1st Baptist Ellisville Seniors

I took this shot yesterday for the student ministry at First Baptist Ellisville. They have been using these kinds of selective color photos for their senior group shots for the past several years, so I was happy to oblige. A couple of tips to give you for shoots like these: (1) guys don't really care to act crazy if you want to get funny, candid shots and (2) shoot quickly to keep the masses happy and comfortable.

If you're into these types of shots, they're fairly straight forward (or can be) to produce. You will need to be using photo editing software like Adobe's Photoshop or equivalent because you need to do some layer masking. Not counting retouching, color correction (if you need that), cropping, and all of that jazz, you're just looking at two steps to produce selective color black and whites:

First, you've got to convert to black and white. There are a gazillion ways to go about this. Starting a couple of versions ago, Adobe made it super simple to get easy results in Photoshop using adjustment layers. Simply put, these allow you to alter an image without messing it up for good -- you can modify these adjustments layers, add more for different effects/results, or trash them if you don't like what you've done...and all the while not touching the original image. The black and white adjustment layer palette gives you several B&W processing options to get the look you're after. So, if you don't want to deal with other methods, this is an easy option that does give great results.

Second, you've got to mask off the portion of the image where you want the color to shine through. This is the same concept as using masking tape in your home to keep from painting window sills, etc when you're painting your walls. If you've used an adjustment layer in Photoshop, you can simply edit the associated layer mask to reveal the area you have chosen (in my case, the car).

I didn't intend for this to be a step-by-step tutorial or anything...just sort of an overview to the technique used to produce these images. You won't see selective color used much in high-end photography or fine art since it is somewhat gimmicky. But given the right circumstances it can be quite effective in focusing the viewer's eye on a particular feature or a photo. I remember the video version of the technique used in Schindler's List when the camera was following a little girl in a pink (or red?) coat around the streets.