How do you give a photo 1980s style coloring?

2008-01-13 13:32:51

@Nick Seamore

2008-01-13 15:42:49

Have you tried Match Color?

schreef in bericht

How do you give a modern photo the kind of coloring that, for me, is associated with the late 70s - mid eighties..? Is there a custom filter, or a series of steps?

Here's a few examples of what I'm talking about:

http://www.jozjozjoz.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/08/Dad &Joz-GrandparentsPlace-early1980s-sm.jpg

http://www.barnabys1.com/images/1980.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hockeymom/2188214749/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahwww/2187852494/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22749040@N04/2185998325/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/october29/2183990960/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/october29/2183990968/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/veganlibrarian/2175519409/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gdroit/2174685475/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gdroit/2174688583/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gdroit/2175479774/

Thanks,
Tim

@samandjanet

2008-01-13 17:18:12

wrote:

How do you give a modern photo the kind of coloring that, for me, is associated with the late 70s - mid eighties..? Is there a custom filter, or a series of steps?

Here's a few examples of what I'm talking about:

In general, you can convincingly acchieve this effect by following these steps.

1. blur the entire image slightly - gaussian blur is good for this.
2. apply an overall yellowy/brown colour cast - try doing this with a
sepia filter.
3. increase the overall brightness a touch.
4. decrease the saturation a bit.
5. apply very slight and subtle noise to simulate film grain.

Remember that the most commonly used film format in the 1980's for snappy snaps was 110 cartridge films. This produced a tiny negative with a lot of film grain noise. Also as most 110 cameras had a poor quality plastic lens the size of a lentil, the focus was cenerally very poor. Remember also that these photos will have appeared to have great colour when they were new, but time will have caused the colours to alter. So consider whether you want your fake to look like an 80's photo when new, or as vewed nowadays.

@cairnstmbo

2008-01-13 21:55:23

I think it's the effect of nowadays photo, so slightly faded. But I'm most interested in getting the colors right... for instance, with these pics:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22749040@N04/2185998325/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/october29/2183990960/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/october29/2183990968/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/veganlibrarian/2175519409/

.... there's something very specific happening to the reds, which i can't put into words. Perhaps the saturation is being increased, but the contrast is being decreased, together with move towards magenta?

Thanks
Tim

@samandjanet

2008-01-13 22:58:52

wrote:

I think it's the effect of nowadays photo, so slightly faded. But I'm most interested in getting the colors right... for instance, with these pics:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22749040@N04/2185998325/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/october29/2183990960/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/october29/2183990968/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/veganlibrarian/2175519409/

... there's something very specific happening to the reds, which i can't put into words. Perhaps the saturation is being increased, but the contrast is being decreased, together with move towards magenta?
Thanks
Tim

Perhaps the channel mixer might be the best tool to use to shift the saturation of various colours

@Tacit

2008-01-14 04:53:03

In article
,
wrote:

How do you give a modern photo the kind of coloring that, for me, is associated with the late 70s - mid eighties..? Is there a custom filter, or a series of steps?

Old photographs fade with time Photographic paper has three color layers: cyan, magenta, and yellow. The yellow typically fades first. This leaves the image with an overall bluish cast in the neutrals, and makes reds shift toward magenta. It can be simulated trivially easily with the Curves command. Pull down on the yellow channel (if you re in CMYK) or push up on the blue channel (in RGB).

--
Photography, kink, polyamory, shareware, and more: all at http://www.xeromag.com/franklin.html

@Mike Russell

2008-01-14 06:02:14

wrote in message

How do you give a modern photo the kind of coloring that, for me, is associated with the late 70s - mid eighties..? Is there a custom filter, or a series of steps?

....

http://www.jozjozjoz.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/08/Dad &Joz-GrandparentsPlace-early1980s-sm.jpg
http://www.barnabys1.com/images/1980.jpg

....
This is the Kodachrome/Kodacolor look. It's partly due to the process, and also due to the fading of the magenta dye. One procedure that comes to mind is to use the reverse strategy of that used to restore faded or otherwise color-challenged prints. Convert to Lab, and adjust the a and b channels - mainly the a - to get the color cast you are after.

The blown highlights are a scanning artifact and not particularly a characteristic of the time period. If you really want the blown out look, adjust the Lightness channel.

It is possible, using profiling technology, to duplicate a specific emulsion very accurately. Some parts of the film "The Aviator" used this technique to create an artificial Technicolor effect for certain scenes. --
Mike Russell - www.curvemeister.com

@Joel

2008-01-14 23:10:46

wrote:

How do you give a modern photo the kind of coloring that, for me, is associated with the late 70s - mid eighties..? Is there a custom filter, or a series of steps?

Here's a few examples of what I'm talking about:

It's pretty simple. All you need to do is messing up the photo to make it look old, blurry, color casting ... if you want to noise, scratches etc. then apply some noise or scratches (may be easier to use plug-in or action).

