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inspiredcreativity — My Mother, 1943, WWII
Published: 2008-09-13 10:08:49 +0000 UTC; Views: 3187; Favourites: 39; Downloads: 30
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Part of my parents 50th Anniversary Project. This is a photo of my Mother taken in 1943 during WWII. It was badly damaged. I restored it and custom tri-toned it.Related content
Comments: 50
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Thank you. She was very glamorous in her day. She wrote a Novel about that time period and I used this image for the cover artwork.
Da can only show RGB images. This is actually a custom Tritone, where there are three inks with custom tonal curves to give much better tonal interest and depth. Alas, conversion to RGB just muddies it.
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She certainly was. She wrote a book, based on her experiences during WWII in Washington D.C., as a young woman recruited right out of High School, to go to Washington D.C. and work for the War Department.
I used this photo (which I restored) in my design for her book's front cover: [link]
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When she married my father, he was devout Catholic and told her she had to quite her career. She dreamed of becoming a writer. She wanted to use birth control, because she did not really want children, having come from a family with 9 kids. He forced he to get into the car and drove her straight to confession to beg for forgiveness. All of us 5 kids are the result of the Catholic Rhythm Method of birth control. It tore her up very badly, damaging her body badly. She started out with twins. She is a small woman with a small pelvis. She came very close to dying on the last two births.
Doctors wrote to the Catholic Bishop about the need for her to have a hysterectomy (removal of her uterus) because her life was in danger. It was forward to Rome each time, and both answers were NO. The official stand of the church is the Mother's life is secondary to the continued birthing of children. After the doctors told guaranteed that another birth would kill her, and the church said no to the operation, she checked herself in to the hospital and never went back to church.
She got a very late start to writing. She is currently 85 years old. As for how she was as a mother, that is another subject of discussion.
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Wow, a lovely photo indeed~ Nice job with the restoration.
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Thank you. Unfortunately, this can only be shown as an RGB image on DA. It is actually a custom tri-tone, which defines 3 specific Pantone ink colors along specific tonal curves. It then prints on lithographic press with a lot of depth and richness.
I used this image for her Novel Book cover, which was based on her life during WWII: [link]
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WOW you did an awesome job with the restoration cuz i can't tell that it isn't the original photo. isn't it amazing how glamorous women were during that era? almost all women it seems or at least most of the photos i've seen from then. and it seems to be a natural glamour, not something done with fancy hairstyles or cosmetics or expensive clothing, they just seemed to have this natural beauty and glamour .. even pictures i have of my mother during that time. i can't figure it out. what has changed. maybe simply the styles of today, which i'm not complaining about, but there is just something different .. something amazing about "back in the day" 
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Thank you. I used this photo for the cover design for her book [link] . Unfortunately, DA cannot show you what a TRITONE looks like. It is a custom tritone I created for this series of restorations. A tritone is where you create an ink distribution curve for three colors of ink, across the tonal range. What that does is create a sense of dimensionality and tonal depth, as well as added richness of tone. The inks in this case are Black, Red, and Yellow. Alas, the only way to be able to experience a tritone is to see it printed. For DA, it had to be rendered into an RGB color space.
During the WWII era in particular, simplicity was the design because all supplies were rationed. Women made do with whatever they could get. I am like you in appreciating simplicity of design. Design should frame and maximize the natural beauty of the person. If you look at this photo of my Grandmother (through marriage), restored from a color slide, you can see that she was not exactly the picture of feminine beauty, yet there is an unmistakable aura of dignity and character about her, and of simple elegance. I have never like the look of heavy cosmetics.
My ex-partner turned into a Drag Queen. He could do female impersonation really well with almost no make-up, but the Drag Queen LOOK is of course about massive make-up and over-the-top hair and dress. A story for another time perhaps...
Unfortunately for my parents, they were both Catholic, both virgins (both desperate in their twenties), both very physically attracted to each other, and this pushed them into a quick wedding. Then they discovered that they were very unsuitable for each other, but were now trapped together forever.
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Thank you. It was a lot of work restoring it, as the photo was in very bad condition. I had to post it as an RGB image, because the file is actually a Custom Tritone I created, which is a Photoshop file. If you saw this in print, it would be more impressive, because I designed the three inks to cover the tonal range in different ways, giving the image a lot of depth and richness. Rendering it into RGB looses all of that.
I used this photo when designing a cover for my Mother's book, located here [link]
I like this period photo of my Grandmother, because it so reflexes the fashion trends of the time: [link]
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Wish I could see it personally.
