(The above photo was taken and manipulated by me in order to illustrate a point.
I apologize to the woman in this photo for being put through this atrocity.)

I see this a LOT.

It seems as though every portrait and wedding photographer trying to make a name for themselves has done something like this at least once. Others are repeat offenders, and I just gotta say it right now. Please STOP. There is a right time for selective coloring (hereafter referred to as “SC”). Bridal portraits are not one of these times. Neither are family portraits.

True, there are some times when SC looks really cool and adds to the artistic value of a photo. I can say with complete confidence that 99% of all the SC photos I’ve seen fail in this regard.

Why am I so critical of this, when it’s such a widely used technique? Well, I have a few reasons.

1. It’s a widely used technique. It’s a cliche. Like when someone opens up Photoshop for the first time and discovers the lens flare. All of a sudden, there are lens flares everywhere. It’s gimmicky, and in my opinion anyone that considers themselves a serious and good, quality photographer does not need to resort to such a lame effect.

2. It frequently takes the attention away from the main subject. There’s a reason I chose a bridal photo to do this to. I see many, many photos of a woman, bride, couple, etc. where they are in black and white and the flowers are in color. Look at the photo above, and tell me, what should you be looking at? The main subject of this photo is the bride, and yet my eyes are immediately drawn to the flowers. Why do you not want people to look at the bride in a bridal photo? I will never understand why some photographers do this, the logic is beyond me.

3. It often leads the viewer out of the frame. This may sound like the same thing from above, but trust me, it’s a different beast. Any graphic or communication design major will tell you that one of the rules of a good design is to lead the viewer INTO the frame, and never OUT of it. Often times, when SC is used in a photo, it is used on something that was never meant to be the focus. Because of this, they are usually on the sides, top, or bottom of a photo. The second a viewer looks at an image, their eyes are immediately drawn to the focal point. When this focal point is not what it’s supposed to be, you are leading the viewer away from your intended subject. Since this focal point tends to be on the edge of the photo, you are effectively leading the viewer out of the frame.

4. It is not a good band-aid. A lot of times SC is used in a desperate attempt to save a bad photo. Look, if you took a bad photo, you took a bad photo. Nothing you do is going to save it. The best thing to do is look at what you did wrong, learn how to do it right, and take a better photo next time. Don’t slap 10 different photoshop filters over it and upload it to your website as “art”.

So maybe now you understand why I dislike SC so much. I apologize if I ruffled any feathers or offended anyone out there that likes to use this technique. It’s nothing personal. But maybe now the next time you decide to use it, you’ll ask yourself if it’s really necessary, or if it does any of the things I mentioned above. As I said at the beginning, SC has it’s place, it’s up to you to decide if your photo is it.

-Damon