Selective DeSat - DPChallenge Forums

10/18/2004 01:28:49 PM · #1

My first real run at selective desaturation.

Looking for feeback - promise not to bite anyone's head off. If you take the time to look, as a lot of you do, please also drop a comment. Takes 2 seconds. Thanks. And actually, I lost the color copy, so it's really a DeSat and then a Layered ReSat. Selectively speaking, of course. :)

Message edited by author 2004-10-18 13:29:44.

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G DX VR

10/18/2004 01:40:38 PM · #2

anyone? Beuler? Frye? Anyone? (Sorry....Got Ferris Beuler stuck in my head)

aerogurl

Nikon D300

10/18/2004 01:52:49 PM · #3

not much to say about it but Good!! Looks great :o)

nordicgirl

Sony DSC-P100

10/18/2004 01:53:21 PM · #4

:)
Its quite nice... you shouldnt worry much.
The shades on eye make it more artistic.

riotspyne

Nikon D80

10/18/2004 02:10:46 PM · #5

this is nice, i like the silver tones around the eyelids.

Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF

10/18/2004 02:13:22 PM · #6

Well the shot itself is really good but I'm not sure how the desat/sat helps it...it doesn't hurt it either, but since most people who are "into" photography feel that desats have been "done" more than enough...the image might be received less favorably because of that.

faidoi

Pentax K10D

10/18/2004 02:19:32 PM · #7

I really like it. I'm one of those people that use the desat the most. You can find them in my portfolio.

The desat of all colors except for the blue brings the viewers eyes to attention. I don't know if this is the true color of the eyes or not. Upping the satuaration of the blue while desaturating the rest of the colors will make it more vibrant and stand out even more.

I wonder what this would look like if the eyeliner's(?)color was left in. I bet it would look cool. Kind of like those makeup ads.

riotspyne

Nikon D80

10/18/2004 02:25:41 PM · #8

Originally posted by Gil P:

since most people who are "into" photography feel that desats have been "done" more than enough...

what exactly is "into" photography? i think everyone at dpc is probably "into" photography and there is tons of desat here. im just wondering what your interpretation of "into" is

Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS

10/18/2004 02:31:07 PM · #9

Originally posted by riotspyne:

Originally posted by Gil P:
since most people who are "into" photography feel that desats have been "done" more than enough...

what exactly is "into" photography? i think everyone at dpc is probably "into" photography and there is tons of desat here. im just wondering what your interpretation of "into" is

Now now....no bickering in my thread.
:)

thanks everyone for the comments. I thought about leaving the eyesadow colored too, but didn't want to overdue it. I know that in some instances, there isn't always a point to selective desaturation...unless you're thinking in terms of "Defining Features", and the feature you're highlighting are blue eyes. It sometimes make's it stand out if you desaturate everything else. Aside from that, though...I wanted to try and replicate something I've seen done a lot.

And sometimes, yes, my eyes are that blue. Sometimes with flecks of green, sometimes they look gray. Depends really on what I'm wearing.

Message edited by author 2004-10-18 14:32:03.

Canon EOS-60D

10/18/2004 02:33:49 PM · #10

I think it's a great shot. And you like it...that's the important thing. No matter what, it's hard to please everyone. Reminds me of this story...

Moral of the Story

There was an old man, a boy and a donkey. They were going to town and it was decided that the boy should ride. As they went along they passed some people who thought that it was a shame for the boy to ride and the old man to walk.

The man and boy decided that maybe the critics were right so they changed positions. Later, they passed some more people who thought that it was a real shame for that man to make such a small boy walk. The two decided that maybe they both should walk.

Soon they passed some more people who thought that it was stupid to walk when they had a donkey to ride. The man and the boy decided maybe the critics were right so they decided that they both should ride.

They soon passed other people who thought that it was a shame to put such a load on a poor little animal. The old man and the boy decided that maybe the critics were right so they decided to carry the donkey.

As they crossed a bridge they lost their grip on the animal and it fell into the river and drowned.

The moral of the story is...if you try to please everyone, you will eventually lose your ass.

