The Mission
– Recolour a background using adjustment layers and masks in Photoshop
Time
– 10 minutes
Skill level
– Beginner
Kit needed
– Photoshop CC
Bold colours can help your portraits to pop, but you might not always find the colours you want while shooting. Thankfully, recolouring parts of a scene is easily done in post-production.
We’ll use simple Photoshop tools here to change the backdrop to a bold blue tone. You can adapt this technique to change the colour of pretty much anything you like.
At the time of the shoot here we found a convenient red wall next to a large window, so ideal for portraiture. But after the shoot the reds seemed somewhat overpowering, especially as the skin tones and hair also have slight varying shades of red. So instead, we isolated and recoloured the background in Photoshop.
Shifting colours is a fairly simple task. As usual with Photoshop, there are a myriad of ways to go about the task, but it’s best to do so in a non-destructive way, so that you have the freedom to choose another colour later on if you want. We’ll use adjustment layers here, which allow us to alter the colours on the layer (or layers) underneath while remaining editable throughout the entirety of the workflow.
This story is from the December 2020 edition of N-Photo: the Nikon magazine.
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This story is from the December 2020 edition of N-Photo: the Nikon magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
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