B/W Bride shot with selective color.

In my experience people who are not into photography generally like selective colouring, i've done it when asked and although i hated it they loved it, isn't that what matters?
 
it's not my cup of tea, personally, i think the pose of the bride seems a bit awkward, otherwise the composition is ok, although a bit close to the background for my taste.

the colouring doesn't work for me... either version sends your eye everywhere. the point of focus is the brides face, yet you're being drawn to a bunch of flowers, it sort of makes it look busy.

as has been said, that style of processing is incredibly dated, however, ordinary non-photographer folk still like it and i've seen canvases and framed pictures in shops for sale in that style.

in the end, if the your bride asked for it and she likes it, that's all that matters. many people still like that style (like many people still have feature walls in their houses etc), what is trite and passé for some is the cutting edge of style for others.
 
I’ll try and do my best and if it takes others opinions, i’m not afraid to ask.

Good for you mister. One thing to watch for though in future, particularly where weddings are concerned: I completely take your point about not yet having a personal "style", but until you feel that you do have one, beware of simply doing whatever the customer wants. Once you get a reputation for that, you're doomed.

Anybody who says the customer is always right is always wrong :cool:
 
Firstly - yes I've done it on request. But this
... either version sends your eye everywhere. the point of focus is the brides face, yet you're being drawn to a bunch of flowers, it sort of makes it look busy.

...
Forget arguments about snobbery and doing what the customer wants, the point of selective colour (from a compositional PoV) is to draw attention to the coloured item in a B&W picture, and the 'lazy' use of the technique is to draw attention to something that you shouldn't be.

As above - find your feet, develop your style - but be aware that selective colour and white vignettes are the methods used by those noisy photographers who claim it's too difficult to find clients who have discerning tastes and big budgets. They might keep busy but there's a ceiling on their prices you might not be happy with.
 
... be aware that selective colour and white vignettes are the methods used by those noisy photographers who claim it's too difficult to find clients who have discerning tastes and big budgets.

Nice one Phil. That is so true ...
 
Good for you mister. One thing to watch for though in future, particularly where weddings are concerned: I completely take your point about not yet having a personal "style", but until you feel that you do have one, beware of simply doing whatever the customer wants. Once you get a reputation for that, you're doomed.

Anybody who says the customer is always right is always wrong :cool:

Nail. on. head. If you want to do it for the B&G then fair enough, but I wouldn't be putting it out there as a display of your work. Would put a huge number of people off you IMO.
 
Dear Krafty,

I have had a look at your original image and it is not the same picture as you show above. Here, her eyes are half closed, but in your OP, they are open. It is okay, for the purposes of editing. I also re-read the dialogue and I got a bit confused. So, I took your post to mean you wanted some direction? For example, you know how to do the editing, but just wondered what to do?

If I read you correctly, I would suggest offering your bride 3 choices - a b&w, a color and a sepia.

While I agree with others that selective coloring would not do this beautiful bride in this picture justice, If the bride will have it, I think to "antique" the colors so that they fit better with the rest of the image may be the key.

.PYU_5439 (1) 5.jpg
 
Firstly - yes I've done it on request. But this

Forget arguments about snobbery and doing what the customer wants, the point of selective colour (from a compositional PoV) is to draw attention to the coloured item in a B&W picture, and the 'lazy' use of the technique is to draw attention to something that you shouldn't be.

As above - find your feet, develop your style - but be aware that selective colour and white vignettes are the methods used by those noisy photographers who claim it's too difficult to find clients who have discerning tastes and big budgets. They might keep busy but there's a ceiling on their prices you might not be happy with.

This is one I did for a relatives wedding. I think it fits in with Phils description perfectly. (I still hate it, but he wanted it, and I wasn't getting paid so I did it. Not sure if the Pro who was shooting the wedding would have done it for him though!) I've chopped the heads off to protect identities!Socks-LRh.jpg
 
... I would suggest offering your bride 3 choices - a b&w, a color and a sepia.

