Advanced Students: Color Channel and Blending Mode Manipulation

Hello Students,

Fine art photography and experimental photo techniques like infrared photography can be created with Photoshop. Part of the key to tapping into the power of photoshop is understanding Color Channels, and how layers can be manipulated with Blending Modes. In this project you will convert your Color Channels to Layers filled with the colors of your choice, and then experiment with different blending modes. The results will be surprising. The idea here is to be creative and try to achieve an artistic exposure effect. Essentially replacing the standard RGB values with your own values/gradients/images etc.

Digital images are created with 3 channels of color, Red, Green and Blue. You will convert the color channels in your image into colored layers, and then manipulate them with blending modes.

This image was separated into color layers in PS and the blue layer was replace with a blur orange gradient

Experiment with filling red layers with blue colors, or green with yellow and then changing the blending modes.  In this image I used a Gradient to achieve my desired effect of drawing the eye into the center of the flower couples with blending mode to enhance the effect.

Color Channel and Blending Mode Experimentation Assignment:

Convert Color Channels to Color Layers:

• Open a photograph of your choice. Chose a photo that shows rich colors.
• Open Layer palette and Channels Palette side by side
• Select Red Channel to view that channels value in greyscale
• Command-Click the Red Channel Icon to turn it into a Selection
• Click on the RGB Channel to restore to full color
• Make a new layer, click your Color Icon and create a new Layer. Fill that Layer with Red.
• Hide that layer and repeat that process until you have a layer that represents each color in the Color Channel, Red, Green and Blue

Your Layer Palette should look like this when complete. You can change the white layer for a black one to achieve different results

• Create a layer of white and place behind your Red, Green and Blue Layers
• Change the Blending Mode of the top Layer until you find a desirable result
• Continue changing blending modes and re-arranging color layers and save 3 different versions that you find artistically pleasing
• Repeat this process with a second image of your choice and upload to the flickr page

Original

Have fun!

- Mr.W