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Tritones, duotones, and Quadtones are seldom used, mostly because they are not typically taught, and now people are more oriented towards seeing art on their screen. A Grayscale image is much more powerful than a color image in transmitting and inducing emotion and message. Without the color range to distract you, the grayscale image has more impact. Duotones, tritones, etc, are a way of adding more depth and richness to a grayscale image, while retaining the power of grayscale.
Sepia tone is different because it is applied evenly across the tonal range. In my tritone, I used three different inks, Black, Magenta, and Yellow. The color tones you choose can make a huge difference in how the image feels, its energy and mood. For example, using Black, Light Gray, and Red will give you a Grayscale looking image with incredible looking depth and richness.
Photoshop comes with a bunch of pre-set Duotones, Tritones and Quadtones. To create one, for each ink color there is a tonal curve that you create, which determines how that ink will be distributed tonally, in your image. For example, let us say that you want magenta to be more in the shadows and yellow more in the highlights.
You can have the addition of color be very subtle, or very in your face.
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How do you do that in Photoshop, exactly?
I think of a few ways to do it, but I would like to know your way, if you don't mind
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DUOTONES, TRITONES, QUADTONES
Instructions are for Adobe Photoshop. I am using CS3
Tutorial on-line: [link] This is good because it has screen shots and is more visual.
In order to do Duotones, the file must be in GRAYSCALE MODE.
The first thing to do is to convert your image to Grayscale, if it is not already grayscale.
There are a number of ways to do this. The easiest, and less elegant is: Image > Mode > Grayscale
If you want more control you can use the following BLACK & WHITE method, but this leaves the file in RGB mode, and you then have to discard Color information. You can experiment to see which you like more.
I have other fancier ways of Grayscale Conversion I can give you wish.
GRAYSCALE MODE WITH MORE CONTROL:
Preset Select a predefined grayscale mix or a previously saved mix. To save a mix, choose Save Preset from the palette menu.
Auto Sets a grayscale mix based on the image’s color values, maximizing the distribution of gray values. The Auto mix often produces excellent results, or can be used as the starting point for tweaking gray values using the color sliders.
Color Sliders Adjust the gray tones of specific colors in an image. Drag a slider left to darken or right to lighten the gray tones of an image’s original color.
- The grayscale ramps show how dark a color component will become in the grayscale conversion.
- The mouse pointer changes to an eyedropper as you move it over the image. Click and hold on an image area to highlight the color chip for the predominant color at that location. Click and drag to shift the color slider for that color, making it darker or brighter in the image. Click and release to highlight the text box for the selected slider.
- Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS) a color chip to reset an individual slider to its initial setting. Press Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) to turn the Cancel button to Reset, which resets all color sliders.
Preview Deselect to view the image in its original color mode.
GO INTO DUOTONE MODE
1. Go to: Image > Mode > Duotone
2. In the Duotone Options dialog box, select Preview to preview the image.
3. In the upper left corner, under Type, pull-down the menu to select one of: Monotone, Duotone, Tritone, or Quadtone.
TO USE PRESET:
Photoshop includes several sample sets of duotone, tritone, and quadtone curves. These sets include some commonly used curves and colors. Use these sets as starting points when you create your own combinations.
4. Click on the Load button.
5. Navigate to your Duotone Presets Folder on your computer. On my Mac, it is located in:
Applications > Adobe Photoshop CS3 > Presets > Duotones > Select which folder you want:
Duotones >
Quadtones >
Tritones >
6. Preview the presets in the folder to see how you image looks with them.
7. TO CUSTOMIZE AN INK: Click the curve box next to the color ink box and adjust the duotone curve for each ink color. SEE “To Modify The Duotone Curve For A Given Ink” below.
8. Set overprint colors, if necessary.
9. Click OK.
TO CREATE YOUR OWN CUSTOM PRESET:
4. Click the color box (the solid square) to open the color picker, then click the Color Libraries button and select an ink book and color from the dialog box.
Note: To produce fully saturated colors, specify inks in descending order—darkest at the top, lightest at the bottom.
5. Click the curve box next to the color ink box and adjust the duotone curve for each ink color. SEE “To Modify The Duotone Curve For A Given Ink” below.
6. Set overprint colors, if necessary.
7. Click OK.
NOTE: To apply a duotone effect to only part of an image, convert the duotone image to Multichannel mode—this converts the duotone curves to spot channels. You can then erase part of the spot channel for areas that you want printed as standard grayscale.
TO MODIFY THE DUOTONE CURVE FOR A GIVEN INK
In a duotone image, each ink has a separate curve that specifies how the color is distributed across the shadows and highlights. This curve maps each grayscale value in the original image to a specific ink percentage.
