Ever wonder how the pros create special effects like the one below where only certain parts of the photos are in colour? Don’t worry, the task is not hard at all, in fact you can replicate the entire effect just after 5 to 10 minutes of hands-on and learning!

Step 1: Select the colour image you wanted to have the special effect.  For my example, I will use the photograph of the little pumpkins I saw at the Byward Market in Ottawa.

Step 2: Duplicate the layer. Right click the image layer in the Layer Palette and choose “Duplicate Layer”

Step 3: Convert the top duplicated layer to black and white. There are several methods to convert a photograph to black and white and for this example, I will use the no-brainer method. Go to Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation and pull the saturation level of the photo all the way to the left or -100.

Step 4: Go to the bottom of the Layer Palette and choose “Add Layer Mask”. The icon should be the 3rd icon from the left and looks like my Favicon for this website (seen easier from Mozilla). A white background should appear beside the duplicated layer in the Layer Palette.

Step 5: Make sure the forecolour is black in colour. Choose a suitable brush size and make sure the Hardness is 100%.

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Step 6: Using the brush, start “painting” your photo and bring the colours back to your black and white photograph! Try to use different brush sizes, the small size for filling up the edges and the bigger size for bigger area coverage.

It is not really difficult, isnt it?