When I was at RootsTech, MyHeritage had a booth where they were colorizing old black-and-white photos for people. The booth was always swamped with people. I wasn’t one of the people who stood in line for this service because the whole idea of colorizing old photos just didn’t sit right with me. I couldn’t put my finger on my objection, exactly. But I’m curious what readers of this blog think.
Today, I thought I’d blog about it, so decided to upload a couple of photos to try it out for a spin.
At left (at the top of this post) is a photo of my 2nd great grandparents, Samuel Vorce Wheeler (1852-1937) and Elizabeth Jane (Jennie) Nebergall Wheeler (1857-1933), taken in 1926 on the occasion of their 50th wedding anniversary. MyHeritage allows you to see your colorized and original photos side by side in one photo. You can move the dividing line back and forth and watch the photo change. That happens at the MyHeritage website–for the purposes of this post I took a screenshot. The photos you download (like those below) do not have the divider.
Here’s a photo of the Arthur Brown-Rhoda Wheeler family. (Rhoda is the daughter of Samuel and Jennie.) That’s my grandfather, Crawford Brown (1906-1996), on the far left with the dark striped shirt. I think the photo was taken around 1916. The top photo is the original that I uploaded. (I took a photo of the print with my phone, transferred it to my computer, and uploaded it.) Beneath is the colorized version.
I have to admit I find the colorized version more eye-catching. But it doesn’t feel like a 1916 photo, does it?
It’s incredibly simple to upload the photo to the MyHeritage site (just drag and drop). The colorizing takes seconds. There’s no charge. With a click, you can download the colorized version and/or a comparison photo that contains both images.
It’s amazing, but I’m still not sure quite what to think about it. I do know that I’m not going to include the colorized versions among my genealogy documents–they’re purely for fun.
Have you tried it? What are your thoughts?
I don’t like it. The faces look unnatural to me.
Colorization looks nice, but I always enjoy the black and whites. I think the B & W captures the time that our ancestors lived in.
I uploaded and colorized about 60 photos. The program appeared to heavily favor white, gray and tan for clothing colors. My best colorized photos were people posing outside. The program picked up the green trees, grass, etc. and really made the photos come to life.
I agree, it doesn’t feel right. I was at RootsTech also and couldn’t get excited about it. I live near Salt Lake and carpooled with a lady that just went on and on about it. But, I could not. Still can’t. “Ain’t right.”
Some pictures turned out really well – I had a group photo that I really thought was not my family- colorized it and found my Dad and his mother in the back row, which helped me identify other people.But the coloring sometimes is weird – everyone is wearing a shade of gray; WWII Army uniforms turned out Air Force Blue and almost all the long gowns were a mottled burgundy. I will probably use these in addition to the black and white ones. Maybe the technology will improve.
I was able to notice more details in my 3x great grandfather’s photo that I hadn’t noticed in the black and white. But, I usually prefer the black and white.
I agree with you, Janine. The colorized photos are fun, but I’m more a purist, preferring to stick to the photos as they were in the time period. That said, I find that almost all of my old photos (some are 150 years old) are sepia-toned now. I wonder if they were originally black and white and age has tinted them?
Thanks very much for weighing in!
I did colorize a few and was quite impressed with how they turned out. It gave the picture a different depth and charm, and with the added color I was able to identify folks in a group picture! The colorize option was offered FREE by MyHeritage at the onset of the lock-down at the end of March as it was their gift to everyone to keep them busy while being home bound. The free month ended today, the 23rd, and now if you would like to colorize with their program you need to purchase their most expensive subscription.
I too cannot get excited about colorizing a photo before colorization was available. It just takes away the oldness of the picture.
I feel the same way!
I never thought I needed colorization–love the look of old photos–but as soon as tried it, I saw the power of it. Seeing ancestors with skin tones really makes them come alive. If it makes a difference to me, then how much more so will it make a difference to younger people when I attempt to help them make a connection with this history. My mother and I also appreciate that the colorization helped details of the scenes become more noticeable. There is still a place for the original photo. We have a choice according to the occasion.
Thank you for sharing your perspective, Julia!