To produce a photo with selective colour, you first need to convert the photo to Mono. This must be your first piece of post processing on this photo, do not crop the photo until you have completed the selective colouring. Follow the steps below to convert your photo to mono, then see the details at the bottom which will show you how to return colour to specific areas. Converting a photo from colour to mono can be done in a few simple steps.

The first is to select the photo your looking to convert. You then need to Select image in the top tool bar, then select adjustments > Channel Mixer

Once the Channel mixer has been selected you need to check the Monochrome box as seen below.

Your Photo will now be converted to Mono, but there is one more step here that really requires your own personal adjustment until you get your desired effect. I personally change the Colour percentages to Red 40% – Green 30% – Blue 30% and then tweak adjustments until I obtain the effect I’m looking for

Now your photo is converted to mono, you only have one simple step to enhance your photo with selective colouring.Using the history brush and painting over the areas where you want the colour has got to be the easiest and quickest way of doing this.

Now carefully go round the area of where you want the colour.

A camera’s ISO function increases the sensitivity of your cameras sensor to light.. Your camera’s ISO settings are often rated at 100, 200, or 400 but go as high as 800, 1600, and even 3200 on some advanced models. For well lit scenes such as a bright summers day, you can keep your ISO low to around the 100-200 range as there will be plenty of light to expose the photo correctly. If you’re in low light conditions such as indoors or a night club, then you’d need to increase your ISO to maybe 800 or 1600.

See the example photo below, this shows the same shutter speed with progressive increase of the ISO to illuminate the photo correctly.

As you can see the image to the left is a lot darker than the image on the right. So if your location is too dark, then increase your ISO to increase the light in to the lens.

Also bear in mind that the higher the ISO the longer th

This all sounds great, but there is a trade off here, the higher your ISO the more noise you will see in your photo. Noise can be seen in the example below on the 1600 ISO rating, you’ll see coloured dots within the photo and this is why a lower ISO rating is preferable as the noise in some circumstances detract from the image itself, having said that, noise can sometime enhance a photo depending on what type of effect you’re after. For example, if you want to create an aged look to a photo, increased noise will add and enhance the overall finish.

The rule of thirds is a compositional aid used to help photographers and artists arrange the elements of a picture in such a way as to actively engage the attention of the viewer. This method can be very effective in creating a strong focal point in an otherwise bland image. It can be applied to most scenes you may come across, from landscapes to portraits, still life to abstracts and eve macro.

Very simply, imagine the frame broken down into nine equal parts by two vertical lines and two horizontal lines. Placing the key elements of the image on the intersections of these lines will then increase their impact and provide a natural focal point to the picture.

Placing horizons or other dividing elements on one of the horizontal or vertical lines will lead to the picture appearing more balanced, rather than being overwhelmed by one particular section.

Take for example, a standard portrait of the human face, the first thing people will usually look at is the eyes, think about where the eyes fall, roughly about 1/3rd of the way down and equally spaced. This is usually followed by the mouth, where does the mouth fall, again, about 1/3rd of the way up.

The important thing to remember with compositional rules is that they are meant to be broken. They should be treated as guidelines only and as much can be gained from breaking them as it can by following them.

So, what do you need?

1. Camera
2. External Flash/Bright Light
3. Incense Sticks (with a holder, a small glass will do)
4. Lighter/Match
5. Stool/Table
6. Tripod (optional but preferred)
7. Remote trigger (optional but preferred)
8. Macro Lens (For best results, but normal lens will do)
9. Black Background (Bigger the better eg. Studio bg, A2 Card, Black Sheet etc)
10. An Assistant (If you haven’t got a support for your Flash/Light source)

Got everything! Now What?

Ok, now you have everything that you need to start, you now need to set it all up! The diagram below shows how you should setup your kit. Also check out the picture for a clearer idea =] Place the flash/light source somewhere between the side and behind the smoke. The light needs to cover the area where the smoke might be, and it shouldn’t be so close that the smoke is unevenly lit. Also do not let the light flood onto the background.

Setup Your Camera on the tripod in the form of portrait (at a 90degree angle), this ensures you can capture as much smoke as possible. Set it up approximately 60cm’s away from the smoke (this will vary).

Brilliant! I’m all set up, what next?

Pre focus on the area where the smoke is going to be. I leave auto focus on. Try and keep a fast shutter speed, and an Aperture of between F11 and F16, also shoot at the lowest ISO setting you can (smoke is already quite noisy, so a higher ISO will make it worse). Also shoot in Raw if you can.

