Adding Color to your Subjects in Photoshop

Most of us now use a handy little tool in Photoshop for correcting an stylizing our photographs, That’s right, ACTIONS! You got to love ‘em.
But if you’re like me you want your subject to pop, and actions sometimes seem to flatten the colors of your image especially of your subject. So hopefully this quick tip will help us all out.

Sometimes even the best photographers aren’t able to get their colors to pop with their camera. Thankfully with Photoshop we can add vivid lighting and colours to create the vibrant images such as the ones on O2.co.uk or in photography books.

First, lets take a look at our image. The whole process of fixing an image this way should only take a few minutes once you get the hang of it.

It looks alright but their faces seem to washed out so we going to ahead and ad some color.
First thing we need is a new layer, so you can add one by going to Layer > New Layer.

(Note: be sure the adjustment layer you create is above the image you want to colorize )

Now we can grab a nice cream color and get ready to paint on the layer we just created.

Now paint on our new layer wherever you want the color to pop on your subject (i.e the face).

So far so good. Now, we need to see what we’re doing, so pull the opacity down to see where everything is.

When I’m adding color like this, I normally erase the color where the eyes are, and maybe the lips. But thats up to you, I think though that it helps to have the adjustment layer effect only what you need it too, in this case the face.

We’re almost done! Just go and change the blend mode on your new layer from Normal to Soft light

To add some depth, I may add a little touch of a light red on their cheeks.

Now we’re done! If you want your can erase the edges of the colored layer and keep the colors only in the face.

And there you have it, hope you all enjoyed this quick tip for adding a healthy glow to your images!