Colourised photos

Very nice work, my friend. Very natural, and realistic, photographically. I still kick myself for not grabbing one of those brimmed hats when I had the chance. I just couldn't jus tify spending the cash at the moment...but now I would have long forgot about the strain on my finances and I would have that piece of history. Bad choices always com back to haunt you. Once again, VERY nice work. Almost brings toy back to the day. I can only hopw that the misguided youth survived what those crazed politicians created.
 
I specially like the detailed brick wall in the background.
This makes it so very realistic!

Thanks Christian although I must say that the wall isn't my work :) All I did was to position it and take it out of focus. It works really well as a backdrop though I agree :thumb:

Just for comparison, here is the original background:

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Let's revive that :good:!
Some of mine I did a longer time ago.

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And here's a group of Marine boys from Hof who got some paint ...

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Good work Jack :thumb: I had almost forgotten how much fun these are to make.
 
Thank you Garry.
To me yours are even better.

I've got one photo which is originally colourised. Magnification of a photo to 18 x 24 cm was IMO the largest possible and cost about RM 1,- (average monthly wage: 160 RM), so it was expensive. Colourising was done manually directly on the photo print by a special trained employee of the shop, could take several hours and was accordingly expensive.

I think in this case he did not do too much :001_rolleyes:.

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A colour in photo of a HJ member in his office

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I really like these. Sometimes a bit eery but always interesting seeing these colours bringing the lives of people back then into ours. Nice work guys!
 
Thank-you Garry and Jack. I am such a stick in the mud and I know it. By this I mean that I do prefer the original monochrome although I have little doubt that the boys and young men, given the choice would want a color version. I came across the quote, "One very important difference between monochromatic and color photography is this: in black and white you suggest; in color you state. Much can be implied by suggestion, but the statement demands certainty ... absolute certainty." (Anon) Agfacolor Neu was available but prohibitively expensive for working class people. I can imagine a boy saying, "Bitte Mutter, die Kosten für Farbe betragen nur ein paar Mark mehr." (Please Mother, the cost for color is only a few Marks more) to be followed by, "Do you know how long your Father must work to get that much?" Ha! So, in summary, I understand the appeal of colorizing as it brings the boys and their leaders more up-to-date, yet at another cost, by removing our sense of looking into the past and wondering what these boys went through by the mid 40s. I find myself drifting back in time and making of the suggestion an invitation to speculate. In short (oh please get to the point I hear you say), for me there is more emotion in the monochrome portraits made by professional photographers in their studios and a boy with a camera for Christmas or his birthday. Emotion that we bring to the photos. I do not minimize the brilliant bringing to life these lads now gone by using color. I do have one technical question which you can answer and that is whether I am right that the hardest part for a colorizer must be to get the flesh tone right.
 
I really like these. Sometimes a bit eery but always interesting seeing these colours bringing the lives of people back then into ours. Nice work guys!

I agree. It is good to see a nice job done.
Civilians (the working class) hardly ever could permit it a color photograph was taken
and when the good colors are chosen, it is a feast for the eye!
 
Hi guys,

I don't know how you do it but the work is amazing, I am unable to do the same. Congratulations. :thumb:
 
I can tell you how I did it - with a special programme for colouring black and white images.
You need a steady hand for this because all the contours have to be traced.

You have to study the original picture very carefully, because the colours have to match, eyes and hair for example. In the case of HJ pictures, knowledge of the uniforms etc. is of course also necessary. is obligatory. For each "theme" there is a larger selection, for example for the skin colour mentioned by Jean.
A picture can take a couple of hours, so you have to think about which pictures you choose, but I always found it relaxing.

It's a bit like the colouriser of the time, except that he had the advantage of being able to compare with the original.

But of course I also appreciate the original. But this way, a picture somehow comes closer to us, to our time. I also feel that way about colour photographs or movies from that time.
 
More and more people study the programms for coloring b/w images.
But you have to know what color a uniforms has. So some knowledge is needed.

I saw a programm that in some ways "translates" the b/w colors into a color. It is
not yet that perfect, but it will be in a few years from now. The younger generations
will see this coming. I might be too old.
 
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