Nan Tien Temple - Wollongong

[MAH]

This might not be to everyone's taste but I'm in a selective colour phase... what's the verdict.

http://digital-landscapes.smugmug.com/photos/125911343-L.jpg

[Duncaji]

Mmm, at fist I liked it, then thought about it a bit more, and I've come to the conclusion that the colour section is so dominant that it's all you end up focusing on, and ignoring the rest of the frame.

I quite like these, and have a few in my collection, but tend to go for more subtle colour inclusions.

Good effort though.

[ErikM]

I quite like it! Love the bokeh.

[Jaime]

Well done, I like it, after all the point of selective coloring is to draw attention, isn't it?

[Jay Lowery]

seems like it would be some sort of advertisement. great shot though!

[Miyagi-san]

It's a very good shot, personally I think I would prefer it in full color...

Nice job on the process though....it looks great.

[exile]

This might not be to everyone's taste but I'm in a selective colour phase... what's the verdict.


I went through a phase just a wee while ago and what I noticed was that the normal colour saturation is probably too much when you have a monochrome background. I think this is what duncaji is referring to. The other thing is that with the oof background the eye is already drawn towards the in-focus lantern. It's almost too much attention on the lantern and not the rest of the frame. It might be worht desaturating the latern a little bit to see if that balances thig out a little bit. Now, I probably sounded a bit negative there so let me clarify - I do like the image!

[Frank_Hollahan]

For the purpose of youe image, I think it's a damn good job.

[joshandlauri]

Sorry if this is kind of off topid, but how do you do that with pictures,
Make most bw and something color. I ready my manual and can't figure out, was it done with p.shop??

[joshandlauri]

BTW, The coloring on the bw looks great

[Cleo199]

I like it! You did a great job. :)

The easiest way I've found to do this is to open your picture then go to layers and click on duplicate layer. I then use the channel mixer to change it to black and white. Then use the eraser tool to erase the part you want to keep in COLOUR. I find blowing the picture up really big helps get into all the tight spaces. Then I merge the layers and save as.

[MAH]

Mmm, at fist I liked it, then thought about it a bit more, and I've come to the conclusion that the colour section is so dominant that it's all you end up focusing on, and ignoring the rest of the frame.

I quite like these, and have a few in my collection, but tend to go for more subtle colour inclusions.

Good effort though.

It's a very good shot, personally I think I would prefer it in full color...

Nice job on the process though....it looks great.

I went through a phase just a wee while ago and what I noticed was that the normal colour saturation is probably too much when you have a monochrome background. I think this is what duncaji is referring to. The other thing is that with the oof background the eye is already drawn towards the in-focus lantern. It's almost too much attention on the lantern and not the rest of the frame. It might be worht desaturating the latern a little bit to see if that balances thig out a little bit. Now, I probably sounded a bit negative there so let me clarify - I do like the image!

I'll have another look at it, desaturating it and showing the original and see what they all look like.


Thanks for the comments, it's great having different opinions giving ideas on various aspects :D

[MAH]

I quite like it! Love the bokeh.

Well done, I like it, after all the point of selective coloring is to draw attention, isn't it?

It is :)

seems like it would be some sort of advertisement. great shot though!

For lanterns perhaps ;)

For the purpose of youe image, I think it's a damn good job.

BTW, The coloring on the bw looks great

I like it! You did a great job. :)

Thanks all :D

[cdifoto]

Mmm, at fist I liked it, then thought about it a bit more, and I've come to the conclusion that the colour section is so dominant that it's all you end up focusing on, and ignoring the rest of the frame.

I quite like these, and have a few in my collection, but tend to go for more subtle colour inclusions.

Good effort though.

This is so ironic considering how many people overuse the word "distracting" to describe elements of other photographs.

People don't like it when something does draw attention, and they don't like it when something doesn't draw attention...

Personally I like the shot. I can't really say why though.

[MAH]

Sorry if this is kind of off topid, but how do you do that with pictures,
Make most bw and something color. I ready my manual and can't figure out, was it done with p.shop??

Have a look at this --> clicky (http://www.ephotozine.com/techniques/viewtechnique.cfm?recid=112)

[exile]

This is so ironic considering how many people overuse the word "distracting" to describe elements of other photographs.

People don't like it when something does draw attention, and they don't like it when something doesn't draw attention...

Personally I like the shot. I can't really say why though.

That's a really interesting point Cdi-ink. As a general principle I guess the answer to this would be balance. Blurred backgrounds are designed to not distract from the main subject, but act as a canvas for the subject to rest upon, however, they still need to be complementary. If the main subject is so striking that the background isn't noticed at all then does the positioning of the subject on the background become even more important? I.e. balance is achieved by careful placing of the elements.