Spot Colouring Video Tutorial

A little dated now or is spot colouring still in fashion?

Spot Colouring

Spot colouring is a technique whereby you take a black and white image and add a splash of colour to the dominant part of the photo or the part that you want to be “highlighted” as in the example below.

This image was taken in the heat of summer in Southern Spain on a popular beach called Tarifa on the Costa de la Luz. We borrowed two models on this day for a real estate shoot to encompass the lifestyle and quality of life obtained from living in the sun.

I took this shot from a low viewpoint to emphasize the deep blue sky and to accentuate the models’ body. In hindsight I should have used a ping of fill in flash to highlight her face as the hat was worn to prevent harsh shadows from the midday sun.

This is easily corrected using Kubota’s Image Tools as you will see in the tutorial.

I used a small aperture of just F4.5 to blow out the background by creating a shallow depth of field which draws the eye to the girl.

The full Exif Data is:

  • Camera: Canon EOS 5D (Yes. Mark 1!!!)
  • Lens: Canon EF 24-70mm L F2.8
  • Image Quality: RAW
  • Shutter Speed: 400th/sec
  • Aperture: F4.5
  • ISO: 125
  • Focal Length: 46mm
  • White Balance: Auto
  • AF Mode: One Shot AF

Here is the video tutorial for spot-colouring. Please feel free to share this with your friends or add it to your website or blog!

Spot Colouring in Photoshop

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