2016 PHOTOCHALLENGE, WEEK 46: URBAN DECAY – SELECTIVE COLOR(S)

Here we are slowly getting closer to the end of the 2016 PhotoChallenge. For some reason it keeps getting harder to come up with FUN and CREATIVELY-MOTIVATING PhotoChallenges. This one came to me like a light bulb lighting up in a dark room. I went from absolutely no idea (Bad Ideas) to this ingenious Challenge.

Steve Troletti Editorial, Nature and Wildlife Photographer: City Streets / Rue de la Ville &emdash; BREAKING NEWS: Steve Troletti, Photographer and Adventurer, Finds the Entrance to THE BAT CAVE!

I actually first thought of drabbing or grunging it, at least a sepia/vignette look. Looking through my images, I found the image above and that’s when I realized that selective colors, RED in this case, would have totally changed the image.

Steve Troletti Editorial, Nature and Wildlife Photographer: City Streets / Rue de la Ville &emdash; The Haunted House / La Maison Hant�e

Falling onto this image of mine, I figured that allowing not only ONE SELECTIVE COLOR but multiple in targeted areas of the image would better bring-out the photographer’s vision…

Steve Troletti Editorial, Nature and Wildlife Photographer: PICTURE OF THE DAY / PHOTO DU JOUR &emdash; Urban Decay : When Clean Drinking Water Stops Flowing!

Here’s what I tried to accomplish with the image above. I truly wanted to put forward a message of water, more specifically water scarcity. Although all the Urban Decay elements were in place, the colors of the graffiti on the wall overwhelmed the message. Selecting the items necessary to portray the message and applying selective colors to only those items made them standout in the image.

What your final IMAGE will need :

  • The scenery must show some sort of urban decay.
  • Areas of your image that are the most important to portray your vision as a photographer must maintain a level of color/colors.
  • The remainder of the image must be in B&W, GRAYSCALE, SEPIA, etc…
  • A short text to define and portray your vision to the rest of the world.

As usual focus on the in-camera attributes of your image. Apply yourself composition-wise and experiment taking different images at different angles, apertures and height. A tripod is always a great tool when experimenting. You may even want to push your images further with HDR or other technique we’ve covered in the 2016 PhotoChallenge.

 

The rules are pretty simple:

  • Post one original photograph (Your Image) shot each week per theme posted on this blog to Google+Facebook, or Flickr (or all three). Tag the photo #photochallenge and #photochallenge2016.
  • The shot should be a new shot you took for the current weekly theme, not something from your back catalog or someone else’s image.
  • The posted image should not be a Video.
  • Don’t leave home without your camera. Participating in the 2016 PhotoChallenge is fun and easy.

About Steve Troletti

I'm a Location Scout, Editorial, Nature, Wildlife and Environmental Photographer based in Malibu, California. I specialize in Nature and Urban Nature photography including Infrared Landscapes. The Bulk of my work takes place in the Los Angeles, California area, Greater Montreal Region, Canada, Switzerland, France and Varese in Northern Italy. Ethical wildlife photography is the main priority and focus of my work. A minimum disturbance of the animals, their habitat and the environment is my top priority. This applies as much to total wilderness areas as it does to urban nature environments. Ongoing education of environmental issues and building awareness for the protection of wildlife and wilderness areas around the world is what drives me to document the beauty that surrounds us.