Old school image making ... complete with the original way to "photoshop" some clouds into an otherwise boring sky.

Well done use of selective color. Certainly fits the compositional intent.
I have no idea what to do here, but the contrast of the BW hand and the color palette makes for a disjointed feel.
Scott

Effective use of the selective coloration gimmick but the tonal range of the B&W parts are abnormally dark and muddy to the point of distraction and me noticing the technique rather than the implied message.

I'd suggest you work from two copies of the original RAW. One processed normally, and another adjusted with the Black and Fill sliders to recover some the shadow detail the short range of the camera underexposed. Then blend the two together with masks to get a full range color version, then do the selective coloration.

Thanks Guys,

Scott ... I know what you mean at the hand. I tried to work it more into the painting to show its significance to the process. I also tried to do the same with the brush ... didn't like what I came up with for either (yet).

Chuck ... I was wondering how "gimmicky" it would come across relative to the implied message ... hopefully, not too "gimmicky" for this one.

I kept some of my blacks in the "sub 30" range with some in the teens & 20's ... where would you suggest I place my black shadows as a target range that renders them "deep" & "rich" vs. "dark & "muddy".

I wanted to take the B&W a "little bit" more like Karen's rendering of girl on the swing ... but was unsure how to get there in PS vs. 3rd party.

Between the hand/brush & the tones not being quite how I am envisioning them ... I got a bit stuck ... so time to "ask the audience".

Here's the raw ... ACR all set to "0" ... converted from Prophoto to sRGB. Reworks welcome.

Rechecked. Numbers were in the single digits (i.e. too low) ... I must have pushed them down in a subsequent step/conversion along the way without noticing.

The selective coloration technique works when its the focal point that is rendered in color as you did here. But the problem with any unusual technique is that its really neat when seen for the first time, less so when seen for the thousandth time. I remember seeing it for the first time in advertising back in the late 90's when Photoshop and SciTex workstations made it possible.

The photo, as composed, would deliver the same implied message just as effectively in color because we can only see the background via the painting, not in the photo itself. The only compelling reason I'd see for the selective coloration would be if the artist was wearing a colored shirt that would be distracting in the color version. Even in a wider crop you could convey the message of "interpreted through the eye and hand of the artist" by showing the background that seen in the painting, but rendering it OOF with shallow DOF.

Contrast is a relative thing. Often in color photos I will intentionally desaturate areas other than the focal point to make the color in the focal point contrast more. Not to the point where the desaturation looks unnatural, just so the color in the focal point seems more attractive to the eye and brain of the viewer, drawing attention there subliminally. LIke a magic trick the secret is finding the right balance between fooling the audience but not making them aware they've been manipulated. When the manipulation because blatantly obvious the reaction of the viewer more often than not will be "wow that's a neat technique" missing or diluting the impact of the content.

+1 @ saturation / balance / trick ... i.e. "neat trick" is not the goal ... "draw the eye" is.

The pic seemed way too busy, so the goal was to de-emphasize that busy-ness, yet retain certain informational elements.

Redux ... thoughts

Kent, this is a clever way to convey your message. Far out of my niche to comment on, but it does make the message.

RustyBug wrote:
Old school image making ... complete with the original way to "photoshop" some clouds into an otherwise boring sky.

First, I really like your image.

Second, this post really brings something to think about regarding composite images...

Perhaps a different crop?