Last week I showed you how Val Erde at Colouring the Past was able to take Celia Goodstein Scheshko’s photo and add color.
This week I asked her to take Isidore Scheshko’s U.S. Army photograph and do the same thing. Note that these photos have the same background and might have been taken in preparation for their wedding in 1919.
Here is the photograph I gave Val to work on. Note that it is the best I had, but not an original photo.
Now see what Val did with it!
Any idea what that X on his sleeve means?
Here are Celia’s photos once again. Note that the background and floor are the same, but the more Val worked with the background the more she learned about it. These interpretations are different, although similar.
The original image:
And here is the photo after Val’s work on it.
The amount of research, knowledge, and artistry that Val puts into the photographs is remarkable.
Don’t tell the gardener about these. I’m ordering prints for his birthday!
Again, just amazing work. I see that the dirt path/road does not appear in Celia’s.
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Good catch, Eileen! Val said that in the Celia photo it looked like a lake, but when she started working on Isidore’s portrait, she saw that it was a path. She asked if I wanted her to do them the same or do “follow the path” this time. I asked her do what she thought best, and I think the background of Isidore’s is really gorgeous. But in Celia’s it is probably better it’s not as colorful so as not to distract from those boots! 🙂
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These are amazing. Is it very expensive to have her do this? And are you suggesting that the gardener doesn’t read your blog? (My husband is no better—only if I say, “You will find this one interesting” does he bother to read the posts!)
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I guess I am suggesting that, but I’ll say it: he doesn’t read my blog! He will work with me on an aspect or we will discuss research, etc., but no, he doesn’t read it once it’s up. And I haven’t shown him these photos at all. I never know what to get him for his birthday, so this is what he is getting! I ordered them from a site that does odd sized photos, but I’ll have to see if they turn out or not. If not, I’ll try some place else.
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I think it’s a wonderful gift! And perhaps I will do the same for Harvey when his birthday rolls around again.
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If you’re like me, you rarely know what to get him!
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Never….. I long ago gave up on clothes. And how many mugs with photos of our grandsons does he really need?
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I’m glad I’m not the only one!
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I forgot to answer your question about expense. I thought Val’s prices were very fair. She puts a lot of research and thought into each one. The charges are in British pounds, and then I paid by Paypal. They did the conversion.
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Thanks—I got your email and will respond soon. 🙂
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Glad you like them. Please feel free to contact me, Amy (it won’t commit you to anything!) There’s a contact form on my blog, here: https://colouringthepast.com/contact/
And – my husband’s the same!
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Thanks, Val! I will take a look at your blog.
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Amazing!
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🙂
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Excellent information, thank you. The right sleeve patch can be rifles or cannons crossed. I did a google image search and got this: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/37436240633151528/
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Thanks so much, Jose. Now that you gave me that idea I’ve looked up other sources and I see there are a bazillion crossed weapons like that! I wish we could see a little more clearly what it is. But maybe a search of his military records would reveal it. Hmm.
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Have you tried Fold3? They have all sorts of military records and I’m sure you can find the right person. You need the name and birthdate, plus the approximate service dates.
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I just saw that I could go through Ancestry to Fold3, so I am trying it out! Thank you so much.
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He looks so very young!! Val does amazing work – just realising she has to make a decision about what the background is does my head in!!
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He does look young. What a sad situation for so many young men during WWI! I don’t know how she does it. She puts so much effort into each photo!
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I got a kick out of your dialog with Amy over husbands reading your blogs, I must chime in, neither does mine, oh I have showed him once or twice, always hint of interest in what I am doing but thats as far as it goes. I gasped seeing Isidore’s colored photo. OMG the coat, everything just popped and was perfect. Val does amazing work. Love the gift idea too. PS I am watching the Alchemist too – I love the old period pieces to see the the clothing and furnishings, the shows a little to gorey for me but I am hooked.
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Gory for sure and what happened to Mary was stupid IMO. But I love the whole period atmosphere (although would not wanted to have lived in that period) and that Beauty and the Beast guy is a dead ringer for Hugh Jackman ;).
