In order to make certain colors pop in a photo while the rest of the picture stays black-and-white, photo editing software with hue/saturation layering capability and a history brush. Examples of such software include Adobe Photoshop or Apple Aperture, but many other applications have this capability as well. The steps below follow the process using Adobe Photoshop and should be adjusted slightly to match the names in its toolbar.
Open a photo in the editing platform. Open the “Layers” palette and double-click the background of the photo. Remove the color by using the Adjustment Layer; click on the half-black, half-white circle that’s at the bottom of the Layers palette. Pick Hue/Saturation from the menu that will appear. Click “Colorize” and move the Saturation slider as far as it can go to the left - this will make the image black-and-white. Choose the icon that looks like paper from the Layers palette. Next, click the History Brush from the toolbar, make sure it’s set to black and “paint” over the part of the photo that you want colorized.
The part of the photo that will be colorized is a big decision that the photographer will have to make. There are many composition techniques that work well with partially-colorized black-and-white photos. Highlighting an article of clothing draws out its shape or positioning on a portrait subject; highlighting the flower in a vase in the still-life capture of a tabletop makes that flower the main subject of the image. This technique is often used in advertising; for example, a car ad will emphasize a hot rod by colorizing it while the rest of the photo remains monochromatic.
The technique of highlighting an area of an otherwise black-and-white photo is often used in wedding photography. Certain aspects of a professional wedding portrait are colorized to balance a vintage look with modern color. For example, colorful flowers in a bouquet or funky socks on the bridal party may be colorized to bring a fun aspect to a traditional photo. Photographers should offer both the colorized and the original shot to the couple, since tastes may vary.