Shoot what YOU like because YOU want to... you'll be a happy photographer! :o)

10/18/2004 02:40:37 PM · #11

Originally posted by riotspyne:

Well "into" meant DPC users, People in general will look at a s-desat shot and say, wow, "how did they do this?!" but most people here know how to do it, have done it and have seen it done many many times...so it has less of a "wow" effect than on the --general-- public. Nothing against s-desat, just that for people "into" photo (dpc) it is not as magical.

10/18/2004 02:43:00 PM · #12

Here are some variations:

Frighteningly, that was the color exactly that I was wearing. New pigment by MAC. :) It just SCREAMS PARY!

10/18/2004 02:51:14 PM · #13

These offerings are outstanding...you should look at the advertisments for "helena rubinstein" make-up...very similar

10/18/2004 02:53:33 PM · #14

Originally posted by Gil P:

These offerings are outstanding...you should look at the advertisments for "helena rubinstein" make-up...very similar

WOW! Thanks, I'll look into it, Gil. Kisses. I'll do my lips next and give you a proper kiss. :)

10/18/2004 04:08:55 PM · #15

Rubenstein had a whole marketing campain in 2003 based on desaturated images which only revealed the Make-up product which needed to be highlighted...your shots are not only similar in nature but in quality!

This particular type of de-sat I find apealing, since it serves a particlar purpouse in bringing our attention to a specific point in the image.

10/18/2004 04:42:14 PM · #16

Originally posted by Gil P:

I tried doing a search on her on Google, but just got her product line. I'll have to try again. Thanks once again, Gil. I really appreciate it.

Stephanie

difarnecio

Nikon D100

10/18/2004 04:54:17 PM · #17

I really hate to be negative, there is so much of it on this site. But, the shots look like experiments. You did a great job with the selective desat. But apart from highlighting this skill, the photo really lacks impact. Yes, the blue is beautiful. But the highlights are almost blindingly hot, print this and you get nothing but paper based white. There is loss of detail in the eyebrow. Granted this is not the main subject, but it helps to "frame" your subject so it might be good to consider preserving some of the detail. Try a different desat process and adjust levels a bit so that the highlights are not so blinding. It's not a bad concept. It's just not a great result. Also, the angle is just to straight on, perhaps experiment with the angle a bit. Maybe get a catch light int the pupil. Maybe get a reflection in the eye that will draw the viewer deeper into the iris. Do this well and you won't have to rely on selective desat to draw the viewer in. Good luck.

Message edited by author 2004-10-18 16:56:44.

10/18/2004 05:01:21 PM · #18

Originally posted by difarnecio:

You miss the point of the photograph, though I agree with you. If this were entered in a challenge, I assume it wouldn't do all that well. The point was first, a macro excersize on my eye. That done, I moved onto the act of desaturation. Then someone mentioned saturating the eyesadow, which you'll find later in the thread I did as well.

The sum and total purpose of this piece was to get the desaturation done cleanly, without seeing bleeding of color/gray into areas they don't belong.

As for the starkness of it, and the white out effect...that's not due to the desaturation. That's due to my erasing it. It's not there. LOL. Don't look so hard for something that doesn't exist. Sometimes what you see, is all you're ment to see.

But for the purposes of a true artistic shot, you're right. A different angle and focal point would be beneficial.

Thanks

kyebosh

Canon EOS-20D

Canon EF 80-200 f/2.8L

10/18/2004 05:03:06 PM · #19

I also like to use a lot of selective desaturation. This seems to be done fairly well except that, like previously mentioned it's whites are a bit intense and yes some quality is lost. I'm not sure you really need to shoot it from a different angle, but perhaps trying a different crop would prove interesting. In the version with the purple I feel that it takes away from the color of the eye and maybe if you're going to do it that way you should decolor the eye along with the other elements. This image reminds me of the one in my profile.

10/18/2004 05:12:54 PM · #20

Originally posted by kyebosh:

look at the second image of the purple eyeshadow - you'll see I did desaturate the eye.

kyebosh

Canon EOS-20D

Canon EF 80-200 f/2.8L

10/18/2004 05:19:28 PM · #21

oops I didn't notice!

10/18/2004 05:20:26 PM · #22

Originally posted by kyebosh:

oops I didn't notice!

no problem. lol. thanks for the comments. I appreciate it. :)