[nichpr]

This is in response to the positive comments received from my Sensual Lines and Colors posting in the Critique forum: Sensual lines and colors
and the questions regarding how it was done.

As with most aspects of photography, the technique is not as important as finding the right subject. In this case, a Hosta or other broad leaf plant with a variegated leaf - the greater the variety of colors / tones in the leaf the better the result.
Here is an example of what I started with. An OK shot at best that was destined to be deleted ....



Before hitting the delete key, I started to play around with the curves tool just to see what might emerge. Here is a shot showing each of the individual color curves that were applied and how it affected the shot:



This exercise provided a good learning opportunity for me as I explored the concept of Additive Color. To learn more click:
Additive color - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

or to see this concept in action go to:
Additive Color Applet

At this site, you can play with sliders to see how adding and subtracting a primary color will produce other colors. This is directly applicable to the curves tool because as you lower a single color curve, you are subtracting that color from the picture. In the example above - you can see that the green curve is pulled down and to the right - this removes green from the picture - the remaining colors - red and blue, make magenta - the resulting color of the hosta leaf.

A few more examples:


In the following shot, the blue curve was pulled down leaving red and green, and drawing out the yellow fringe:

[P-E]

Very good......TFS

[skipper954]

Thank you Paul

I never thought of using curves like that.

skip

[JMitchell]

Weird but cool, saves using the "Hue" tool, making it look odd...