The Image Below should help with your settings (screen shot from a Canon 400d)

Light your Incense sticks (I Use two, the heat from one, effects the other and produces nice effects), and then blow out the flame, the smoke should now be flowing. Make sure that you have something to catch the ashes.

Now start focusing on the smoke and shoot…. LOTS. Keep checking the LCD and if its too dark either…. Increase the ISO, Reduce the F Number or slow the shutter Speed. Try to keep a healthy F number and a fast shutter speed. If the smoke seems undefined and dull, increase the flashes power (if you can).

Ive taken loads of shots and confident they are alright, what do I with them?

Now we need to process the images. Open up the selected Pictures raw file in your Raw editor and bring out the blacks to that the background is as dark as possible without losing the smoke. I personally like increasing the contrast, tweaking the brightness and playing with the highlights. It’s all about tweaking until you get the desired effect. Click Ok and open up your shot in Photoshop.

Create a new Layer. (Shift+Ctrl+N) and set the blending mode to Hue.

Then select the Gradient tool.

Select your colours and drag it across your image. Now is the time to experience with your pictures! If you want a white background, simply invert the image. (Image>>>Ajustments>>>Invert).

So thats the basic technique. Any questions, just contact me. Just remember, Saftey First and if you dont get it right first time, just try again another day!

By Shaun Smith

Here I will explain and describe my home studio setup. all of my portrait shots were taken with this home studio, so if your trying to find out how it performs, check out my gallery, however thats limited by my skill, better examples to look at may be Si’s work or some of Claire’s. their setups are slightly different.

Below is a shot of my home studio:

My Equipment

The Interfit ex150 kit comes with two 150 watt/sec flash heads, two lighting stands, a 60x60cm softbox, a white translucent umbrella, power cables and sync cord. I have 2 of these kits so the equipment is doubled up. If you are worried about the power from a 150w head, don’t be, I use them on half power the majority of the time.

1) 100% re-charge ready light

2) Infra red cell and flash receptor

3) Mains Plug and Fuse Holder (6.3 amp)

4) On/Off Power

5) Modelling lap control. Position I = Full power. Middle = Off. Position II = Proportional mode.

6) Test button

7) Sync lead connection between camera and flash head (connect to PC sync socket or a hotshoe adapter on your camera)

Cover is removable and washable and is an elasticated fit over the base which also doubles up as a diffuser. I’l warn you that the advertising for this product is so poor. The sample pics they use are terrible in my opinion, and i bet they lose a whole bunch of customers this way. I assure you that it performs alot better than what they show.

Above: Example of what can be achieved.

The IRX fits into the camera hotshoe, and emits a wide infrared beam which will trigger any infrared sensitive flash unit, so eliminating the need for a sync cord between the camera and flash unit and any worries about sync voltages on DSLR’s.

Lens?

I cant recommend the Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM highly enough. Its a cracking lens and produces sharp and detailed results. However, you do need a little space to play with. IdeallyI have double doors that open up into my living room, this gives me the requires space. If you are really limited on space, i would go no higher than a 30mm.

I also have the EF 50 mm f/1.8II which is a great little lense and produces sharp results, considering you can pick it up for around £50 if you look in the right places.

Video tour:

Setup and Settings

First of all, I am going to say don’t just copy what write here… Experiment! thats the fun in it and you will get better results.

The lights that illuminate the front of the subject want to be around 4ft away from them and the bottom edge of the softbox at around chin height pointing down at a 45degree angle. have the lights at the back the same hight too, but experiment at which angle you tilt them.

Something to Remember:

Make sure your subject isn’t sat to near the vertical bit of the backdrop, as this will result on the rear lights flooding on to them causing a horrible misty effect like the below. If you sit them away from it and your still getting this misty effect, chances are the flash is too powerful, so just turn it down.

above: Sat to near the backdrop/flash too powerful

I shoot most of the time with my lights on half power. with these settings:

Again, experiment with your settings to achieve different results!

Below is a diagram of my home studio setup:

Now, im not saying this is the only way to setup a home studio, far from it… but this is one successful way of doing so, without going bankrupt! Please post your comments and questions and I will eagerly get back to you. Hope this helped.

Written by Shaun Smith

A big congratulations to Shaun for winning the first competition of the year ‘Black & White’

This months competition was overwhelming with the number of entries, which must have made voting even more difficult than usual.

Congratulations Shaun, a deserved winner.

Your Prize is a large Canvas Print

This months photography competition is

I’d also like to congratulate everyone else who entered this competition, the entries were all top quality, great work by all. To see all entries click here