Selective color is a multi-step procedure in postproduction of images, allowing certain colors to be highlighted while removing color in the rest of the image. Underwater photographer John A. Ares gives us a step-by-step look at how one can use this unique effect to transform underwater images into artistic creations.

The oldest of the four large Comoros Islands, Mayotte is 295km west of Madagascar and 67km southeast of Anjouan. An overseas territory of France, it is surrounded by an elliptical barrier reef, 160km long, encircling a lagoon 5km to 10km wide, with a maximum depth of 80m, a dozen passes and dotted with a hundred coral islets.