If you want to learn how to use Photoshop then try the above, if you just want to destroy the photos then look for plug-in or action to turn photo into older film photo (usually call AGED something)

@Waterspider

2008-01-15 18:44:33

"(not quite so) Fat Sam" wrote in
message

wrote:

How do you give a modern photo the kind of coloring that, for me, is associated with the late 70s - mid eighties..? Is there a custom filter, or a series of steps?

Here's a few examples of what I'm talking about:

In general, you can convincingly acchieve this effect by following these steps.

1. blur the entire image slightly - gaussian blur is good for this.
2. apply an overall yellowy/brown colour cast - try doing this with a
sepia filter.
3. increase the overall brightness a touch.
4. decrease the saturation a bit.
5. apply very slight and subtle noise to simulate film grain.

6. Recolour any large appliances to Harvest Gold or Avocado Green.

@Gary Edstrom

2008-01-15 19:11:05

On Mon, 14 Jan 2008 06:02:14 GMT, "Mike Russell" wrote:

wrote in message

How do you give a modern photo the kind of coloring that, for me, is associated with the late 70s - mid eighties..? Is there a custom filter, or a series of steps?
...

http://www.jozjozjoz.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/08/Dad &Joz-GrandparentsPlace-early1980s-sm.jpg
http://www.barnabys1.com/images/1980.jpg
...
This is the Kodachrome/Kodacolor look. It's partly due to the process, and also due to the fading of the magenta dye.

It's interesting: I have a number of Kodachrome slides that my father took way back in 1951/52. They are still as vivid and as well color-balanced as Kodachrome pictures taken today. Even more surprising because they were not always stored under the best of conditions.

On the other hand, my father occasionally tried to cut costs by using cut-rate film & processing. I also have a number of Ansco slides from the same era that are all but useless...they have faded and color-shifted so badly that I can't get any sort of decent scan out of them.

Gary

#10

@Mike Russell

2008-01-15 20:06:49

On Mon, 14 Jan 2008 06:02:14 GMT, "Mike Russell"

[re 1980's (eek) photo look]

This is the Kodachrome/Kodacolor look. It's partly due to the process, and
also due to the fading of the magenta dye.

From: "Gary Edstrom"

It's interesting: I have a number of Kodachrome slides that my father took way back in 1951/52. They are still as vivid and as well color-balanced as Kodachrome pictures taken today. Even more surprising because they were not always stored under the best of conditions.

Your point is well taken. Kodachrome in general has excellent permanence. Actual fading is more a problem with less permanent emulsions of that era, and with prints. Still my broader point was that there is a look to Kodachrome and Kodacolor that I associate with the snapshots of that time, whether it is due to fading, poor development, or faded prints, and it can be simulated nicely with Lab.

Some of the earlier Kodachromes are still objects of beauty: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1021&me ssage=26086506

On the other hand, my father occasionally tried to cut costs by using cut-rate film & processing. I also have a number of Ansco slides from the same era that are all but useless...they have faded and color-shifted so badly that I can't get any sort of decent scan out of them.

BTW - try the Lab method on your Anscochrome's and see if you can get more of the color back. It's can be very effective at restoring colors, even if only a trace of magenta dye remains.
---
Mike Russell - www.curvemeister.com

#11

@BF

2008-01-16 17:53:09

wrote:

How do you give a modern photo the kind of coloring that, for me, is associated with the late 70s - mid eighties..? Is there a custom filter, or a series of steps?

Here's a few examples of what I'm talking about:

http://www.jozjozjoz.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/08/Dad &Joz-GrandparentsPlace-early1980s-sm.jpg

http://www.barnabys1.com/images/1980.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hockeymom/2188214749/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahwww/2187852494/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22749040@N04/2185998325/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/october29/2183990960/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/october29/2183990968/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/veganlibrarian/2175519409/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gdroit/2174685475/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gdroit/2174688583/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gdroit/2175479774/

Thanks,
Tim

I really can't figure out why you would want to make pictures look that bad. A few easy steps in Photoshop can do it.

#12

@Dave

2008-01-16 18:48:43

On Wed, 16 Jan 2008 17:53:09 GMT, BF wrote:

I really can't figure out why you would want to make pictures look that bad. A few easy steps in Photoshop can do it.

ha ha, totally agree

Dave

#13

@Joel

2008-01-16 22:43:11

BF wrote:

<snip>

I really can't figure out why you would want to make pictures look that bad. A few easy steps in Photoshop can do it.

That's one of many problems with some people <bg> Here, I have to work my donkey off to come up with a clean image, other try to mess thing up to impress other.

Here is another way, have the photo printed then toss in the mud for few seconds and it doesn't require any Photoshop skill <bg>

#14

@Owen Ransen

2008-01-18 06:10:53

On Wed, 16 Jan 2008 17:53:09 GMT, BF wrote:

wrote:
I really can't figure out why you would want to make pictures look that bad. A few easy steps in Photoshop can do it.

For a movie set in that time?
For a joke on a friend?

Imagination!

Easy to use graphics effects:
http://www.ransen.com/

#15