Black, White & RED | Selective Color

Cafe in the Piazza | Caltagirone | Sicily | Italy | Selective Color
Cafe in the Piazza | Caltagirone | Sicily

Its no secret, my favorite color is RED. (Its in caps because its a rather loud color, it doesn’t announce its presence gently.) RED is a prominent color in my household decor, and is often a focal point in my photography.

Just a splash of color…

I don’t often use the selective colorization technique – in most cases I find it to be a bit outdated  as a photographic style. My one exception is when I see a scene with a prominent red subject. Here are a few of the black, white and RED photos that I’ve done over the years.

Streetcar in San Francisco | San Francisco, CA | Selective Color

Streetcar in San Francisco

 

Cafe in the Piazza | Caltagirone | Sicily | Italy | Selective Color

Cafe in the Piazza | Caltagirone | Sicily

 

Returning with the day's catch | Morro Bay, CA | Selective Color

Returning with the day’s catch | Morro Bay, CA

 

The Pismo Hotel | Pismo Beach, CA | Selective Color

The Pismo Hotel

There are many ways to add a splash of color to a photo. Many of my early attempts were done in Photoshop using layers and painstaking selections. More recently I discovered that you can selectively add back color using control points in Nik Silver Efex Pro which is WAY easier…but not necessarily as precise.  There are also apps like Colorstrokes from Macphun that are specifically for creating this effect. No matter which software or technique you use, selective colorization is a fun technique to highlight a colorful subject.

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