As part of a larger project for Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit for the Olympics, I photographed RCMP Assistant Commissioner Bud Mercer. While the pea green walls give their conference room a really modern look they don’t make the best photographic backdrop. With little choice I went ahead knowing I could address the issue with Photoshop in post.

To change the colour from green to blue in the backdrop I did the following:

1. First I selected the background with the magic wand. A fairly easy task since the colour was solid.
2. Next I applied a hue and saturation adjustment layer. My selection automatically became the mask for the adjustment layer.
3. In the hue and saturation dialogue box I dragged the saturation slider to the left, removing some of the colour and turning the background grey.
4. To add some depth and dimension I pushed the hue slider to the right changing the grey to a navy blue.
5. It’s easy to get any colour you like by adjusting the two sliders.

Tags: backdrop, hue, Photoshop, saturation, selection, selective coloring