Original Photo
Uploaded: August 10, 2004
Nancy Grace Chen August 10, 2004
I know I’ve posted this photo before, but I just wanted to do explain how it’s done because I’ve gotten a couple of emails asking about the technique. It’s called a Selective Desaturation. It's very simple. If you have Photoshop, go to Image > Adjust > Desaturate. Now the whole image should be in black & white. Next, select the "History Brush," which should be on your toolbar. It looks like the paintbrush with a circular arrow around it. Brush over the areas you want to turn back into color, and voila—they should turn back to their original color. To get the edges perfect, you may need to enlarge the picture very large and work with a very small brush. (I’ve been known to work with my photo enlarged to 300% using a 3 pixel brush.) Hope that helps. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions! #156746Dan Holm August 10, 2004
I loved this shot the first time and I still love it, now! A winner in my book, Nancy!! #698508Alisha May Furbish August 10, 2004
Nancy, I just wanted to thank you for being so helpful- you are a great BetterPhoto member, you really get involved with techniques, tips, and praise. Thanks for sharing your talent, knowledge, and kindness:) #698694Nobu Nagase August 10, 2004
It was very nice of you to share "how to's", Nancy.Deborah Sandidge August 10, 2004
This is such a favorite of mine, love seeing it again! Thanks for posting the how-to's! #698926Nancy Grace Chen August 10, 2004
Thanks for stopping by, guys. Hope it helps someone.Actually, Alicia May, I wish I had MORE time to spend on here! Seems like I never have enough time to get around to admiring everyone's work. (:
Nancy #699212
Ed Heaton August 11, 2004
Hi Nancy,Charles Haire August 12, 2004
Great work; complete the job by placing a complimentary sky in the scene. #704446Isabel L August 26, 2004
Nice shot Nancy.Doug August 26, 2004
I would like to see this with a blue background instead of grey to highlight the bright colors. A little cropping would help too. #736081Michael Bailey August 26, 2004
You know, I have to comment on this - Microsoft had a photo editing product a while ago called PhotoDraw that they ultimately dropped due to lack of interest - Photoshop killed it. And this is precisely the kind of application that makes PhotoDraw so great. With PhotoDraw, you can 'cut out' sections of an image, via shape, line, or my favorite - color. With this photo, you can simply drag a line across bright colors of the monks' clothing, and then zoom in to drag some more lines across part of the flesh tones and hair, and get a pretty accurate selection of just the monks, all in less than a minute (sometimes in less than 10 seconds, depending on the image). Once you 'cut out' the selection, it basically creates another layer, with just the selected objects. You can then apply any settings you like to either layer, including desaturation, color enhancing, blurring or sharpening, etc. To me, PhotoDraw is much more powerful for this type of use. #736314Nancy Grace Chen August 26, 2004
Thanks to all who replied saying that this was helpful. It's satisfying to know that I helped.Charles: if you see this, how do you suggest that I do that? Do you mean colored sky, or clouds?
Doug: Do you mean to add a blue tint to everything else? And what crop would you suggest? I'm open to new ideas and suggestions... but also, artistic decisions are very personal, and sometimes a person would like things one way while another thinks it's pleasing another way. I must admit that I do like this the way it is. But if you get a chance to read this, I'm open to trying your suggestions... I need a more specific description of what you mean though.
Michael: I've never used PhotoDraw. Sounds like a good program.
Thanks for the comments,
Nancy #736352
Robert G. Rakow August 27, 2004
Cool picture Nancy, I like it lot. I was just playing around with this same idea only I did it by selecting an area and applying grayscale to it. I am currently using a consumer grade Corel product. Unfortunatly my computer with photoshop on it is currently down but found even the low scale editing programs work well to. #738147Mary Anne Frey June 27, 2006
What an amazing picture! Your work is beautiful, Nancy! #2958992Sign up for an interactive online photography course to get critiques on your photos.
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