Vintage Civil War Look

[pharris201]

Hi all,
I have been trying to perfect some vintage 1860's look of Civil War reenactors. I start in Silver FX but that leaves the images to "crisp" for the glass plate look. I've been taking the FX processed shots back into Photoshop and adding texture layers using various filters. It seems each image goes in a different direction and some don't make it out of the photoshop session. I really need some critique if I am heading in the right direction. There are more examples on the web site below. As always, thanks in advance.

[spookie]

Hi Paul, I think you're really close to what I would envision an old photo like this would be. But I found myself straining to see features. Just for grins I saved the image and opened in Gimp, I wasn't sure what to do with it lol, I ran a light Unsharp Mask across to bring out the edges and the features. This seemed to bring them out of the background a little. I did a screenshot of the two images side by side , before and after. I didn't mess with it to much, I like the noisy antiquey feel of the image. I didn't embed because I uploaded large, so you could see it easier. Just let me know when to delete the picture, cool image, thanks for letting me comment on it.
http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/137...nshot103dl.png

[sk66]

I think you are going in the right direction. I think the treatment is a little heavy as shown. I think this is because the real problem is most of the subjects are too "clean" themselves.
Try giving the subjects a little harsher b/w treatment before adding the textures etc.

[pharris201]

Thanks guys. This one went a little heavy on the texture mask layer. I do agree they are clean shots. It seems everyone I do has a different "look" to it. It depends on the original and the feel it conveys to me. It is painstaking work with a lot of dead ends but I'm glad to hear I'm headed in the right direction. Sort of a drunken man on a galloping horse I guess. Lots of bouncing around but the horse knows the direction home.

SK66 - what do you mean by harsher? Does that mean more contrast?

Spookie Yes I see the direction you intended. I may take another stab at this same shot tonight. I been making copies and then flatting the layers. The original preserves the layers so I have some record of where I was.

[BryanC]

Check out the work of Mathew Brady:

Collection: Mathew Brady Civil War Photographs

His work is from the period, with that process...you'll notice some of the plates have been broken and pieced back together. It gives you an idea about the tones and blemishes on the plates. Most are pretty sharp images, not an overall "texture" to them. Subjects were posed in such a way as to be comfortable and still for the average exposure times of 15-30 seconds. You can see in some of the outdoor portraits where the subjects are sharp but trees and bushes might have some motion blur from the wind.

[spookie]

Originally Posted by pharris201

Thanks guys. This one went a little heavy on the texture mask layer. I do agree they are clean shots. It seems everyone I do has a different "look" to it. It depends on the original and the feel it conveys to me. It is painstaking work with a lot of dead ends but I'm glad to hear I'm headed in the right direction. Sort of a drunken man on a galloping horse I guess. Lots of bouncing around but the horse knows the direction home.

SK66 - what do you mean by harsher? Does that mean more contrast?

Spookie Yes I see the direction you intended. I may take another stab at this same shot tonight. I been making copies and then flatting the layers. The original preserves the layers so I have some record of where I was.

That was one thing I was thinking of, light and contrast, to play with it some. But I didn't want to get too far from what you were looking for lol. I do the same thing, always always save the original without alterations lol. I have gotten to where I put abbreviations on mine to what I have performed on them, Such as adding letters to the image name like EH for enhance, or UM for Unsharp Mask, L for light, C for contrast, things like that, then I know by the name, what I have done to the image. Let me know when to delete and let us see what you come up with, I love old images like this, lots of character. I have been meaning to post some of mine and let people critique me lol. Only fair lol. TFS.

[pharris201]

Originally Posted by spookie

That was one thing I was thinking of, light and contrast, to play with it some. But I didn't want to get too far from what you were looking for lol. I do the same thing, always always save the original without alterations lol. I have gotten to where I put abbreviations on mine to what I have performed on them, Such as adding letters to the image name like EH for enhance, or UM for Unsharp Mask, L for light, C for contrast, things like that, then I know by the name, what I have done to the image. Let me know when to delete and let us see what you come up with, I love old images like this, lots of character. I have been meaning to post some of mine and let people critique me lol. Only fair lol. TFS.

I do like that system of labeling the file name.

I'm studying the Mathew Brady style His studio shots are quite different than his field shots. He seems to have had a formula of lighting, background, exposure, etc that made the shots crisp. When you compare that to his shot of Robert Lee on a porch you see quite a difference. His work also was ahead of most of the small town photographers that were working then.

I am thinking I could rig something for the reenactment that simulates a studio that will be portable and set up in the camps. Maybe some canvas and spring clamps as a backdrop.

There are some of the different styles here:
BATTLE OF FIRST MANASSAS AKA BULL RUN - KatHarris' Photos | SmugMug

[spookie]

Nice images, I voted on a few lol, of course all thumbs up. I dug around and came up with some original old images I thought you might enjoy. I like this field of photography, alot of heritage in there. But all styles are great and certainly a pleasure to look at. Thanks for sharing.
Search Results: "civil war artillery" - Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (Library of Congress)

[dlambert]

Wow - very interesting. I'm going to Gettysburg next weekend, so this is pretty good timing. I hope to get a couple photos out there suitable for playing with in post.

[pharris201]

Spookie - Thanks the examples give me inspiration and sort of point a direction. I keep them in background and then alt/tab banck and forth during post.
Dlambert - If you have time it may be worth a trip to Manassas VA. The reenactment is the 22-24 th . Gettysburg is about 1.5 hours north. Their 148th anniversay reenactment was July 4th weekend. Here is a link.

Planned Events - Manassas Civil War Commemorative Event