Backstage Kokoro
A "behind-the-scenes" look at selected images in my Kokoro project —
Content, photographic notes, EXIF data, creative process, miscellaneous commentary, and original digital captures. And now with additional audio comments about selected images!
From Kokoro #030 - As We Are
Hand-colored photographs date from the earliest days of photography and are still a popular "alternative process" today. Most frequently, I see photographers printing on some monochromatic material — gelatin silver, platinum/palladium, etc. — and then applying Mashall's Photo Oils by hand to colorize selected areas or even the entire image. I like the look, but I've never been interested in the tedious process of applying the oils by hand.
Instead, I simply use a little Photoshop work to blend two versions of the same image file — one processed for b/w, the other a full color image. I import the two files in the same Photoshop file as separate layers with the b/w one on the top. I then simply start erasing the parts I want to be colorized. As I erase the top b/w layer, the color image from the bottom layer appears in the "holes" I've created with my erasing. Colorized images without the Marshall's oily hassles! Besides, I've discovered applying those oils to my monitor just ends up making a mess.
Also, you might notice that I've inserted that leaf in the lower right corner. That's a segment from another image that I use to cover a leaf that was thoroughly out of focus. Normally, I would have just bent the out-of-focus leaf to be in the same plane of focus as the other, but the muddy swamp prevented me from accessing it. Instead, a little copy and paste and photographic problem resolved!
Original digital capture (downsized for the web)
1/8 sec at f / 7.1, ISO 160, Panasonic DMC-G6, LUMIX G VARIO 35-100/F2.8, 93 mm
Hand-colored photographs date from the earliest days of photography and are still a popular "alternative process" today. Most frequently, I see photographers printing on some monochromatic material — gelatin silver, platinum/palladium, etc. — and then applying Mashall's Photo Oils by hand to colorize selected areas or even the entire image. I like the look, but I've never been interested in the tedious process of applying the oils by hand.
Instead, I simply use a little Photoshop work to blend two versions of the same image file — one processed for b/w, the other a full color image. I import the two files in the same Photoshop file as separate layers with the b/w one on the top. I then simply start erasing the parts I want to be colorized. As I erase the top b/w layer, the color image from the bottom layer appears in the "holes" I've created with my erasing. Colorized images without the Marshall's oily hassles! Besides, I've discovered applying those oils to my monitor just ends up making a mess.
Also, you might notice that I've inserted that leaf in the lower right corner. That's a segment from another image that I use to cover a leaf that was thoroughly out of focus. Normally, I would have just bent the out-of-focus leaf to be in the same plane of focus as the other, but the muddy swamp prevented me from accessing it. Instead, a little copy and paste and photographic problem resolved!
Original digital capture (downsized for the web)
1/8 sec at f / 7.1, ISO 160, Panasonic DMC-G6, LUMIX G VARIO 35-100/F2.8, 93 mm