Blue eyes and yellow daffodils

All photos copyright Janice Heppenstall

I’m not a technical person.  Finding my way around software doesn’t come naturally to me.  But every now and again I get an idea in my head and set out to discover what I must to achieve what I want to do.  This blog is testament to that!  I’m sure it’s the same for many bloggers.

Thankfully I had a guided introduction to Photoshop Elements when I took an online distance learning course in digital photography last summer.  It was during that time that I produced the image above.  I wanted to emphasise my son’s beautiful blue eyes.  The result was exactly what I had hoped for.

When I read that Leah’s theme for Creative Every Day Challenge participants this month was to be colour, this technique sprang to mind.  The challenge is to find an image with one colour or one object naturally commanding attention, converting the rest to monochrome.  This, then, is what I’ve been doing this month.  What I’ve found is that the digital manipulation is the easy part!  Finding the right scene to photograph has been more tricky.  The perfect shot of a grand building with a Union Jack fluttering in the breeze has so far eluded me, but I’ll keep looking.

I know there are people out there with Photoshop Elements who don’t know how to use it.  Were it not for last year’s course I would undoubtedly be one of the ranks!  With this in mind I thought some of you might appreciate a quick guide on how to achieve this effect.  The instructions are for Photoshop Elements 7.  It’s very similar for earlier versions of this programme.

Here’s how:

1. Send your image from the organiser to Full Edit.
2. It’s good practice always to save a copy of your original image.  Once you’ve changed those pixels they’re changed, so you need to keep the original safe.  Click on File: Duplicate: (suggested file name comes up): OK.
3. If you simply want to convert an image to monochrome (without the colour detail) Click on Enhance: Convert to B&W.  The programme will identify your image as a particular style – (urban, portrait, etc) and will provide a specific hue.  Use the sliders if you would like to change the effect.
4. But for the effect we are looking for we first need to use the PSE Layers facility.  To do this click on Layer: Duplicate Layer: OK.  A new copy of the image labelled ‘Background Copy’ appears on your screen bottom right.
5. Then, ensuring you are working in the background copy (the thumbnail in the bottom right corner is highlighted black) convert to B&W as for point 3 above.
6. Here’s where the magic starts!  From the tool box down the left hand column select Zoom tool (magnifying glass).  A new tool bar appears across the top, including plus and minus signs.  Select the plus sign, then click on your image several times to achieve the magnification you need to work on the area you want to appear in colour.
7. Next select the Erase tool from the left hand tool box.  (It looks like an eraser.)  Now when you hold the cursor over your image a circle appears.  You can make this circle smaller or larger using the square brackets keys on your keyboard.  Now, using your mouse, you can erase the top layer (which you have converted to B&W), revealing the colour beneath.  Always make sure when you do this that the B&W layer is active (highlighted black in bottom right corner of screen).
8. If you make a mistake (including if you accidentally erase from the foundation layer), use Control Z on your keyboard to take you back to the last time you clicked the mouse.

Just one last point about working on eyes.  I have found that strong sunlight can change the appearance of the colour.  In both these images I had to do a little manipulation on the actual colour of the eyes in the foundation image before adding the duplicate layer.  In the case of the image of my own eye, I changed the colour quite dramatically, using a variety of tools, and really boosted the blue and cyan saturation, to give a subtle sort of metallic effect.

It’s a simple as that!  If you have a go at this technique you can then progress onto a whole range of effects that involve you converting the upper layer and then erasing parts to reveal the original.  For example, after creating the duplicate layer, I used Filter: Blur: Gaussian Blur at 52% and then erased the main focus of the image to create a beautiful image of my sister in law with her two children.  In fact, as a result of all this work in the digital darkroom this month I can really see how my own skills and confidence have developed.  (I’m producing an online tutorial, for heaven’s sake!!!!)

If you can follow my directions and have a go at this for yourself, please do leave a comment with a link to your own converted images.  I’d love to see what you produce.

You can see all my tutorials here.

Click on the badge tag below to see how others have interpreted Leah’s Colour theme for this month’s Creative Every Day, or to join in yourself.