Colorful Standouts

Continuing on with some Photoshop ideas.....I often see the below effect done in wedding photography. The photographer highlights the bridal bouquet by keeping it in color and making the rest of the photo black and white.

 I was at a car show and saw this sideview mirror that captured the reflection of an American flag. When I converted the picture to B&W and kept the flag in color, it really popped. It is very easy to do in Photoshop. This took me less than 5 minutes. I also darkened the window in the background in order to highlight the chrome mirror.

Below is another twist in which you can use a "color standout" for more drama.

 

The impressive handmade cake pops in color and the emotion expressed in the girl is amplified in B&W. The result is win-win. You can do this in your portrait photos by converting photos to B&W and keeping colors in eyes, toys, flowers, etc. In the fall you can keep apples red or pumpkins orange. During the winter, you can keep a sled red or a Christmas tree green. I suggest keeping it in mind when you are photographing and an object just jumps out at you. One of my plans, for example, is to get a photo of my daughter in her Radio Flyer Wagon and keeping only the wagon red.

Want a last idea? Practice a close-up on a favorite ornament (maybe baby's first x-mas?) and keep only the (colorful!) ornament in color and convert the background tree to B&W.

What's Your Point of View?

Point of view (POV) is one of the most important aspects of setting up every shot. You need to start with that and you can build all other aspects up from there. Choose your POV (sometimes called perspective) and then worry about shutter, aperture, lighting etc.
In this shot, the subject was sitting at a table and I jumped up on a chair with flash in hand, close to the ceiling and bounced. I obviously used a very small DOF - I think 1.8. It was a one shot deal. I was never going to recreate that natural expression; which of course was her not being amused. If that shot didn't work, I would have hopped off the chair and taken a different approach. As luck would have it, it worked! The only post editing I did was slight color correction and cropped it smaller.

This shot is only as interesting as it is because of the POV. Try your shots by looking up at people, down at people. Shot them head on. Try a profile. It will add interest and often times drama to your portraits (and other shots of course). The more you practice, the happier you will be with your results.

"Professional" POV Tips: These are only jumping off points.
1. For adults, try shooting just slightly above your subject's eye level looking down. It is typically a flattering angle.
2. For shorter subjects (shorter than you) try getting down lower, perhaps looking slightly up at them. You don't want your shots to be tops of heads.
3. For kids, get LOWER. Shooting at their level or looking up at them will dramatically improve your child shots. Look at the shot below. This child is at my level and it is a very pleasing point of view. I got down on one knee. The person taking a picture behind me (a family member of all people) stood. Yes, stood and looked down. Without showing their results, just guess which one came out better.
The next time you can use a child as a model, try capturing a few shots looking up at them. Have them stand on a rock or jungle gym and put the sky behind them on a crisp Fall day. If done well the results can look very amazing. And why? We aren't used to seeing children at that angle. And that creates the interest and the drama.