Friday, August 05, 2016

Sepia Saturday 342 : 1. The Colourful Spice Of Married Life


Sepia Saturday is a little different for the next couple of months: we are trying an experiment and having a monthly theme rather than a weekly one. That doesn't necessarily mean that I will be producing just one Sepia Saturday post per month - we can return to the theme as many times as we want to and I will certainly be revisiting this "Love and Marriage" theme a good number of times during the coming weeks. 

And as Sepia Saturday is trying something different, I thought I would try something different with my first entry for the August theme. In the past I have occasionally been guilty of getting rid of colour to give my featured photos a feeling of appropriate age. This time I am doing just the opposite.

I am trying to teach myself how to hand-colour old monochrome photographs using Photoshop, and my image this week is part of my learning curve. I have used an old scanned half-plate monochrome glass negative as my practice piece and let my imagination run a little wild with the various colours of the outfits of this wedding party.

The fact is they all looked so miserable that I thought they needed cheering up a little so out came my digital paintbrushes and progressive overlays. After all, even the best of marriages needs spicing up occasionally.

To see what others are doing with the Sepia Saturday theme this moth, go to the Sepia Saturday Blog and follow the links.

17 comments:

  1. I'm speechless. What glum looking party! They needed all the colorfulness you could give them!

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  2. That is an interesting processing tool. They sure do look glum. I wonder if they were told not to smile in photos in those days?

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  3. The bride and the girl in lemon behind her must be sisters, and the scowling groom with folded arms looks very anti, either at being married or at having a photograph taken. Funny!

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  4. The bride looks furious! What a shame we don't know the story behind this photo. Or could it just be an early episode of Don't Tell the Bride?

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  5. If it wasn't for the likelihood that they're responding to the instructions of the photographer, these sitters might be mistaken for the most threatening family since the Krays!

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  6. What a glum looking group. The bride looks as though she has just discovered something about the groom which would have had her saying "I don't" had she known about it beforehand! Your clever tinting certainly added a positive if not a completely cheery look to the photo. Nicely done!

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  7. They all do look rather dour! Nice job on your first colorizing attempt.

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  8. Goodness, not a happy occasion at all!

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  9. Indeed the bride looks furious but the groom doesn't look too happy either. And I bet you have to be a patient person to apply the coloring in the way you do!

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  10. What a miserable looking lot. I wonder if it was an arranged marriage - or a 'shotgun' wedding?

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  11. I thought of a new challenge! Set your imagination alight, by writing a short story based on a photograph - and your photograph is such a classic prompt. It makes you wonder what had happened to produce such an
    angry (the man on the left), glum, depressed, miserable, fed up group - or perhaps they had just been hanging around for too long while the photographer encountered problems - and were desperate to get off to the reception and a drink!

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  12. The bride—rarely have I seen such a scowl. She looks like she could kill somebody. The groom looks like he might have been somebody once, but everything he had, has evaporated. A wraith. The only happy fellow is the one you've given a pinkish face...he looks alive and well. Well, the lady on the right in the back row looks alive, at least. I like ScotSue's suggestion. What are the white puffs behind all the heads?

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  13. The bride—rarely have I seen such a scowl. She looks like she could kill somebody. The groom looks like he might have been somebody once, but everything he had, has evaporated. A wraith. The only happy fellow is the one you've given a pinkish face...he looks alive and well. Well, the lady on the right in the back row looks alive, at least. I like ScotSue's suggestion. What are the white puffs behind all the heads?

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  14. There is something wonderfully Monty Python about the photo with the coloring added. I keep thinking that big foot will come down and squash them.

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  15. I like T&L's description. Your coloring does add a kind of 3-D similar to Terry Gilliam's Monty Python animations. There is definitely an historical soap opera within this group photo.

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  16. There has to be a story behind this photo, and I’d guess they are grumpy with the photographer, not each other, but they certainly benefit from a hint of a tint!

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  17. Nothing to add about the characters in the photo. But I do have an 1877 photo that someone along the line added a bit of color to the scarves and ties. Your colored photo reminded me of that old photo.

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