Civil War

I happened apon a group of Civil War enactors this morning and was able to take a few photos. I thought I'd try to make the photos look a bit historical too. Here are a couple of different treatments. Your thoughts on these are appreciated.

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I like the texture in #1 but you need to back off on the "Glamour Glow" overall.

i like the look all around.

I really like the first one.

I'm not digging the diffused glow either, otherwise I like the editing.

Thanks for the comments. I never thought of that look as "glamor glow". Basically, all the above images were treated the same but with fewer steps. The first image had all the adjustments I wanted to add, the second, everything but the wrinkled paper and the third, no paper texture look or tone applied.

This is the same third image above that I gave a tighter crop to, added the tone and the textured paper. It started out with the "glow".

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I'll tolerate Sepia*, but the glow isn't accurate. Even Matthew Brady took reasonably sharp images where possible.

(*Sepia is a function of age. If you really want to replicate olde tyme photography, make sharp, contrasty B&W images and stash them away for 100 years like the original plate and negative images were handled. )

Jay, my images are supposed to replicate a yellowing due to time rather than the brownish sepia tint. Also, sepia was a chemical process used during the photo processing rather than an effect of aging:

The 'glow' I used was supposed to replicate the look found on some high contrast images that have faded over time leaving little detail in the highlights. Of course, what I visualize in my mind may be 180° off from reality. I agree with you on the high quality of many photographs taken during the civil war period. They were extremely sharp and had a very wide range of tonality. Of course, I've also seen many that have fared worse for the wear over time.

I agree with all above. Although I think the first shot is best, it looses authenticity for me because the girl at the side is smiling

pelooyen wrote in post #10935424
I agree with all above. Although I think the first shot is best, it looses authenticity for me because the girl at the side is smiling

I thought the same thing, but thought it was just me.

I think number 1 would be spot on if she looked un-happy.

I originally thought I'd crop out the female just for that reason but didn't. It's rare to see someone smile in those old photos.

Here is another attempt at the 'look'. I did crop to include only the boy soldier and used some different techniques that I thought turned out well.

Comments anyone?

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Has a much, much more authentic feel I think...

I like it - much better

Much better!

Just a note note, what was the workflow you performed to do this? Would like to try it myself