Using Selective Coloring to Emphasize Focal Points in an Image

The use of selective color in an image is one way to emphasize the focal point of an image. It is not always the best choice of techniques but sometimes it is just the ticket for emphasizing important colors that a riot of other colors would detract from.

This image of a stone in the middle of the Pemigewasset River at Livermore Falls is a good example of just such a situation. Note that the best way to create such an image is to take the image down to its bare essentials by making it monochromatic and then adding color back in where you want it. You have the choice of leaving some areas of the image in their monochromatic form or restoring color in muted gradations.

The Eye of the Stone