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Watch As An Old, Damaged Photo Is Masterfully Brought To Life

Jun 29, 2015 by Allen Mowery 1 Comment

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Colorizing monochrome photographs is nothing new.  In fact, photographers were hand-coloring photos as far back as the 1800s.  But, one of my gripes has always been how artificial and “flat” the images always looked.  Even with Photoshop, many people seem content to just slap a single color over an area and call their work done, but color in the real world is not so simple.

Retoucher Joaquin Villaverde released an excellent video of a digital restoration and coloring of an old, damaged photograph in which he restored the image to its former glory and then brought it to life with meticulous color, yielding a beautiful end result.

In the video, it’s almost like seeing a sculptor breaking a block of marble for the first time and watching as a masterpiece unfolds.

I think where most people get it wrong is that an image, whether it be a painting, a photograph, or the what we see on a daily basis, is not comprised of shapes.  An image is comprised of light (or the absence thereof).  So, when coloring a black and white image, simply adding shapes of flat color doesn’t cut it.  The “light” in a photograph, the shadows, and subtle transitions all need meticulous attention for a realistic and believable result.

If you’re interested in giving it a try yourself, check out the video below.  While the results aren’t the best, it will give you a great starting point from which to start branching out on your own to hone your skill.

[Old damaged photo RESTORATION & COLORIZATION by Joaquin Villaverde]

 

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Watch Frank Sinatra Brought To Life With A Hypnotizing 2.5D Parallax Movie This photo retoucher gives new life to even the most damaged photos Laser pointers and mirrors brought this album cover photo to life Young restoration artist masterfully turns historic B&W photos to color

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: Adobe Photoshop, black and white, photo colorization, photo restoration, restoration, vintage

Allen Mowery: from diyphotography.net

About Allen Mowery

Allen Mowery is a commercial and editorial photographer, pseudo-philosopher, and wannabe documentarian killing time amidst the rolling hills of Central Pennsylvania. When not shooting client work or chasing overgrown wildlife from his yard, he loves to capture the stories of the people and culture around him.

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