Split-toning
Photographers have always toned fine black-and-white prints. The main reason is for archival stability, but more recently toning has been used largely for aesthetic reasons. Depending on the printmakers' choice of photographic paper and toning chemical, prints can be made warmer or cooler, gain purplish or blue tints, or reveal more subtle shadow detail. Split-toning is a variation that exploits how chemicals work on the highlights and shadows. If you interrupt the toning process, only the highlights will color, and the shadows can then be toned with other chemicals that work only on shadow areas.
For the digital photographer, toning can be used to convey a particular mood, depending on what the photographer wishes to express. The computer offers even more tonal combinations than the darkroom and enables you to experiment and undo your mistakes. What's more, Photoshop gives you the tools to explore different ways to achieve the same end resultin this exercise, you'll look at using Color Balance layers, Duotones, and Curves. Experimentation is good, and there are also classic effects, such as sepia toning, that are worth trying.
The London Eye is one of that city's most exciting photographic subjects. It can be contrasted against the Houses of Parliament (which sit opposite it on the River Thames), or, as here, simply against the sky and surrounding greenery.
A black-and-white image is the best starting point for split toning. Use the Channel Mixer to emphasize the sky and clouds. To put blue into the shadows, add a Color Balance adjustment layer and select Shadows. Drag the top slider toward Cyan and the bottom one toward Blue. Do the same for the Midtones. Add a second Color Balance adjustment layer and select Highlights. Drag the top slider toward Red and the bottom one toward Yellow. The image color is now a blend, not yet split-toned. To create the split-tone effect, use one of the two following methods. To split the tones, right-click the top Color Balance layer and choose Blending Options. In the dialog's Blend If section, drag the This Layer black triangle to the right. Don't click OK yetnotice how the shadows are now toned blue by the bottom Color Balance adjustment layer. But there is a nasty separation between the blue and sepia-toned parts of the image. To make this transition nice and smooth, hold down the Alt/Opt key and drag one half of the black triangle away from the other. The distance between these halves controls the blend and creates a true split-tone. This method is excellent because you can choose any colors you like with the Color Balance layersnot just sepia and blueand the Blend If slider lets you control exactly how they meet. Two Color Balance adjustment layers add one tone to the highlights and another to the shadows, and enable you to fine-tune your black-and white-conversion afterward.
|
An alternative method is the duotone. While this is the traditional printer's approach, it destroys the channel-based adjustment layers. If you want to use this method, save your work in a separate file first. Make any changes you like to the image's shading, then convert it using Image > Mode > Grayscale. Once grayscale, you can convert to duotone by clicking Image > Mode > Duotone and selecting "Duotone" in the Type drop-down box. Then click on the top ink and a Color Picker will appear. Choose a color. Pick a second color using the same method. By default Photoshop will offer you the color picker for Ink 1 and color libraries for subsequent inks, but you can switch using the button on the right. 3 Finally, each ink has an adjustable curve. The tone of inks can be changed by clicking on the diagonal line between the ink's name and the color.
|
|
