This image doesn't fit in this week's "Contrast" assignment; however, I thought it might be useful to show the evolution of the image as I post processed. The first image of the Tallgrass Express String Band is essentially straight from the camera. This band played at the gallery where Dave Leiker (prairiedust) was showing some of his cattle drive images alongside three other Kansas photographers.
Original, straight from the camera
I thought the wall in the background dominated the image too much and stole the attention away from the musicians.
Black and White Conversion
I converted to black and white to eliminate the color dominance of the wall, but the musicians still blended into the scene too much.
"Colorized" faces and instruments (72% opacity on the color layer with the faces)
I added a bit of color back to the musicians faces, by placing the original color layer over the black and white layer, and then using a layer mask to only allow the color on the musicians faces and instruments to show through on the top layer (masking out the other colors in the layer). Unfortunately this gave the impression that the musicians faces were "floating" in space.
Added back color to floor (72% opacity on layer and 50% "flow" on gray brush on layer mask)
I added color back into the floor by using a gray brush on the layer mask to allow some of the color from the floor to come through the top layer. (When using a layer mask, a black portion of the mask hides the information in the layer, a white portion of the mask allows that part of the layer to show through, and a gray portion of the mask will allow a percentage of the layer to show through.) The color balance between the skin tones and the black and white background still looked a bit off.
Added back slight color tint to wall (23% opacity on the color layer)
I added a slight color tint back into the wall (and other portions of the image) by copying the original color layer on the top of the layer stack and setting opacity to about 23%. To me, this image looked the most "natural" while still allowing me to tone down the colors of the wall in order to better focus the viewer's attention on the musicians.
