Guest mythago Posted 17 March , 2006 Share Posted 17 March , 2006 I can't draw for toffee, but I do enjoy fiddling around in Photoshop. For the last couple of months I've been practising colourising black and white photos. This is one of my recent efforts - my Great Uncle Charles, brother of the bloke in my icon. He's trying desperately to look like an officer, poor chap, but the army wouldn't have him, so he had to make do with the Red Cross instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harribobs Posted 17 March , 2006 Share Posted 17 March , 2006 you've made an excellent job of it, well done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mythago Posted 17 March , 2006 Share Posted 17 March , 2006 Thanks! The skin colour's the hardest to get right - it's easy to get it too pink or too orange, and I also wasn't sure if the khaki was quite the right shade, but I think it's OK. Cas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john w. Posted 17 March , 2006 Share Posted 17 March , 2006 Looks great... John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marina Posted 17 March , 2006 Share Posted 17 March , 2006 It's really impressive. Marina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mythago Posted 18 March , 2006 Share Posted 18 March , 2006 Thanks! I think only these studio portraits are suitable for the technique I used, otherwise the file gets too large. Cas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coldstreamer Posted 18 March , 2006 Share Posted 18 March , 2006 Hello Its a good job. The colours (and this is a compliment) dont look like a modern photo but the technology of the time wasnt exactly digital so this makes it more authentic - Im sure they didnt have half a billion colours to choose from Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auimfo Posted 18 March , 2006 Share Posted 18 March , 2006 If you like colourising black and white photos try the software program called 'Black Magic'. A demo version is available for free on the net here Black Magic It's pretty easy to use and the results are really quite good. Tim L. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zooloo Posted 18 March , 2006 Share Posted 18 March , 2006 That's very good. zoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roxy Posted 18 March , 2006 Share Posted 18 March , 2006 An excellent effort. Could easily have been a scanned colour photo! For me, the buttons/belt buckle gave it away: maybe a bit too shiny. But, a far better effort than I could provide. Keep it up! Roxy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mythago Posted 18 March , 2006 Share Posted 18 March , 2006 Thanks for your comments again. Tim, I'll download Black Magic and have a play around with it, although I've seen better efforts produced in Photoshop than the examples they have in their gallery. Roxy, I did consider leaving the shiny bits in greyscale, but thought they looked better with a touch of colour added. After all, they would have been extra shiny for a studio portrait! If anyone is interested in looking at some REALLY impressive colour photographs from 1905-1915 there's an archive here. They're not WW1 related but absolutely fascinating. Cas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimothy Posted 18 March , 2006 Share Posted 18 March , 2006 Thanks! The skin colour's the hardest to get right - it's easy to get it too pink or too orange, As a commerial photographer I am often concerned with colour balance and correcting it due to incorrect colour temperature. As a good rule of thumb the "correct" RGB values for caucasian skin are:- red 200 green 165 blue 145 If you use a colour sampler and adjust colour balance using a curves layer you can adjust the colour quite accurately. You don't give away the secrets of how you have done the (excellent) job, but I would certainly suggest using a seperate layer for each colour and subsequently flattening the image to prevent huge file sizes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen D Posted 18 March , 2006 Share Posted 18 March , 2006 If anyone is interested in looking at some REALLY impressive colour photographs from 1905-1915 there's an archive here. They're not WW1 related but absolutely fascinating. Cas Thanks for that link. Superb colours. Recomend everyone have a look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spike10764 Posted 18 March , 2006 Share Posted 18 March , 2006 Well done Cas, a really good job there. Would you not like to enter the colurised picture in to this months art topic thread? It doesn't have to be drawing to be art. Here is the link March MGWAT The topic title is Gentlemen and Warriors and the Red Cross and this picture fit into that in my book..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mythago Posted 18 March , 2006 Share Posted 18 March , 2006 Jimothy - I haven't got as far as using curves layers yet. I do a rough selection of the particular bit to colour - say the belt, promote it as a layer then colourise it, masking out the coloured bits that go over the edge. Then move on to the next bit. Takes a long time, but it's worth it. Owen D - they are superb pictures aren't they! I discovered them last year and have been raving about them to anyone who would listen ever since. Cas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mythago Posted 18 March , 2006 Share Posted 18 March , 2006 Would you not like to enter the colurised picture in to this months art topic thread? It doesn't have to be drawing to be art. You know it hadn't occurred to me to submit it as I had always assumed the MGWAT threads were for 'proper drawings' But you're right, this would fit the topic. Cas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest f@man Posted 19 March , 2006 Share Posted 19 March , 2006 What a top effort, well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harribobs Posted 20 March , 2006 Share Posted 20 March , 2006 re black magic unless you're happy shelling out for the professional version, i wouldn't bother. the home version (for about £25 IIRC) only gives you about 30 or so colours to play with, i bought it and demanded my money back from them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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