Question: replacing color range

B
Posted By
BD
Oct 24, 2005
Views
307
Replies
3
Status
Closed
Hey, all.

I recently did a photo shoot, in which we used some colored gels for highlights, and a lot of backlighting (for increased contrast and shadow). The gels were not my idea. 😉

Some of the shots that I thought worked the best are some of the ones in which a gel was used. So, picture a model, lit largely from the side, with small hints of purple along the extreme side of the image.

I don’t find it _unattractive_, but it’s something I’d just as soon dispense with.

So – I’m trying to think of a way to replace a color range _smoothly_. Perhaps lassooing the relevant area, changing the color balance there alone, and using some sort of light cloning brush in case there’s a demarcation along the lassoo’d area?

Or is it likely just a case of judicious use of color balance and the brightness/contrast in order to get the desired effect?

I’ll try a few things, but I’m not expecting it to be all that straightforward – simply because the color I want to eliminate is only alone one edge of the model’s face.

If it makes better sense to post a link to a sample image, I’m happy to do so.

Thanks for all suggestions!

BD
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BH
Bill Hilton
Oct 25, 2005
BD writes …

I’m trying to think of a way to replace a color range _smoothly_. Perhaps lassooing the relevant area, changing the color balance there alone

The quick and dirty way to do this is Image > Adjustments > Replace Color, use the eye droppers to select a color range, vary the ‘fuzziness’ slider to expand/contract your color selection, and then vary the hue/sat/lightness sliders at the bottom to change just the selected colors.

A better way that’s more flexible but slightly more work is to do Select > Color Range and make a color selection with the same type of eyedropper tools. Once you have the selection to taste click OK and then open an adjustment layer of type Hue/Saturation. The selection you just made becomes a layer mask for the adjustment layer so you can change hue/sat etc in just the selected areas. The advantage of this approach over Replace Color is that you can re-open the adjustment layer and tweak it or you can edit the layer mask.

The Help files for Replace Color and Select > Color Range are pretty good if you want to read up on the nitty gritty.

I’m not expecting it to be all that straightforward – simply because the color I want to eliminate is only alone one edge of the model’s face

It’s pretty easy once you isolate and select the color … sometimes selecting the color is not so simple if there are subtle blends between colors but once you get the color range selected it’s easy enough.

Bill
T
Tacit
Oct 25, 2005
In article ,
"BD" wrote:

So – I’m trying to think of a way to replace a color range _smoothly_. Perhaps lassooing the relevant area, changing the color balance there alone, and using some sort of light cloning brush in case there’s a demarcation along the lassoo’d area?

The lasso is far too crude for something like this. Use Select->Color Range instead.

You may be able to change the color without using a selection at all by using Image->Adjust->Selective Color.

Or is it likely just a case of judicious use of color balance and the brightness/contrast in order to get the desired effect?

Do not use Color Balance and Brightness/Contrast for *anything*.

The Color Balance and Brightness/Contrast commands are "linear" commands. They degrade the quality of the picture, because they clip detail from hilights and shadows.

Use Curves instead. Curves can do everything Color Balance and Brightness/Contrast can do, and a lot more besides, but Curves does not degrade the image by clipping hilights and shadows.

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B
BD
Oct 25, 2005
I’ll try that.

Thanks to both for the suggestions – might save me from having to reshoot. 😉

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