ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Black and White With a Touch of Color

Updated on June 22, 2015
LuisEGonzalez profile image

I enjoy photography and have been doing so professionally and independently for over 30 years.

CC BY 2.0 Digitally rotated for effect
CC BY 2.0 Digitally rotated for effect | Source

"One of Adobe Photoshop’s best features is the ability it gives you to colorize black and white photographs. With Photoshop you can add color to the entire photo, or just “paint” one part of the image to create a focal point—it’s up to you". .http://emptyeasel.com/

Shooting portraits is a good way to learn photography since your models do not run away and if doing them in a studio, you can always play with the light until you learn how to set them just right.

Portraits work well in color and they also work really nicely if done in black and white.

However, once you have taken your fill of color and black and white portraits you can start to play with a digital program and add some splashes of color to certain parts in order to high-light them and give them some "ump"

CC BY 2.0
CC BY 2.0 | Source

Are you willing to try this technique & why?

See results
CC BY 2.0
CC BY 2.0 | Source
CC BY 2.0
CC BY 2.0 | Source
Source

The key is to use the contrast of color against the monochrome of the black and white.

The contrast is what attracts the eye of the viewer and makes these images captivating. This is especially true if the color is a vibrant one like reds or blue, even green.

But basically any color will sharply contrast with the monochrome tones and this is what makes these image un-usual looking and almost appear to be surreal.

When doing this besides capturing the images in black and white, you also need to creatively look and analyze the image to judge where the best parts to add color will be.

Ask yourself this; does the color addition help the image or does it distract from it?

You cannot add color everywhere or indiscriminately. This is just as important as the subjects in front of the lens.

Be selective about where to colorize. Look for main interest points or central parts of the scene and start by adding some color.

You can add more to adjust it to your taste but it is better to start with small parts first.

You need to carefully choose spots that when color is added, will it enhance the effect?

It is good if these colorized parts are central to the scene and are easily visible.

They need to be surrounded by a total void of color so the contrasting effect becomes that much more emphasized.

To save yourself time in case the final image is not what you thought it would be, or the colors are not to your liking, keep saving your work at every step.

This will allow you to begin working where you left of and it makes it easier to complete the work since you will not have to continually have to start from the beginning each time.

You can also do this to enhance existing colors like in this flower shot

CC BY-SA 2.0
CC BY-SA 2.0 | Source

To begin the process of adding a color to a specific are of the B&W image open the image you want to work on.

Then go to Image on the digital program (Photoshop),click on Mode and select RGB ( this allows you to use the most vibrant colors).

Double click on the Quick Mask button which is near the base of your toolbar to bring up the Quick Mask options. Under Color Indicates choose Selected Areas and press OK.

Click on the Paintbrush from your toolbar and begin to paint (adding the color) over the area that you want to colorize.

Once you start you will not really be adding any color, it will look red simply to indicate what areas you are working on.

After "coloring" the area click on the Quick Mask button again. This will bring you to Normal mode. You will now be looking at the entire area that you have filled (selected) with the "red" color on it.

Click on Save by clicking on Select - Save Selection (in case you make a mistake). This will save the work you have done up to now.

Now to add the actual color that you want to the image, click on Layer - New Adjustment Layer - Color Balance.

A dialogue box will open up and showing you color sliders. Place a check-mark in the preview box and adjust the color sliders until you get the color that you like and this will be the color that will be digitally added to the selected area. Click OK.

If you want to add more colors to other areas simply repeat the steps for each area. Keep in mind that you need to practice since this will likely be a trial and error method but the more you do it the more proficient you become at it.

This technique is a staple in commercial food shots

CC BY 2.0
CC BY 2.0 | Source
Public Domain
Public Domain | Source

I have include two videos with a slightly different way of doing this.

Each is different but they accomplish the same thing; adding color or a color splash as it is better known, to a black and white photo.

Remember that you do not need to shoot images in black and white to begin with.

Color images can be turned into monochromes very easily with most any digital editing program.

A montage, with areas that have been colorized.

CC BY 2.0
CC BY 2.0 | Source

© 2015 Luis E Gonzalez

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)