Selective Colourization

[Travis]

I am posting three here because I'm looking for a general critique on this technique. All three of these shots were on the cutting room floor because of high noon shooting creating poor skys. Even if I have another subject in my landscapes if the sky isn't right it doesn't make the cut. Since the sky was a distraction in each of these I decided to silence it a bit with colourization. What I'm looking for is your opinion when you see imagery like this. Is it too cliche ...... Is the variance between the foreground and the background too intense..... or do you find it helps you better focus on the strong element of the image... (excuse my lack of question marks.. for some reason É is what I get when I push the question mark)

I`ve seen selective colouring used a lot on wedding and child portraiture but haven`t seen it so much on landscape.


EDIT: SORRY MARKO... I MEANT TO POST THIS IN THE PHOTOSHOP TECHNIQUES fORUM.... IF YOU COULD MOVE IT THAT WOULD BE GREAT..

[tegan]

(excuse my lack of question marks.. for some reason É is what I get when I push the question mark).

You are in the French keyboard, which I use. To get the question mark it is shift and the number 6 key on the top line.

Tegan

[Travis]

? ..... holy smokes ... your right... how`d that happen??? Has my keyboard been hacked by a french virus? lol..... any idea how to change it back?? it`s never done that before today..

EDIT: I would also request your opinion on this technique.... is it just crap or what?

[tegan]

To make a general comment, I find it somewhat bizarre that some people find cloning or photoshopping to be "artificial" but have no problem at all with the artificiality of selective colouring or black and white. :)

Tegan

[Travis]

To make a general comment, I find it somewhat bizarre that some people find cloning or photoshopping to be "artificial" but have no problem at all with the artificiality of selective colouring or black and white. :)

Tegan

lol... nice shot... but this is my abstract work.... not my realistic portrayal....

NOW COMMENT ON THE TECHNIQUE!!! DOES IT SUCK OR DO YOU LIKE IT???

[tegan]

? ..... holy smokes ... your right... how`d that happen??? Has my keyboard been hacked by a french virus? lol..... any idea how to change it back?? it`s never done that before today..

EDIT: I would also request your opinion on this technique.... is it just crap or what?

Windows,...Control Panel...Language and Region should get you back to the English keyboard.

Tegan

[tegan]

lol... nice shot... but this is my abstract work.... not my realistic portrayal....

NOW COMMENT ON THE TECHNIQUE!!! DOES IT SUCK OR DO YOU LIKE IT???

Sorry, I find it gimmicky and an overused technique which eliminates any visual impact which it may have originally had, when it was first used, several years ago.

The composition rule for special effects is that there must be a logical visual reason for in this case: colouring or NOT colouring particular elements of the photo and that reason should be readily apparent to the viewer.

Experimentation does not hack it, as a good reason. :)

Tegan

[Travis]

Sorry, I find it gimmicky and an overused technique which eliminates any visual impact which it may have originally had, when it was first used, several years ago.

The composition rule for special effects is that there must be a logical visual reason for in this case: colouring or NOT colouring particular elements of the photo and that reason should be readily apparent to the viewer.

Experimentation does not hack it, as a good reason. :)

Tegan

well that took long enough..... I was beginning to think by the lack of your comments that you liked it... lol...

thank you for the comment..:)

The Score so far is

1 NO LIKE

0 LIKE

[tirediron]

Technically I think they're well done, but they don't appeal to me either in the choice of colour(s) or in images. It's a technique which, in the right place can look very good, but in the wrong one just looks, well... wrong.

[Marko]

Technically I think they're well done, but they don't appeal to me either in the choice of colour(s) or in images. It's a technique which, in the right place can look very good, but in the wrong one just looks, well... wrong.

I agree with this. In general I love selective colour and think it is fine to use with the right subject matter. It doesn't work well here though, it worked much better with your mirror in the cottage shot.

[Travis]

ugh...

The score

3 NO LIKE

0 LIKE

Guess I'll leave the cutting room floor shots...... well.... ON THE CUTTING ROOM FLOOR where they should be....lol...

Thanks for the comments....:)

[kiley9806]

hey travis - put a 1 in the 'like' section - i think this is different and interesting! in the 1st shot, i like the grey sky much more than the sepia toned 3rd shot... looks more ominous or 'stormy' to me. also, the wheat stalks in shot 1 are colored inthe forground, but grey in the horizon - it might be better to try and colorize them all if possible (if youre still wanting to play after the critiquing) im not at all farmiliar with selective colorization, but love it when used well in wedding and baby and pet photos. the landscapes im sure are harder to do well, but i say well done!

[Travis]

thanks Kiley.....lol.... I hope your not just stroking by bruised ego....:)