Making one thing in an image standout or even sparkle?

[Bettyboo]

HI Everyone,

I would appreciate some guidance please. I have nearly finished my first assignment image for my C&G Level 3 course.

However, despite going through my Elements 10 (Kelby/Kloskowski) book, I can't find a way to make the name of the shopping center we had to photograph really stand out and this is the last process I would like to do before having the image printed, then mounting it and handing it in on Tuesday.

I have tried to upload a copy of the area I am referring to, but it says it is an invalid file even though I save it as a JPEG from Elements 10, (having one of those days I think ).

So any guidance would be most gratefully received, as always thanks in advance.

Lynne

[tclune]

One common way of doing that sort of thing is using selective color in post. Personally, I am not a fan of that kind of thing, but it is a sledgehammer way of accomplishing the goal of the assignment. FWIW

[Bettyboo]

Hi Tom, thanks for your response. This is for something specific for my course, otherwise I wouldn't be tinkering with something like this.

Sorry I should have said I am a complete newbie at processing, so could you let me know where the 'selective colour' part is please ( I only have Elements 10, so perhaps it isn't in this version?).

Many thanks Tom, take care.

Lynne

[allenlennon]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjUWPRvpjhI thats a good video on colour splash

[Bettyboo]

Hi Allen,

Thanks for that, I had forgotten about searching You Tube, still very new to all this!

I have watched it and think I have grasped it! I had a quick go but got it the wrong way around but will keep trying this afternoon until I crack it, if you pardon the pun!

Many thanks indeed for the link, much appreciated, another thing I have learnt today

Lynne

[xpatUSA]

Hi Lynne,

I gave it a quick shot, not too late I hope:



PSE6 steps:

Circle-selected the flower, then "inverse" (backround), then applied filter>blur>gaussian>0.5 radius
Selected "inverse" again (flower), then enhance>unsharp mask>0.5 radius, 128%, 0 threshold
keeping the flower selected . . .
Selected enhance>color>saturation/hue and upped the saturation 25%
Deselected with no further processing

Too subtle? Just double all the above numbers :-)

City&Guilds huh? I'm going back in time . . . Lincoln Tech - 1969 . . Electronics . . .

[revi]

Selective colour is one way to make something stand out, but it's a bit 'in your face' (and only works with
a B/W base image)

There's other ways as well:
- add a glow effect to the name
- make the colours of the name more saturated, more vivid (and perhaps partially desaturate the rest
of the image, to give a 'faded' effect)

in all cases, you'll have to work with layers and layer masks: one layer will have the base image, the
second the effect, and the mask makes sure the effect is only visible where you want it to be visible.
For some effects, you'll also have to play with the layer modes and layer opacity.

[Bettyboo]

Bingo!! Thanks Ted, I have just done it and it has worked out how I want.

I was having problems with the layer mask method Tom kindly suggested, it is my first attempt at layer masks and I don't think I have really grasped it yet. I did try to lasso it and do something, but it turns out the wording isn't that in focus (operator error ) so it wouldn't latch on it, even using 'select' I couldn't do it, so this method has worked out well.

I will need to tidy it up, but will do that tomorrow as I be tinkering with this since this morning and my eyes are going now .

This is my first C&Gs course and it is as Bracknell and Wokingham College. I am definitely a mature student but it is nice being back in the classroom but actually wanting to learn this time!

I would attach a copy but each time I try it comes up with 'invalid file', so I am obviously doing something wrong with that as well!

Take care and thanks again.

Lynne

[Bettyboo]

Hi Revi, I haven't used layers yet and I did attempt it earlier, but failed miserably!

However, I will give it another go tomorrow when I am a bit fresher and I might grasp it.

Many thanks for the suggestions, I am saving them all for the future, really helpful.

Best wishes,

Lynne

[rawill]

Hi Bettyboo

here is hoping you get to upload your work.

There is a sticky on here about uploading files.
I use photobucket to store my photos, then copy and click the link (the bottom link of 4 on the right when you look at the photo in photbucket.)

[Bettyboo]

Many thanks Robin.

Here goes...

[xpatUSA]

Bingo!! Thanks Ted, I have just done it and it has worked out how I want.

I would attach a copy but each time I try it comes up with 'invalid file', so I am obviously doing something wrong with that as well!

Glad to hear it, Lynne.

[edit: just noticed your successful upload above, duh]

"Click Here To Upload . . ." has never worked for me, and the button for "Insert Image" can be cranky too.

I've reverted to using "BB Code" - do not fear, you just type {img} thern paste in the URL (link) of your image and then type {/img} . . but use square brackets [] not curly ones.

Thus {img}http://backup.cambridgeincolour.com/kronometric.org/images/phot/E752new.jpg{/img} with square brackets becomes my English-style barn under construction:

[GrahamH]

Making part of a picture stand out (sign or otherwise)?
Well, it has to look different to the rest of the picture in some way.
Several ways of making a given item stand out - using a combination may be the best way.
I'm sure other people will be able to add to the list.

As you didn't specify that it has to be done in post processing, I've included in-camera techniques as well.
In-camera.
Firstly, check out composition.
If the sign is the ONLY item of interest, the eye will tend to be drawn to that.
For example, shoot from a low angle so the sky is the only other competing element.
Night-time shots so the background is dark.

Second, make it bigger than anything else (wide angle, get up close). Everything else tends to be smaller and therefore of less visual attraction.
Three, light it differently to anything else. Use some flash to illuminate it so it is brighter than the surrounding elements.
Four, check out leading lines in the composition to it. If there is nothing else, you could have a hand in the picture pointing towards it.
Five, selective focus. have other elements out of focus.

Post-processing.
Firstly, (as previously mentioned) spot colour as the eye would be drawn towards the colour if everything else is BW.
Secondly, red is a strong visual attractor. Can you change the hue to a more vibrant colour (or reduce the colour attractiveness of other competing elements)?
Three, selective blurring of other elements. Alternately only sharpen the item of interest.
Four, warp the image (e.g. bulge, twist, skew or any other distortion) to make the item stand out more.
Five, (as previously mentioned) special effects (many of which can be cheesy - but they may do the job you want). Add sparkles, drop shadows, streaks, rainbows or anything else. Think second hand car sales lot. They have balloons, banners, tinsel, lights and all sorts of stuff to attract the eye. No publicity is bad publicity (depends on the client you wish to attract I suppose).
Six, enhance any leading lines in some manner. I often us dodge and burn techniques to make the local contrast of leading lines stronger and so the tendency for the eye to travel where I want in the image.

I'm sure others can think of many other ways.
Not all may be applicable, but a great exercise for us all to embark upon.
graham

[Bettyboo]

Hi Graham,

Wow thank you for all the ideas and advice.

The 'rules' for the image for this assignment were quite strict and I had to get the canal in. We had about an hour (the whole class) in the shopping center and it was lashing down with rain, but the sky was very grey and flat. I had already seen an image from this angle and thought it looked interesting for what I wanted to do, and as it happened it kept me and the camera out of the rain for a lot of the time!

However, I realise now that I hadn't taken much notice of the actual name of the shopping on the far wall, and as I said I even managed not to get it in focus very well, top job . So another one for the list next time I do any urban landscape images.

All the processes you have mentioned look really interesting and I will try all of them, so many thanks for taking the time to write them all out for me. I am keeping a file of all the advice I get, so I can try everything out and note how I do and, hopefully, improve

Take care and thanks again Graham.

Lynne

[Bettyboo]

Thanks Ted, the more options I have to upload them the better I think!!

Take care and hope the weather over there is better here is cold, wet Blighty!