Recolour backdrops for your portraits

James Paterson shows how to selectively shift the colour of a backdrop, or anything else you like, using some handy Photoshop tips and tricks

- James Paterson

THE MISSION

Change background colours using Adjustment Layers and masks in Photoshop

Time needed

30 minutes

Skill level

Beginner

Kit needed

Photoshop CC

Bold colours can help your portraits to pop, but you might not always find the colours you want while shooting. Thankfully, recolouring parts of a scene is easily done in post-production.

We’ll use simple Photoshop tools here to change the backdrop to a bold blue tone. You can adapt this technique to change the colour of pretty much anything. At the time of the shoot, we found a convenient red wall next to a large window – ideal for portraiture! But after the shoot the reds seemed overpowering, especially as the skin tones and hair also have varying shades of red. So instead, we isolated and recoloured the background in Photoshop. Shifting colours is a fairly simple task, but it’s best to do it so you can choose another colour later on if you want. We’ll use Adjustment Layers here, which allow us to alter the colours on the layer/layers underneath, while remaining editable throughout the process. As well as colouring the backdrop, we also need to think about reflected colour. Light takes on some of the colour of the surfaces it bounces off, so here the light from the original red wall has bounced back to the subject, subtly shifting the skin tones and clothing around the edges of her figure. We need to correct for this with a subtle shift in colour.

You can download our start file ‘change_backdrop_before.jpg’ from the web link on the left.