Black & White with a splash of color

 I’ve always admired this technique, but never looked into how to actually DO it. I figured it was pretty technical and I have the patience of a -gnat- when it comes to fidgeting around in the various photo programs.. especially Photoshop.   (talk about confusing!.. am I the only one who feels this way about photoshop?)…  Give me picmonkey any day.

But Picmonkey can’t DO this thing, and I saw on a post the other day that a blog friend of mine, Ms. A, figured it out for herself.   I asked her for a tutorial.  For some reason I couldn’t apply her method on my computer, which frustrated the h*ll out of my impatient self.  So I googled and found out exactly how to do it in the dreadful Photoshop.   Much easier than I thought!  Not perfect, I need more patience… (ha!)… but for now, not bad either. 
Now if you’re into this kind of thing but haven’t tried it yet yourself..
here’s the tutorial I found on the net and used for the Photoshop method.
” One of the techniques people most often ask me to teach them is making a photograph like the one on the right that is black and white with one other colour. There are a few ways to achieve this effect but here is the one I find easiest for Photoshop users:

1) Open a suitable photograph, this can be any subject but ideally it needs an area of bright colour that will have an impact when it’s finished while the rest of the photo looks good in black and white.

2) Select IMAGE>ADJUSTMENTS>DESATURATE to turn the photo black and white. But don’t take the photo out of RGB (i.e. don’t convert to black and white or mono) or the next step won’t work.

3) Select the history brush from the tool menu on the left of the screen (usually the fifth icon down in the right hand column), set hardness to 100% and choose a suitable brush size to work with on the section of the photo you want to put in colour.

4) Now use the brush and go over the area you want in colour, the brush will erase the black and white and bring back the colour. You may need to zoom and work close up on some sections. Take your time and change brush sizes if you need to.”

If you do try this, I’d like to post your finished work here… send it to karenthisoldhouse@hotmail.com in the next week or two and I’ll do a post if I get some from any of you.  I’ll give you two weeks to give it a go.

16 thoughts on “Black & White with a splash of color”

  2. Yeah PS was confusing for me too in the beginning. If it wasn't for videos on youtube I'd have been lost. I'm still learning but lately haven't been using it much. You can do that effect much easier thru your iphone and apps. Download camera360 app and use magic color. It will pick the color you want to show and b&w everything else.
    have fun

  6. YOU DID IT! They look great! Sorry it didn't work through Picasa for you, although I still can't understand why it wouldn't? No matter… you got it anyway!

  9. Maybe I've just used Photoshop for so long that I have adjusted to its complexities. My husband does web graphics and such, and he uses it every day for work, so we started here years ago with PS version 1. It's a program that does way more than the average human needs to do … the trick is to focus on the things YOU want to do, and to ignore the rest.

    This effect is one of those things that I never tried before … Now I'm off to look at my recent photos to find one, or more, that I can play with.

  10. I have such a hard time with photoshop so I end up not fooling with the pictures at all except to crop on another program. I find it so frustrating! LOVE the black and white with that jolt of color!

  11. Hi Karen you can do this in Pic monkey although not as good as photoshop but for a quick photo all you do is go to effects then click on Focal B&W chose your brush size and have fun …like I said it's not as good as photoshop but it still has a nice effect..Love your new header love dee

  12. Breathtaking! Just getting into photography after years with a "point and shoot"…not sure WHICH program to embrace. The other thing I am missing is time..and the aforementioned patience:0

    Your pics never fail to make my heart beat a little faster..thank you!

  15. I especially love that first photo. Absolutely stunning.

    This stuff is all beyond me, but I someday I might take the time to read through it all…:)

    I appreciated your previous post heaps as well. Sometimes that hope is hard to see, but whatever we can do to cling our eyes to it…we simply must.

  16. Fun! Love your examples…if this was your first try you certainly are a fast learner:)

    My old point and shoot G9 has a setting to do this in camera and I used to have some fun with it…Now I am just too lazy:)

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