Historical Photos Colorized | Color Grading

[Jopa79]

This is my current project on Youtube. It's still under development, not even a half-finished and in this version there are still some major issues in video- and photo editing. I might remove this clip in a few days, but I'm very interested to hear any comments considering this short film. Thank you.

 

[Jopa79]

A Confederate Veteran.

 

[Jopa79]

In a GAR-uniform, an African-American Union Veteran.

 

[Henry IX]

Those a very good colourisations.

My only minor quibbles would be with the eye colours. The blues tend to be too pale and too bright. This is a colour that you do find in some populations (such as Scandinavian, including Finland) but is rare in other populations. A deeper and less vividly blue colour would look more natural to me.

The other minor issue is how the program translates the reflected light, most notably in the African-American soldier, which makes them look a bit waxy and unnatural, to my eye.

I love these pictures and would love to see more as you produce them. Thanks for uploading these.

 

[Jopa79]

I love these pictures and would love to see more as you produce them.

In the case, you truly have that idea...you might like to take a look about this

 

[Jopa79]

From Crown Studios' New South Wales officers and men of the Australian Imperial Force - A.I.F. 1918. Robert William Viney in picture. Original picture: https://picryl.com/media/robert-william-viney-fe06bf. No known copyright restrictions.

When I first saw the original photo, I would have said, it's a British man in a British WWI uniform, but what do I know

 

[Jopa79]

During the Great War, the political dividedness caused a population dichotomy in the newly independent Finland. The disagreements between the burghers and the working-class boiled over resulting the Finnish Civil War of 1918. Among the working-class Red Guards, also women were accepted to take arms and sometimes the women formed their own Women Red Guards. The photo shows a couple, a woman and a men Red Guards photographed at studio in Viipuri-Vyborg 1918. Orginal image: Museums of Lappeenranta, unknown photographer.

This photo is still under its restoration phase. At least, the major damage in the original image (left) is repaired and the photo is also converted into black'n white format (right). No colors yet.

Edit:

Making some progress and a little bit of colors added. You may notice the four color spots in the right image. They are among the about twenty colors used while doing the skin tones and layers. I don't quite recognize the gun which the lady is holding, the gentleman here might be holding Mosin-Nagant- M1891 - it was a quite common weapon in 1918 in the Finnish Red Guard. If you have any info about the weapons here, I would much appreciate.

 

[Henry IX]

In the case, you truly have that idea...you might like to take a look about this

Thank you.

Loved it.

 

[Jopa79]

This is quite near the final edit. Maybe later some minor fine-tuning.

If you like to sit down for a couple of minutes and try to live or empathize the actual moment in this photo, you should listen the 1918 March of the Finnish Red Guard instrumental version here

 

[noobermenschen]

View attachment 774911
This is quite near the final edit. Maybe later some minor fine-tuning.

If you like to sit down for a couple of minutes and try to live or empathize the actual moment in this photo, you should listen the 1918 March of the Finnish Red Guard instrumental version here

Looks a bit more like a painting than a photograph. Perhaps it is harder to do this with indoor lighting?

The woman's eyes in the original pierce right through the viewer. You are losing that I think with the coloring.

Interesting cartridge belts. Hope those stripper clips were able to go into the rifles without jamming.

 

[Nikolai II]

Interesting cartridge belts. Hope those stripper clips were able to go into the rifles without jamming.

Because one of the bullets would be out of alignment you mean?

You form them up before loading anyway.

(Or if you got more experience, they line up neatly as you push them in.)

 

[Jopa79]

A WWI British Nurse.

 

[Jopa79]

A Scottish WWI soldier wearing the British Royal Scots Fusiliers Glengarry Side Cap.

 

[Jopa79]

From: Crown Studios' New South Wales officers and men of the Australian Imperial Force (A.I.F.) and the Australian Naval Forces : portrait collection, 1919...Date of Birth: 7.8.1879.Date of Enlistment: 16.5.1918 .Trade or Calling: Miner .Born in or near what Town: Emmaville .Address prior to Enlistment: Emmaville .Rank, Number, Battalion, Distinctions: Pte Comp. .Casualties and where: .Name & Address of Next of Kin: Mary Palfrey Emmaville New England NSW .Name and last address of Father: Emmaville...acmssearch.sl.nsw.gov.au/search/itemDetailPaged.cgi?itemI... ( http://acmssearch.sl.nsw.gov.au/search/itemDetailPaged.cgi?itemID=433080 )

 

[Jopa79]

'A portrait of an unknown lady'. Charles Riis was a Danish photographer. He established a photo studio and shop in Helsinki during the 1870's. Although, Riis used the already out-of-date technique - collodion plates in his photographing, still his scrupulous style in working produced high-quality photographs. Left image: Finna/Vantaa City museum/ photographer, Charles Riis Company. https://www.finna.fi/Record/vantaa.kuva:992:165

 

[Jopa79]

Eduard Jemrich von der Bresche - an Austrian WWI Feldmarschallleutnant. Left image: Österreichische Nationalbibliothek - Austrian National Library - https://picryl.com/media/portrat-general-jemrich-9ebd61

 

[Gerle]

Ahh, the Fedmarschalleutnant, FML.
Very interesting corduroy looking cloth for the uniform!

 

[Jopa79]

Very interesting corduroy looking cloth for the uniform!

Yea, I was also a little bit surprised by the cloth, but it surely looks like corduroy.

I struggled slightly while trying to find correct Austrian WWI officer's uniform color, but I think, the gray is quite natural and right. Of course, I would appreciate, any comments on that

 

[Nikolai II]

Picture is from 1914 it seems, which might make it a recent promotion (and also point towards Feldgrau not necessarily gone through).
[Apparently he was an Oberst in a Feldhaubitzregiment previously.]

Blue seems to have been popular, but I find mostly paintings of that (or more b/w photos). Here's a more recent blue.

 

[Jopa79]

A 18-years-old dyer and a Red Guardsman - Kaarlo Järvinen, a studio photo with a winter-themed forest background cloth You may notice a scratched cross near Järvinen's left boot, a sign, he died in combat during the Finnish Civil War, at the Battle of Tampere, Näsilinna - a debonair palace in the city which was severely fought during the battle. Järvinen survived the actual combat, but while he surrendered among the other comrades, he was executed in front of the palace - Näsilinna. Left image: Vapriikki Photo Archives, unknown photgrapher. https://picryl.com/media/nasilinnan-taistelussa-kuollut-punakaartilainen-26970228965-aec677