I’m glad to hear you and Amy both say that about your husband’s. Mine is not into technology and doesn’t use the computer except for what he has to. He uses a flip phone.
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lol – I have a girlfriend who swears by her flip phone!
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So does he, and he has two of them, both operating. Doesn’t take pix with them or keep emails or social media. But then I handle his emails and he doesn’t have social media accounts. hahaha Why does she like hers?!
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Thanks for posting these and linking to my blog, Luanne. 🙂
Oh and my hubby’s the same… he never reads the blog unless I draw his attention to something and even then it’s just a brief glance! That said, he knows it exists and often gives his friends the link to it… or rather to the home page (website). Not sure if he’s quite figured out how to find the blog!
Good idea for a birthday present. Years ago I coloured a favourite 1950s photo of my parents and had it printed and can see it from my desk. An alternative, if you have a good printer, is to buy some good archive-quality paper and print them yourself on the highest print quality. I’m addicted to Epson Matt, it has a lovely velvet-like surface and brings out the colours beautifully.
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It is certainly making me feel better to know that other people’s spouses are not reading their blogs! He tells people about them, but that’s where it stands. In fact, he doesn’t read any of my writing until it comes out in book form. It must be related to the low tech thing. He likes his flip phone and our landline and the TV remote and that’s about it for technology!
I might try the printing myself, but I was trying to avoid it because I use my toner until it’s almost monochromatic haha. I’d have to put in all new toner. Do you need special toner for photos or not? So it’s the paper that gives it that surface?
Thanks so much for everything, Val!
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Yeah, mine’s (the husband, not the printer) fine with some technology and not others. He’s great with musical equipment but the computer just seems to bewilder him. 🙂
I’ve always used whatever printer I’ve had, for photos. The main thing is to check that the colour you see when you print what’s on your monitor is similar to what you have on the monitor. It’s possible to calibrate a printer and monitor for that, but it’s a bit of a pain…
The paper makes more difference than the inks. Anyway, just try a print on a normal colour photo and see how it comes out, then you’ll have an idea of how one of my colourings will come out. (Do it ahead of time though in case it doesn’t work out!)
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LOL!
OK, if the ones that are coming in the mail didn’t turn out, I will try this. Actually, I will probably try it anyway when I put in new toner. I’ll get the paper!
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If using non-pigment inks, give it a good bit of time to dry before wrapping or framing it, if that’s what you’re intending. 🙂
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OK, thank you!
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If I had the time, I’d spend all of it reading blogs like yours. Thank you very much for liking my post… and thereby dropping the breadcrumbs back to your site. This is fantastic, and I LOVE the coloured photos. I have hundreds, perhaps thousands, of old B&W photos tucked away that I will seriously consider getting coloured. I think my sister would cry (there’s a wonderful one of our dad and his brother in their brand new army uniforms, circa 1944).
Oh, and my husband doesn’t read my blog either. C’est la vie!
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Definitely contact Val through her blog about prices on the photos. For the amount of work she puts into them she is quite reasonable. I think the ones in uniform are some of the amazing restorations. I also have one that Val did I am posting tomorrow on thefamilykalamazoo.com that is a Dutch army uniform from the 1890s.
So funny about all these husbands of bloggers haha!
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I did! And she responded. Thanks for connecting us.
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Enjoy!
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These are so cool. It’s amazing how not just the details, but the colors also make the backgrounds look so different. To me, it looks like Celia is posing indoors in front of a backdrop/painting (which obviously she is 🙂 ), but Isadore’s almost looks like it is a painting, and he is standing outside.
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When Val did Isidore’s she could see more clearly that it was a path behind, rather than a lake, so I gave her free reign to do what she wanted with it. I think it’s gorgeous! Go see what she posted on her blog today! So beautiful!
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These photo transformations are absolutely amazing, Luanne! I’m going to have to mark Val’s website and check it out. I’ve got some pictures of my parents that I would love to have restored/colored!
Reading through the comments about husbands and blogs certainly made me feel better! I used to think it was just me and my blog! LOL! Have a blessed Easter! 😀 ❤
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