Spot colour - Okay or no way?

[V8Wagon]

Just messing with LR this last couple of days and ended up with these two shots....what's the verdict on having small elements of colour in a B&W pic? For me there was a 'reason' to put the colour in but I'm not sure if it is contrived and simply getting the photo eyecatching enough to not warrant the colour is the way to go.

I'd be interested in any C&C (yes, I know I'm not gonna win any awards for the photo's, the question is more about the use of selective colour )


Sin City by André Jardinière, on Flickr


The Artist by André Jardinière, on Flickr

[Dan_1981]

I think it works very well in picture one - suits the style of the image very well. A lot less keen on it in the 2nd one.

[droopsnoot]

My personal opinion is that it's a bit like HDR - it's OK now and again, but it gets a bit tedious when it's overdone, like looking through 28dayslater where it seems everyone that goes urban exploring has to add HDR. It's barely noticeable in the first shot.

There's a painter who does stuff like this, and I thought it was a great idea when I first saw it, but now it seems that he's done loads so it's too repetitive, and I think there are others who also do the same. Depends on who will see them, though.

[K12beano]

If you're making the film "Sin City" then it's fine - otherwise I think general opinion is "step away from the keyboard".

There are some instances where, maybe in a commercial setting, some large prints might "work" - but that's for something like your local trendy coffee shop and just covers up for the fact they can serve drugs like caffeine, but not drugs like LSD.....

[andy-xr]

I remember asking and asking on here, then trying it out for myself, spent ages working on it in Photoshop. Stepped back, looked at my finished work and thought I'd created a monster. It was proper ste

[Simpo Two]

It depends very much on the subject matter and which bits you keep in colour. 'Spot Red' is probably on the 'Stages of a Photographer' graph, but there are infinite more subtle things to consider. Note that spot colour should start with a good photo; don't use it to tart up a poor one. And if it's purely for your consumption, do what you like not what others tell you to do

[mcflurry]

I would have kept the painter in black and white, and just made his painting in colour

[Fastpedeller]

It shows how much the colour deficiency in my vision affects me, as I couldn't see the colour at all in the first photo until my daughter pointed it out, and then only just.

[RobDickinson]

The 1st works.

The 2nd is like a wedding photo from 2002.

Might work if you kept only the painting in colour but muted.

As for who can get away with it, sin city, and Spielberg , and ah thats it...

[singlecoil]

Don't care for it myself. I put it in the same category as Dutch angle (trying to make a picture more interesting that it actually is). But my tastes are frequently different to the majority's so decide for yourself.

[Rogue86]

I would always say that every technique has a time and place, but the time for selective colour is never.

[V8Wagon]

Thanks a lot guys.....you've pretty much confirmed what I was already thinking I think my selective colour phase may have been very short lived!

[RobDickinson]

HDR time...

[Lucas CAV]

[quote=Simpo Two]It depends very much on the subject matter and which bits you keep in colour. 'Spot Red' is probably on the 'Stages of a Photographer' graph, but there are infinite more subtle things to consider. Note that spot colour should start with a good photo; don't use it to tart up a poor one. And if it's purely for your consumption, do what you like not what others tell you to do [/quote

This.
Why do you care what others say?