Fading from Color to Black and White

[loof]

Zurie, Jostlori, Archie, everyone....these photos and effects are so cool! Lots of artistry going on here!

[Zurie]

Oh, I don't think it's artistry, loof,

I cannot do what Archie does -- that gradual fading from b/w to colour. Not at all.

I think what we've discovered is that certain photos (like Archie's cheffie geometric plates of food, and maybe the simple sliced orange slices and, oh, those beautiful oyster mushrooms of Jostlori) "lend themselves" more readily to experimentation.

If a plate has too many elements on it (let's say a mixed salad) it's harder to get good effects.

But Deb, whatever we manage here -- or not manage at all -- we're learning a lot about editing!!

[AskCy]

This as others are saying is the most interesting thing I've seen in quite some time.. a lot of info, lots of ideas and lots of great shots and work!

Might have to look at some of the other online editors or free programs to see if I can find one with graduated colour fading...

Steve

[AskCy]

just looked on PICMONKEY.COM and you don't get the same amount of control with what you can do as the one I've been using, but it does have a lot of preset techniques and filters... here is one interesting thing you can do with it ! -

FOCAL B&W

So you can move where the coloured bit is, you can't shape it though, but you can adjust how big it is, move it to where you want it and you can set how harsh or soft its edges are... (play with the settings and you will see what I mean)



Steve

[AskCy]

been playing with some others and I really don't like them.. in fact "fotoflexer" took ages to upload the photo, ages to do anything (and I'm on a dual processor 3gig 64bit machine) and didn't really have a lot of choice.. Then there is Photofitre that works farely quickly (but you do have to download and install the program and be very awake when doing so because it tries to make you down load lots of other rubbish with it and wants to change things like your browser home page etc.. so you have to use the custom install when you put it on and make sure you deselect/say no to them).. but then it doesn't appear to have a lasso tool ? if it has I can't see it... I can find the magic wand and its impossible on a busy photo...

Steve

[AskCy]

anyway... I went back to my usual online editor http://pixlr.com/editor/

for another play about... this is just simple box selection and then tweeking about with colours and such

this is the original shot (of my new shot glass, birthday present off Daughter and family)



then blackened the sides by masking the middle(using the square box masking tool like you would use for cropping), inverting the selection, then using the saturation to turn to black and white




inverted the mask back and played about with "hue" and colourise to make the black back to colour (you can make it blue, yellow, red etc by moving the hue slider)




again with a wider bar


and now recoloured over the middle section using the "colourise" option in "hue and saturation"



Steve

[awalde]

Wonderful photos and effects. More and more creative!
I like it!

[loof]

Here's some attempts at changing the coloring of a photo by adjusting the lighting....done in photoshop: filter->render->lighting effects

original photo



applying a blacklight effect



applying an effect that simulates a spotlight from the left



same spotlight effect, but from the right

[Jostlori]

Oh, boy - something new to try! Thanks, Loof, those shots are wonderful!

It's funny how we find a new way of looking at food. A friend brought some homegrown organic greens to our study group this morning, and the first thing I thought when I saw the mustard greens was "hmmm, those would be so fun to play with on Photoshop"!

Unfortunately, we forgot the greens in the fridge, but hopefully we can see some results tomorrow...

[Debbwl]

Steve thanks for the compression sites, I am sure our readers will find your compression helpful and save them some frustration.

Very cool effects on the shot glass.


loof that blacklight effect gives your drink a very sexy look. Interesting how changing the spot light from left to right changes the whole feel of the photo and really emphasizes the importance of lighting.


Jostlori it seems like I have never come home from my mother’s without forgetting one or more items and as she lives hours away it is not like I can run right back and get them.

[Zurie]

Steve and loof, great!! It's interesting how everyone has different takes on their photos! It's really creative!

(By the way, my DH says now he knows professional photographers use Photoshop, he cannot even believe that the pretty girls on my magazine colours really look like that! Well, that's so true! Wrinkles gone, bodies slimmed down ... )

Steve, Photofiltre does have a lasso tool -- but it needs a VERY steady hand to use ... ask me ... I curse a lot when using it!

Only yesterday while making dinner I listened to a radio discussion about computer stuff, and the guys both said: when you download and install free ware (I'm thinking Photofiltre, as Steve mentioned above) be very careful not to download and install all the useless extras and add-ons they try to get you to install. It's a nuisance, and some of it are actually malware.

[AskCy]

Zurie I've just looked again and yes there is Lasso tool... I'm having a play about now... lasso seems smoother to use than the one I use but when you apply affects like BLUR nothing happens using one of them, but if you look for them again in VISUAL EFFECTS ? it then does it, but take quite some time to apply it !.
I'm going to have another play about to see what else it will do

Steve

[AskCy]

using PhotoFiltre.. I'm a bit clunky with it at the moment... I'm trying to get used to the way it controls things (like why it wants a box around the masking but I've got rid of that, but still can't find how you add or take from the mask like you can do on most editing programs... but I'll keep trying)...

anyway here is my first attempt with it...



Steve

[Zurie]

Steve, I suppose we cannot expect too much from free stuff!!

I have also tried some of the thingies, and it did not work.

I'm only a home cook ... but it seems eventually I'll have to fork out and buy a basic Photo Shop program.

[AskCy]

Actually the free stuff is probably better than the bought stuff for us novices... once you move into layers and such it become really difficult to work out what you are doing !... Its just taking a bit of getting used to, put it seems a decent bit of kit (photofiltre) ...