…I did quite a bit of ‘playing’ in Photoshop (TM) with these images?
Hydrangeas with Snow, the First
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Hydrangeas with Snow, the Second
As a young girl, I used to watch with fascination as the colorist in the Photography Studio at a local department store patiently changes a sepia-toned photo into a subtly tinted masterpiece.
Back in the late 1970s, when I was shooting strictly black and white film, I had access to a darkroom, and with a few instructions from my then-boyfriend, I learned to develop the film and sepia-tone the prints.
Consequently, a major purchase was a set of Marshall’s Oil Colors, and I began to tint images, remembering everything I had seen the colorist do.
This was so much easier, and I do not have to breathe in the vapors of ‘the turps’!
I like those hydrangeas–beautiful!– whether they have managed to stay in the pink despite the weather, or whether you have helped them…
~ Lily
It’s funny, Lily…but hydrangeas like this are everywhere here this winter…they just didn’t seem to ‘dry up and blow away’ as they normally do! I find them wonderful subject matter, as they are so graceful when ‘drying and dying’! I had to add the tint, just because the images needed that little ‘lift’…actually the tint is two different colors, in several layers. But…I figure, I own Photoshop, so why not utilize it to the best of my abilities, yes?
It is subtle. These hydrangeas look like they want to be pink. Good job! ~ Lily
Thanks so, Lily…I continue to experiment or ‘play’, which is great fun for me…I keep changing my approach to an image, so as not to become ‘stuffy’ by clinging to one style (because, at my age, people *expect* me to be stuffy and cranky, but I force myself to continue looking at the world as I did when I was a child–because it *still* fascinates me!
Yes! Keep playing. “Life is a state of mind.” Hugs,
~ Lily
[?]!!!
I love the photographs, along with your “Sepia Tales” and Lili’s quote. Life IS a state of mind. How long would it take to hand tint a photograph? Do you miss the dark room? No more fumes, eh? B. (I also love the texture of the bricks. What’s the current temperature?!)
It’s been right around 32 degrees F. all day, Mlle B., with first rain, then sleet, and for the past several hours–SNOW! I could usually finish a potrait (* x 10) in a day, as one sometimes had to allow the oild to ‘dry’ a bit, before re-tinting. And I loved doing that, AND being in the dark room. But…since I live alone, I can work at my computer any old time of day or night, with the only disturbances being an occasional maintenance man…or ‘housework’–the GREAT disturbance!!! Don’t miss the sepia-toning fumes at all!!! And, in P’shop, one can play with many different tones of sepia–always fun!
Very well done and so glad you enjoyed it so much. Who would have thought such a thing as photo-shop would be possible? When I first finished high school and started my cadetship as a journalist for my local newspaper, I used to love watching the photographers work in their darkroom. Mostly it was just pictures for the paper but sometimes they experimented for fun and one did work as a wedding photographer on his days off and was always trying new things. I remember sepia was very much ‘in’ for special wedding photos (I did the wedding stories and got to see a lot of photos as well as my friend’s efforts!) And, now I can change a photo to sepia with just the press of a key!
It IS so amazing, the changes which can be made with just ONE click, Lancer! I wish that worked for everything, especially wrinkles!
I loved what you said about the vapours. It amazes me people who think that film is better than digital, it is so much worse for the environment, all those chemicals.
I don’t know that I would have been able to tell that they were manipulated, you have done a great job 1000.
I feel, Leanne, just as with film, there are different ‘types’ of digital processing. I have been using Shadows/Highlights and Selective Color exclusively in the past few months to get a certain look that does not have that ‘snapshot’ quality about it. Controlling sky color is very important, because there are a million different ‘blues’ to choose from, not just the one in the skies that particular moment. I’ve been working hard to give more of a ‘film’ quality to digital, and feel I’m succeeding.