In our previous photography contest (The way we were), we asked photographers to upload older photos, which were often not in full color.

That's where this contest comes in. Your goal is to take any entry from this contest and bring it to life with more color. The photo you colorize must be one from that contest.

The photo you chose to work with does not necessarily have to be B&W, you can chose any entry from the contest and alter its colors. You may also retouch the photo, i.e. fix blurry parts, faded parts or cuts.

To download the highest resolution version of a photo, make sure to click on the photo itself (not the thumbnail).

As always, it's important to vote and comment on all other entries. Valuable feedback is appreciated by everyone and gives them a chance to learn and improve!

Good luck!

scratzilla1 avatarLevel 9
1 out of 13
80%

Daddy and Little Sis. created by scratzilla1

Thank you for the use of this image Vibeke. -1960, Her Dad and youngest Sister. Used with much appreciation .

11 reactions
retired avatarLevel 11
2 out of 13
71%

Unspecified specimen created by retired

Tried to edit it Zizounai, but unsuccessful, (there should be a better way, as per any other site}. So I deleted it and resubmitted.

4 reactions
retired avatarLevel 11
3 out of 13
69%

Two Sisters created by retired

4 reactions
Zizounai avatarLevel 16
4 out of 13
63%

Love knows no colour created by Zizounai

Thanks to Grasshopper for the photo, and to Olga for the title!

13 reactions
grasshopper1 avatarLevel 11Bronze award
grasshopper1

Oh my gosh. When this is over you have to tell me what technique did you use. I was working on this and I was actually going to use the same colors for both of them. I also had the same color for the curtain. I had orange and green. The only difference was his boots, I would have done the straps red. Beautiful work..thank you.

1 reaction
Zizounai avatarLevel 16Extraordinary awardHappy award
Zizounai replied to grasshopper1 :

Thanks a lot Grasshopper. I think I can tell you how I made this chop now (for what I can remember at least) as I’ll be going away soon for a few weeks. I started with changing it to black and white mode, then changed it back to RPG colour mode, and balanced the contrast. After that I cleaned the dust and scratches, cut off the couple and pasted it at the same place so I could work on the background without damaging them. I used a different layer for every zone. I coloured all the curtain squares in orange one by one with a soft paint brush, and added over it another yellow layer. I adjusted every colour, every layer, with different blend modes, often trying them one by one until I found the mode of my dreams. I also used a very soft mixer brush tool a lot to get a smooth skin quality and a silky appearance to the outfit materials. I watched Korean wedding photos on the internet to discover more about the colours which are traditionally used. I often used 1, 2, 3, 4 pixel brushes. After I flattened the image I retouched again some places, like hard cuts, with a thin blur tool. Many layers, many hours…

2 reactions
grasshopper1 avatarLevel 11
grasshopper1 replied to Zizounai :

Thank you. I did it the same way but it was becoming laborious so I quit.I was wondering if there was another way around all the layering. It started to stress me out some. Thank you for al your work on this,I really really appreciate it. I hope to send it to my sister in law very soon.

1 reaction
Zizounai avatarLevel 16
Zizounai replied to grasshopper1 :

Gasshopper, layers are absolutely necessary for adjustment and precision in the tints, once you are used to them you'll find they help instead of being a burden. Here are my layers: https://imgur.com/a/JdahCbQ I loved doing this, it was a bit like a zen colouring book 😊

1 reaction
grasshopper1 avatarLevel 11
grasshopper1 replied to Zizounai :

Zen coloring book...love it.Talking about Zen, I now realized it wasn't the layers stressing me out. I was already stressed and doing the layers was just pointing it out. I must master the layers :)

1 reaction
Zizounai avatarLevel 16
Zizounai replied to grasshopper1 :

Zen in, zen out, the layers you shall masterize little padawan 😄

1 reaction
grasshopper1 avatarLevel 11
grasshopper1 replied to Zizounai :

I knew it,I just knew it.... your a Jedi master. lol Thanks.

Olga.L avatarLevel 17
Olga.L replied to Zizounai :

Thank you for telling us about your method. How long did this take? So appreciate your in depth response to grasshopper and to think you researched out Korean weddings on the internet...you did go the extra mile....THANK YOU

1 reaction
Zizounai avatarLevel 16
Zizounai replied to Olga.L :

Thank you Olga. My companion says I spent around 12 hours on this chop. I would have said 6 or 8... who knows? time doesn't pass at the same speed all the time, every clock is different 😉

1 reaction
Olga.L avatarLevel 17
Olga.L replied to Zizounai :

Your post caught my eye immediately when I first saw it. You did a great job and it looks so authentic. The colours of her robe look real and him in his dark blue is much what my husband wore to our wedding. Top marks for this work. I like it.

scratzilla1 avatarLevel 9
scratzilla1

Congrats . It was a hard contest . this is just a wonderful creation . you did an amazing job of the colouring.

1 reaction
Zizounai avatarLevel 16
Zizounai replied to scratzilla1 :

Thank you Scratzilla, I enjoyed very much doing it. And I loved yours 😁

1 reaction
scratzilla1 avatarLevel 9
scratzilla1 replied to Zizounai :

thanks very much

Skyangel avatarLevel 15
5 out of 13
63%

Blue eyed Beauty created by Skyangel

Mymindseye's mom with blue eyes.

scratzilla1 avatarLevel 9
6 out of 13
61%

1917 -family through the ages created by scratzilla1

PHOTO: Zizounai - thank you

scratzilla1 avatarLevel 9
7 out of 13
57%

Baby Irma -1931 created by scratzilla1

Merlin 's photo of baby Irma . I am sorry that i have run out of time to complete this photo. however, i still wanted to post as i have completed a lot of the work already . source for hedge background https://pixabay.com/photos/intense-green-wallpaper-with-hornbeam-1407727/

5 reactions
sewasuresh avatarLevel 4
8 out of 13
56%

Suresh created by sewasuresh

Its a beautiful picture.. how do you like it??

sewasuresh avatarLevel 4
9 out of 13
55%

sewasuresh created by sewasuresh

had real was fun coloring this.

Zizounai avatarLevel 16
10 out of 13
54%

Eric created by Zizounai

Thank you MyMindsEye for the photo, hope you don't mind if I called you Eric as I don't know your real name 😊 https://grepless.com/storage/images/stories/contests/grepless_n4X4IW.jpg

George55 avatarLevel 10
11 out of 13
53%

SISTERS created by George55

I loved this picture and wanted to give a try at colorizing it.... it is true, colorizing is not my best in Photoshop... but I tried.... Thanks Zizounai for the pictue... it is lovely to see two little sisters....

Zizounai avatarLevel 16
12 out of 13
50%

Ilona in Wonderland created by Zizounai

I got a bit carried away into the revival process... Thank you Filantrop for this beautiful photography.

scratzilla1 avatarLevel 9
13 out of 13
50%

Vintage Summer created by scratzilla1

1978 Ráckeve (Hungary)- My Ilona! created by filantrop

More Photoshop »

Level
Story XP
Story XP
Stories
Followers