Selective Dramatic Effect
Learn how to create a selective dramatic photography effect. The tutorial below is showing a universal technique how to achieve this effect manually, but bear in mind that Photoshop CS3 and upwards is packed with some advanced tools to achieve this effect more efficiently. Note that this tutorial will show you that this effect can be applied very precisely to any object or area you want to, which is considered to be the main advantage of this technique. Make sure you adapt this technique to your particular artwork's needs. This tutorial is not made to be copied, but to show How to and to encourage...The rest is up to you!

Open an image in Photoshop

Open the File menu (press cmd⌘ key + O) to select and open the photo you wish to edit.

Note that there is no good or bad photo for this technique. You can try it on:

  • Natural photography
  • Portrait photography
  • You can use it to highlight an object

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Raw image opened in Photoshop

Create a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer

In the Layer palette, click “Create new fill or adjustment layer” and pick “Hue/Saturation”

  • For the Photoshop CS3 and upwards pick “Black & White” adjustment layer
  • Click Ok without editing it
  • Set the blend mode of the adjustment layer ideally to "Overlay"

As you will see there are plenty of options to work with. You can try them out later on to see what you can do with them.

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Create a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer

Set Saturation to -100 and click OK

The advantage of this technique is that you can precisely select and tone areas or objects where you would like the selective dramatic effect to appear.

  • An image should appear grayscale
  • Before you you start the actual editing, make you sure you have activated the layer mask as shown in the right section of this visual

If you wish to add a bit of Sepia effect, set the Hue/Saturation for the following:

  • Edit › Master
  • Hue between +35 and +45
  • Saturation between +15 and +35
  • Tick box “Colorize”
  • Additionally you can add a photo filter from an adjustment layer

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Set Saturation to -100 and click OK

Select the Eraser tool

You should be ready to rock now!

  • Set the brush and size accordingly to your needs
  • Erase the areas where you don’t want the effect to appear
  • You may need some help with Lasso (L) tool or Magic Wand tool (W)

You should slowly start to see the result. Keep erasing until you are happy with your artwork, but also feel free to start playing with any other adjustment tools so you can see how far you can take it.

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Select the Eraser tool

Cosmetic touch

By now you should be looking at almost ready to go artwork with highlighted “dramatic” areas or objects. As an addition you can add a little cosmetic touch to it.

  • Duplicate the actual photo layer ( right click on the layer and click “Duplicate Layer” )
  • Set blending mode to "Overlay" from the Layer tab
  • Set transparency to around 30 but this my vary according to your artwork

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Cosmetic touch

Final result

I didn’t add any Sepia effect elements (as mentioned at the beginning of this tutorial) into this particular artwork due to the nature of the photography, but this additional effect can surely add a bit of old fashioned kick to it. Click the link to access the “Sheffield park gallery” to see the first couple of photographs where I have applied Sepia effect elements.

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Final result