8M selective boosting assignment

Hi girls!

To continue along the same lines of what we have been working on in Picnik, today we will be experimenting with another form of selective colouring that I call "selective boosting." Basically what it entails is lowering the colour saturation of your original photo, boosting it, and REVERSING the painting effect so that whatever you paint back on will be boosted (higher colour saturation) while the rest will be more muted colours. So, to break that down step by step:

1. Upload the photo that is to be edited.
2. Under the "Edit" tab, click "Colors" and pull the saturation toggle towards the left until you have achieved the level of colour you desire (be sure that it is muted enough that your boosting effect will be noticeable and worth your time and effort).

3. Under the "Create" tab, choose the Boost feature. Adjust the level using the toggle tab until you are happy with the colour of the object to be singled out (i.e. a flower, a guitar, a person, etc.). Always make sure to alter it only enough so that it adds to it, not detracts by being too distracting or overpowering. For example, sometimes boosting colour will erase important details, such as creases in flower petals, etc.4. In the "Effect Painting" box, click "Reverse Effect." This will bring everything back to the lower colour saturation level. Now, when you paint back the original colour (just like we did when we experimented with black and white selective colour painting), it will be a more bold and saturated colour. The overall effect will be that the entire photo is in colour, but one piece will stand out.

Selective boosting is much like selective colouring in that you are emphasizing one part of a photograph with bold colour while drawing attention away from its surroundings - you also use the same brush technique as you did with selective colouring. The difference with selective boosting, however, is that you are not turning the photo to black and white but rather decreasing its saturation so that some colour still remains, just not as bold as the original.

Here are some photos to choose from (make sure you click on the photo to enlarge it before you drag and drop it to your desktop):

When you are done, save it with your last name and "Selective boosting" and submit it to the 8M drop box (or 8I, if that is the class you are in).