Click the curve box next to the ink color box.
- In the curve graph, the horizontal axis moves from highlights (at the left) to shadows (at the right). Ink density increases as you move up the vertical axis. You can specify up to 13 points on the curve. When you specify two values along the curve, Photoshop calculates intermediate values. As you adjust the curve, values are automatically entered in the percentage text boxes.
- The value you enter in the text box indicates the percentage of the ink color used to represent the grayscale value in the original image. For example, if you enter 70 in the 100% text box, a 70% tint of that ink color is used to print the 100% shadows.
You can use the Info palette to display ink percentages when you’re working with duotone images. Set the readout mode to Actual Color to determine what ink percentages will be applied when the image is printed. These values reflect any changes you’ve entered in the Duotone Curve dialog box.
Printing Duotones
When creating duotones, keep in mind that both the order in which the inks are printed and the screen angles you use have a significant effect on the final output.
Click the Auto button in the Halftone Screen dialog box to set the optimal screen angles and frequencies (choose File > Print, then choose Output from the pop‑up menu and click Screen). Be sure to select Use Accurate Screens in the Auto Screens dialog box, if you’re printing to a PostScript Level 2 (or higher) printer or an imagesetter equipped with an Emerald controller.
Note: The recommended screen angles and frequencies for quadtones are based on the assumption that channel 1 is the darkest ink and channel 4 is the lightest ink.
You do not have to convert duotone images to CMYK to print separations—simply choose Separations from the Profile pop‑up menu in the Color Management section of the Print dialog box (for setting printer options). Converting to CMYK mode converts any custom colors to their CMYK equivalents.
Exporting Duotone Images To Other Applications
To export a duotone image to a page-layout application, you must first save the image in EPS or PDF format. (However, if the image contains spot channels, convert it to Multichannel mode and save it in DCS 2.0 format.) Remember to name custom colors using the appropriate suffix so that the importing application can recognize them. Otherwise, the application may not print the colors correctly, or it may not print the image at all.
View The Individual Colors Of A Duotone Image
Because duotones are single-channel images, your adjustments to individual printing inks are displayed as part of the final composite image. In some cases, you may want to view the individual “printing plates” to see how the individual colors will separate when printed (as you can with CMYK images).
The image is converted to Multichannel mode, with each channel represented as a spot color channel. The contents of each spot channel accurately reflect the duotone settings, but the on‑screen composite preview may not be as accurate as the preview in Duotone mode.
Note: If you make any changes to the image in Multichannel mode, you can’t revert to the original duotone state (unless you can access the duotone state in the History palette). To adjust the distribution of ink and view its effect on the individual printing plates, make the adjustments in the Duotone Curves dialog box before converting to Multichannel mode.
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Wow, thanks so much for taking the time to write all of this.
I will watch it carefully whenever I have some leisure time.
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Your welcome. I put some work into it because I know you will use it and appreciate it.
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Thank you. Unfortunately, Tritones can only be appreciated in print, since it is all about ink mixing and giving a deeper and richer tonal experience, so it does not look as good in RGB on DA. My mother wrote a novel, drawing from her experiences as a young woman recruited right out of High School, in WWII, to go to Washington D.C. and work for the War Department. I used this restored photo for the book cover design, which you can see here: [link]
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Thank you, I agree. She wrote a book based on her life during World War II, when she was recruited for the War Office right out of High School. Girls like her were packed into tiny apartments with many other girls.
I used this photo, which I had previously restored, when I designed the book covers and spine ( Book Cover - Fortunes Of Fate ) for my Mother’s book Fortunes of Fate . You can find her book at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other book stores.
There was another important woman in my life, someone I greatly respected and loved, my step-Grandmother Glamorous Woman of the 1950's . Wouldn't you look just divine in that outfit? Whatever happened to gold and copper Lamé?
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~np^^
~ooh, her life is interesting during WW II
~sorry i didn't understand the last question
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she looks beatuifully and this a lovey photo
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Thank you. She wrote a novel based on her years during the War in Washington D.C. Since I had done book covers in the past, she said yes to letting me design the cover. I used this photo of her that you have commented on, along with a photo photo from WWII. Some guys don't like it, thinking it old fashioned, but I remind them that the target audience is primarily older women, and a graphic artist need to design for the intended audience. This is the Book Cover here Fortunes of Fate .