If ten years as a professional wedding photographer taught me anything, it was to only offer the bride a choice as a last resort, and never under any circumstances to offer her 3 choices :cool:
 
never under any circumstances to offer her 3 choices :cool:

With sensitive issues such as selective colouring, and as an exception rather than the rule, I have offered my brides up to 3 choices - my choice, her choice and a compromise. This way, I am respectful of her wishes and have taken them into account. In all cases, they have chosen my choice or the compromise. :cool:

Marie
 
Sorry, but I don't like either of them. Just being honest. It's not a criticism of you, you're only being asked to do it.

My take on selective colour...

Most of us have done it... I've done it.. I have one (looking sheepish) hanging in my lounge that I did about 15 years ago and eventually learned that it rarely works. If I'm honest, I think it has more potential in landscapes than in portraits.

One thing that I learnt a long time ago, and it was something someone said on here, that by making a selective colour, you're trying to bring the focus of that picture to that component that has been selectively coloured... and usually, it gets interpreted wrong. Like for example, I've seen where someone has turned a person's skin back to colour, and kept everything else black and white. Ug. Just wrong.

For me, pretending not knowing that this is what the bride wanted, I would say that you're trying to bring attention to the flowers, bride second... which begs the question, is there a better way that this could have been photographed without selective colouring, that bring the main focus to the flowers, bride second?

But then... maybe she just likes that style...and my point is moot.

Just my two cents...


I reckon it's worth trying to educate the bride along these lines, but if she was insistent then I'd supply a selective colour version as well as a more conventional edit.
 
There was a thread on here ages ago about selective colour and if you were the photographer who had a total and utter dislike (to put it mildly) for selective colour and didn't offer it as a rule, would you do it anyway because 'that's what the customer wants'? Or would you decline out of self preservation and to keep your style consistent? I know it's off topic to the original posting, but... it was a good debate. I had a request a few years back for a picture done in selective colour. I cringed as I did it... But because I offer digital files, I knew that they would probably just load it up through their phone app and do it anyway. Least it was done right by my doing it. I think if I were asked to do it again however, I might probably decline as my style has now become 'stable' so to speak, and I wouldn't want to 'contaminate' it (for lack of a better word). I don't know... maybe I'm wrong. Anyway, I'm probably rambling... :)
 
This thread is a classic example why a lot of people don't post there photo's
 
This thread is a classic example why a lot of people don't post there photo's

I disagree- this is an informative thread and people will still post THEIR photos here, for constructive critique - how else do we learn?

The OP has been given very good advice, what more can you ask

Les
 
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This thread is a classic example why a lot of people don't post there photo's
Why, because people didn't all post 'Great photo!' regardless of whether it was 'great' or not? I agree with @Lez325 - it's actually quite an informative thread full of various opinions and views and an interesting read.
 
Just want a few opinions about this

I was curious as to the OP's thoughts on all of this commentary?

I did offer another option on your image after you gave us the link. Was it helpful?

BTW, how do you like your D750? I am 95% sure that will be my next camera.

Marie
 
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Hi Thanks and i appreciate all the comments posted

I was curious as to the OP's thoughts on all of this commentary?

I did offer another option on your image after you gave us the link. Was it helpful?

BTW, how do you like your D750? I am 95% sure that will be my next camera.

Marie


The picture and idea is very helpful and i appreciate the time taken to do that. I will see if i can reverse engineer your idea. Also, i'm pretty sure the pics are the same but i can check that over.

As for the D750, i love it. Still need to get all the right lenses for it but so far, it's been the right move for me. I noticed that you currently use Canon. Why the jump?


This thread is a classic example why a lot of people don't post there photo's

It's all about learning on here and people shouldn't be discouraged just cause there's a clash of opinions. As ever, criticism is always a good thing as this is what you'll always have with any pics you take. Photographers criticize their pictures all the time and as i was about to provide something to a client that i was sure of, i sought opinions. There's no shame in it. I'm not that well versed in selective coloring as yet and editing is not a strong point either so it'll never be harmful to check what others think.
 
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