Colorized Photos of Lincoln

[Wesley Harris]

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/time-colori...76628.html

[LincolnMan]

I like the picture. His eyes seem to be blue in the picture-or am I seeing things? (no pun intended). I don't think Lincoln's eyes were blue-were they? They were gray?

[Gene C]

I am about the same age as President Lincoln when that photo was taken. With all the stress he went through, how come I have more grey hair?

(and my wife is a lot easier to get along with than Mary!)

[RJNorton]

(10-28-2012 07:43 PM)LincolnMan Wrote:  I like the picture. His eyes seem to be blue in the picture-or am I seeing things? (no pun intended). I don't think Lincoln's eyes were blue-were they? They were gray?

Good morning, Bill. You are correct.

"If any personal description of me is thought desirable, it may be said, I am, in height, six feet, four inches, nearly; lean in flesh, weighing, on an average, one hundred and eighty pounds; dark complexion, with coarse black hair, and grey eyes - no other marks or brands recollected."

[JMadonna]

You can check out the same picture and others here
http://www.coloroflincoln.com/thumbnails.htm

[LincolnMan]

Wow Roger-you got the information from the horses mouth- as we used to say.

[Donna McCreary]

Colorized photos will prove that Lincoln wore more than just business black attire. I did not see the photo here, but one of my favorites is the one showing Lincoln wearing a suit more brownish in color. At least these show the fashionable blue cravat.
What I really want to see are photos of Mary colorized. Showing the exact colors of her gowns and floral head pieces would help fashion historians greatly.

[LincolnMan]

Donna, how will it be known exactly what the true colors were?

[Jim Garrett]

(10-28-2012 07:52 PM)Gene C Wrote:  I am about the same age as President Lincoln when that photo was taken. With all the stress he went through, how come I have more grey hair?

(and my wife is a lot easier to get along with than Mary!)

AL used Grecian Formula 63

[Donna McCreary]

(10-30-2012 08:11 AM)LincolnMan Wrote:  Donna, how will it be known exactly what the true colors were?

It is my understanding from a conversation with Dr. James Cornelius the process being used on the Lincoln photos gives the actual color of items in a black and white photograph. What appears as a dark suit will now be shown as either black, dark blue, dark brown, or any other color Lincoln may have been wearing.
This process is very different from the art form of colorizing black and white photos.

[LincolnMan]

Donna, that's good news. Some of those colorized black and white photos look better as black and white.

[Mark MacKenzie]

There is a recent magazine special on Lincoln. I thought it was Time Life but I think I am mistaken. Anyway, there is a photo of Mary in a dress that looks black with a pattern of strawberries. Then there is a photo beside of the actual dress in the Smithsonian. It is a beautiful dark blue with the strawberry patterns. I guess it is an Elizabeth Keckley dress.

I will look up what magazine it was. I lent it to a friend.

Daguerreotypes were frequently tinted. I wonder when the tinting fad became popular. Wallace Nutting made a fortune off of it in the early 1900's.

[GARY POPOLO]

(10-28-2012 07:43 PM)LincolnMan Wrote:  I like the picture. His eyes seem to be blue in the picture-or am I seeing things? (no pun intended). I don't think Lincoln's eyes were blue-were they? They were gray?

I also like the picture very much. Also you are correct lincolns eyes were gray.

[Jim Page]

Donna, I've looked for a description of the process used in the Color of Lincoln images and haven't seen any info at all.

I know something about computers and color. I worked, when at Martel Labs, on classified remote sensing using a wide variety of natural, infra-red and digital coloring; I worked on the six-pack cameras which took the first color images of Mars; I worked on the large-format color camera that blew up on the space shuttle Challenger, and I developed the first computer-colorizing process for Marvel Comics back in the late 1980s, which the firm I then worked for patented. I also did computer graphics work using early versions of digital-image manipulation for the Reagan, GHW Bush and Clinton administrations.

I can't understand how any color info is available or stored in any of the Lincoln-era images, except as a variation of tone or density.

Can you explain or point me to where this process is explained? It looks to me like skilled photo manipulation to add color, but that's not "very different from the art form" or process of adding color using a Photoshop-like program.

Please know I'm not disputing anyone's claim here; I just would dearly like to know more about it.

Thanks much!

--Jim

[L Verge]

Jim,

The Surratt Society had David Richardson of California as its speaker in September. He is currently doing colorization of Civil War era photos as well as 3D. I know he's using modern, computer techniques, but perhaps he has studied the history enough to answer questions. If you would like to contact him, I'll give you his e-mail address. Mine at work is laurie.verge@pgparks.com.