1960's-ish/vintage colour photography filter

**Frunk** · April 02, 2018, 09:29 AM

Hello esteemed arteests!

I hope I've come to the right place to ask such a question, since I've been meaning to ask it for quite some time.

Quite simply, I find something very aesthetically pleasing about colour photographs from the 1950's, 60's and 70's. Being someone who knows very little about art and colours, let alone photography, I don't even know how to describe photos like the ones below. I guess all I can really tell is that they don't look like "real life", I guess.

Perhaps you can help me and tell me what it is that makes these photos different from modern photos, for which for most intents and purposes, "what you see is what you get". Chuck some buzzwords at me, because I really have no idea what I'm talking about. I assume things like the resolution is often smaller, but how do you describe the colours and such? They almost seem "more colourful" (is that "saturation"?), but occasionally softer as well. Like I said, I have no idea what I'm talking about. Sorry.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

http://www.phaidon.com/resource/hele...-york-1973.jpg
https://farm8.static.flickr.com/7303...56d29e72_b.jpg
http://kengarex.com/wp-content/uploa...od_CA_1971.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3gAdbHets9...'s+(1).jpg

Hopefully you get the idea. Obviously, not all those photos probably have the same visual style, but they obviously differ quite a bit from modern photos. I think my fascination with this style of photo started with those I saw while reading about the assassination of JFK. Photos like the ones below struck me not just with the sombre subject they depicted, but with a style I hadn't seen before.

http://www.thesleuthjournal.com/wp-c...assination.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Nqis74EqP_...recreation.jpg
http://www.historicmysteries.com/wp-...8-1024x534.jpg

The reason I ask is because I, like any vain 20-something year old, would like to replicate this photography style for my Instagram feed. Seriously. (Sorry.) Can anyone point me in the right direction of being able to do this, or at least learn more and educate myself about this hopeful quite basic subject (colours

)? I have programs like PS6 and the like, so if I could create my own filter to use on my images, that would be awesome! Even if you can point me to some tutorials or things to search on Google, I'd really appreciate it and shower thee with reps.

Many thanks for your time.

Frunk

**cedric37** · April 02, 2018, 09:56 AM

I can't say that I'm an expert so my advice is what it is: just my opinion and personal advice.

What makes those photos particular lies of course in the style / fashion, so not easy to mockup, but also hue / saturation and grain.
The grain (and other flaws) makes the photo look older than it really is, while the hue / saturation can also mimick the old photos.
On your photo selection I note that the hue is slightly blue-greenish and the saturation is quite high.

Maybe if you post a photo that you would like to look "vintage", I could give it a try and give you the steps it took me in PS.

Again, i'm no expert...

EDIT: Or you might want to try this tuto

https://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/...-look-photo/#2

**Diocle** · April 02, 2018, 07:08 PM

They were more real, today they look more artificial because we are now used to artificial electronic colors. The photos in those years were the result of a chemical process, this makes them absolutely superior in quality than the HD crap we are used to see today.

Colors are not pixels, colors are physics and chemistry, so, photos taken using photographic film are closer to the real nature of colors, at least this is my experience of babyboomer born in those years you're talking about, you can't imagine how painful was (and is) for me the introduction of electronic colors, they are a true obscenity.

**Frunk** · April 02, 2018, 07:37 PM

Thanks guys! Thanks for the perspective, Diocle, that's very interesting!

@cedric: Very good points. I don't intend to replicate a vintage scene in my every day photography (

), and I'm not the greatest photographer in any case, so the photos I take might not suit that style and I might not get the effect I really would like from just making the alterations alone, but it will still be cool to try.

Here's a photo I took at my friend's wedding. If you'd like to try, that would be awesome!

I'll also check out that tut!

+rep to both of you.

**Lifthrasir** · April 03, 2018, 01:59 AM

What software do you (or will you) use Frunk?

**cedric37** · April 03, 2018, 05:24 AM

I think it's PS6 (from the OP)

Now here is what I arrive with (before - after) with my own stock.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

And with Frunk's stock:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

If Frunk like it, I'll give the steps (or better upload the droplet, but dunno if it works from old version to more recent ones of PS - EDIT: obviously won't work

).

**Lifthrasir** · April 03, 2018, 06:53 AM

The OP says "like PS6". So before to direct Frunk to some tutorials, that would be good to know

If Frunk confirms it is PS6, that's gonna be rather simple

**cedric37** · April 03, 2018, 10:34 AM

Very true

In the mean time, i've done 3 versions of the vintage scripts (70's 60's & 50's).
Basically the more you rewind time, the poorest the more modified the image...

Here is a snapshot of the 50's script (both with my stock & Frunk stock):

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

The scripts can be downloaded from link below and normally imported in Photoshop (they are in the 'Vintage' group, and called vintage_70's, vintage_60's and vintage_50's).
It is preferable to use them on images of good or average quality (avoid very low resolutions, and avoid very high resolutions...)

http://www.mediafire.com/file/rxd278...gv/Vintage.atn

**Frunk** · April 05, 2018, 07:30 PM

Hey guys! Sorry for the poorly worded sentence. Yes, I have PS6, as well as GIMP and Paint.NET.

Those look great Cedric, thanks a lot. I think both have elements that I like. The first one is pretty much spot on, but I notice in the second one the whites of the chairs look really awesome too. Is there any way to combine those effects? Thanks again!

**cedric37** · April 06, 2018, 01:08 AM

They are all at your disposal in the linked adobe action file. All you have to do is import in PS6 and launch the script. There are 3 versions so try them all and let me know

**Frunk** · April 06, 2018, 09:26 PM

Thanks cedric! I've given this a go and I'm coming up with "The object "layer "Fond copie"" is not currently available."

I've Googled this and it suggested it was an issue with using a .jpg, so I've tried saving a .psd and working on that, but it persists.

I maybe should have mentioned that I'm a self-taught PS novice.

**cedric37** · April 07, 2018, 12:37 AM

Argh, it might be due to version language compatibility.
Otherwise can you see the actions in the script ?
Maybe you could try rename the "Duplicate Layer" actions, layer names to "Fond copie" & "Fond copie 2" etc in the script actions (just double clik on the action and change the name that comes by default).
Or I can modify my script, what is the default name proposed by PS in your version, when you duplicate a layer ?

**Frunk** · April 07, 2018, 03:59 AM

I don't seem to be able to rename that on my end. The default name for me is "Background copy" (and "Background copy 2" for the second one).

**cedric37** · April 07, 2018, 04:15 AM

Ok this should work now (find new scripts below).
Just delete the old scripts and import those.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/rxd278...gv/Vintage.atn