By-the-way, for the restored photos of my parents, I created a custom Tritone. I used three different inks, Black, Magenta, and Yellow. I created a tonal distribution curve for each color. Tritones, Duotones, and Quadtones add richness, tonal interest and greater depth of color to an image. It is like adding complexity to the visual feast. The color tones you choose can make a huge difference in how the image feels, its energy and mood. For example, using Black, Light Gray, and Red will give you a Grayscale looking image with incredible looking depth and richness.
Unfortunately, since Tritones are basically ink profiles, they do not look very good when translated to RGB, but when they are printed that is when you see what it is all about (printed as tritones, not the RGB version).
It is unfortunate that Duotones, tritones, and Quadtones are so seldom used. The learning curve is not so difficult. I think maybe it is because you can only see the results when printed.
I did the entire set for my parents 50th wedding anniversary.
You may also like this old photo of my Grandmother, who was Canadian Glamorous Woman of the 1950's . Look at that Copper Lamé...
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your welcome I love seeing photos of the past I a very big history buff and the world war 1 and 2 periods I 'm quite intersting in
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Wow, I love her expression! Like she could take on the world and give it a peice of her mind!
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She was a real looker back then. I used this image in my design for the cover for her Novel ( here: [link] ), based on her years in Washington D.C during WWII. Young girls like her were recruited right out of High School, to go to Washington D.C. and work for the War Department, during WWII. Six or more girls were crammed into tiny apartments. In this picture, she is ready to go out on a date with a serviceman.
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Cool. It's really awesome that you did that for her!
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Thanks. The actual book looks batter than you see because the image files for the book covers and spine are in CMYK, but DA only allows RGB. The conversion looks different, in a bad way. Such is life.
Later...
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Well, at least the book looks good! ^-^
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True, but I wish I had even thought of it so that I could have made a special corrected image to be used on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. The drugs make my mind go in slow mo. Later...
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Thanks, the actual book cover I had mentioned is here: [link]
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Thank you. I used this photo as the cover of a book of hers being published soon. She made me include a vignette of a WWII Pilot, which I had to buy, so I am not sure I will post it here. It is hard to argue when your client is your Mother. LOL I am waiting for the printer's proof before finalizing it.
She was quite the good looking woman. She had just been recruited, as many young girls were, by the War Department, and brought to Washington D.C. after an early graduation from High School. Girls were crammed 7 or more in a tiny apartment. The dress was shared between the girls. For a while she wrote letters to the families that their loved one had been killed.
So, the photo has a lot of history about the time. The picture was taken by her date, before going out to diner.
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What a story
Thanks for sharing with me
(sorry for my bad bad english)
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Your english is good from what I see. A photo can mean so much more if we know the history and the context that the photo was taken.
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This is what fazinated me most about photography, ever since. We can catch a single moment, that passes in a second, and keept it forever. It is a way to take the past with us, as true as it was.
You did a great work on restoring this. Thank you very much for sharing.
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Thank you.
This is my favorite picture of my Mother. She wrote a book about girls like her who were only 17 or 18 years, and brought to the big city to work in the War effort, and is about their lives. I decided to use this photo on the primary element on the front cover of her book.
Artistically, posting photos you restore is not exactly creative, but I did want to share these for the history of the moment, and the period they captured.
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Thats wonderful.
Well you did not claim that it was taken by you. And the restoring is an artistic act as well. apart from that you shared more than just the picture. It's about the story.
Thank you.
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Thanks. My Mother has written a book which is being published, and I am using this picture on the cover, along with a vignette of a WWII Air Force fighter pilot. When the cover is done, I will post it.
Matthew
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Sweet, i added you to my friends list so I could keep up with your work
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Thank you for your interest. I am so new here that I have no idea how the "friends" thing works, but I will surly get the hang of it soon. I have just finished another book cover (not my Mother's), but it cannot be posted until after publication, if it is chosen to be used.
New work will be slow coming because I am pretty far gone. My brain is fogged and blurred by drugs, not the best way to be creative. I have been putting odds and ends up on my gallery. If I can track down and get permission from those I sold my work to in the past, I will post it. There is not much point in posting most lay-up type work or advertising, even if I could, because it is all rather boring stuff. I also hope to eventually post some HDRI photography if I am well enough do do so.
All of my metal artwork and sculpture work from the 70's & 80's is all sold or given away, and the same with my jewelry work. I have a Polaroid shot with one art piece in the background, which I might post. Back then, a site like this was not even dreamed of. I did my stuff and moved on. Now I have alittle to show. Such is life...
Thank you again for taking the time to respond to my comments and for your interest in my work.
Matthew
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That's really cool
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