Hyde park (london) in September I spotted this guy listening in on the debate,lost in thought.The original colour version was a bit too busy and having changed it to B/W it seemed too flat.After reading an article on blending modes and hand-tinting I put the technique into effect and am quite pleased with the resulting image.
Dave,thanks for your comments.Actually,I didn't do any photoshop blurring on the bike as it was already thrown completely out of focus by the choice of a wide open diaphram,the focus was mainly on the face.The article on the use of blending modes and hand painting on different levels was in this month's copy of Digital Photo- a UK. magazine which comes with a CD.of excellent tutorials on Photoshop.Basically, once you've got your background layer, you open up a new layer above it and desaturate it.Then,you select a colour for the part of the image you want to paint in,select a paint brush and paint in that area.Next,yougo to blend modes in the layers palette(says Normal at the top)and then at the bottom of the list click on colour-then the magic happens!You can further adjust the effect using hue/saturation and the eraze tool to tidy up what you've painted in .A touch of Gaussian blur ( in filters)will help smooth the join between the two layers.To paint in another area continue the same process-click on the new layer symbol in the layers palette........Anyway,try it out,it's fun!
I'd love to read the article you used to develop the blending technique in this. It really sets the shot apart from just a photo of an elderly man. I love it. And so timely, too. The only thing I might have done is not blurred out the area of the bike that he is standing directly over.
Your comments on my "Morning Mist" are appreciated. I am shocked over the "white object in the bottom center" that you pointed out. I had looked at and worked on the photo for hours and never once noticed it until you pointed it out. It's now gone on my copy. The white tipped fence posts had bothered me and I had considered removing them too but didn't. I appreciate the other tips you gave me about getting closer in and choice of lenses. Unfortuantely, that was private property and about as close as I could get. Not to mention it was a myre of mud and I wasn't prepared for that.
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