photoshop i used to always just select the area i wanted to stay coloured, then reversed selection, and then turned to black and white - a lot less work, though it doesn't always turn out nice, sometimes the edges become really dodgy... anyone know if htat is possible in gimp too? or do you always have to do layers and do the whole long drawing process?
 
hm, in photoshop i used to always just select the area i wanted to stay coloured, then reversed selection, and then turned to black and white - a lot less work, though it doesn't always turn out nice, sometimes the edges become really dodgy... anyone know if htat is possible in gimp too? or do you always have to do layers and do the whole long drawing process?

Yes it works in gimp too, but in the example I posted, you can see how I'd go insane trying to select all those tiny corners! :eek:

Also, I don't think it would work in the case of unconnected parts that needed to be selected, like cat's cat picture above. I'm not sure about this though. I haven't played with the selection tool enough.
 
Looks good to me!

How about a single Red Rose in a Crystal vase, do you do requests?

I don't have Photoshop, I'm poor, and the selection tool in Paintshop is crude by comparison - I don't have a scanner either, I'm a fuckin' mess, lol.

I'm not sure if I do requests, but send me a picture and I'll see what I can do. I have some free time coming up. :)
 
Photoediting Techniques

As someone who was formally schooled in photoprocessing and manipulation...

The effect achieved byt the selective color can also be achieved using a mask and what is referd to as a duotone. Essentially the easiest way to create this effect is to use a color photo, create a new layer and duplicate the photo to the new layer and set the layer to grayscale. Then use the eraser to expose the color layer below...

Much faster than trying to select all the little bits and colorize... I used to dable in the hand coloring of B&W images and let me tell you it is a skill, not something to play at. The digital age has made it easier, but it is still a talent.

One thing to think about if you are a serious photo editor is get a digital tablet (wacom) instead of trying to use a clumbsy mouse. I would be lost without mine
 
One thing to think about if you are a serious photo editor is get a digital tablet (wacom) instead of trying to use a clumbsy mouse. I would be lost without mine
Ha! You're talking to a student here. The first on my list is a good camera. Photo editing stuff isn't on it at the moment. *sigh*
 
if a photo is shot in Raw you can change individual colors any way you want, if you want to make a strawberry blue you can without effecting the rest of the colors
 
Back
Top