I was just coloring some black n whites for fun the other night of a photoshoot I did for my friend last Sunday. I didn't save anything and not sure how comfortable she would feel with me posting them up on here or I'd show. These threads are very informative for people.

 

Not a problem Jake. Thanks for letting the thread stick around here. Just out of curiousity....how do you guys do it...

The way I did (and I wouldnt be surprised if it was the wrong way).....is piece by piece (eyes, skin, lips, etc etc) duplicate layers, colorizing, hues, tints, smudges, etc. Basically, editing duplicate layers of the original, by the famous ctrl+u and colorizing, then playing with sliders....(in a nutshell)....is that correct, or am I doing something wrong?

 

I do a lot of color layers and paint it on and adjust opacity while using image adjustment layers with levels, contrast, etc. Sometimes using overlay layers or screen or etc. to use for each layer. I don't actually make changes to the original photo and if I do then I duplicate that layer and make adjustments on my other layers. There isn't a wrong or right way to do it IMO. Everybody has a different path that leads to the same end.

 

I have a tendancy to under saturate when coloring.... but this gives you an idea on how my layers are in working progress...

 

Wow...that came out pretty cool..I had an issue with the skin tone on this pic...It kept coming out....too...unnatural...either too yellow, or too pink...

Here's the better version of mine....added some silk in the background...

 

this looks good

 

colorizing does not always have to go back to natural looks either. Like your silk version above, going for a proccessed sepatone look and or devising another effected look will also produce desirable results.

Sorry I did not post up in here more but I have been scattered all over the place lately.

NFR, working in pieces is fine as long as you make the final product look continuous....meaning you should not over develop any one area. Over leveling say the eyes will make them look un-natural or fake compared to say, skin that has slight gaussian blur applied to it.

Keep tinkering. the one thing I have found is that the more you mess around with stuff the more you discover and more comfortable you get. With people it is especially difficult because skin and hair etc is not opaque, peoples' skin actually allow light to pass through it (ever hear someone say "her skin glows"?, well it kinda does ) and hair is nearly transparent so getting either of those to look right is really tough if you get serious about colorizing

Try to find other black and white photos like machinery, flowers and stuff like to test out other subject matter.

Here is another really good test: find a picture in color, make a copy file of it and then open both, desaturate one version completely and then try to colorize it using the other open file as a guide. This will give you a good foundation for color mixing and naturalizing the feel of your subject matter. Anybody can make a red fire hydrant blue, but to do it and have it look natural is key to a good pixel pusher.

I have way too much to say on this subject HAHAHAHA

 

Good advice, thanks. I also thought I oversaturated the eyes...Im gonna dumb them down a bit...

 

Sorry...... Been working all day, lol!

I agree with Primo on the first pic but looks like he has hooked you up. You did a great job too.. I kinda dug the enhanced look of it but thats just me.