What exactly is the goal of a colorization entry? If I take a photo and use photoshop to enhance it to improve colors, lighting, background, ect. is that colorization?
Can you really judge between someone who cuts out all the pieces, colors them then puts it all back together as a big puzzle and someone who uses a app to do all the work and only adjust filters within the program?
Does colorization include changing the lighting if it is to harsh or to dim?

carlcath wrote:What exactly is the goal of a colorization entry? If I take a photo and use photoshop to enhance it to improve colors, lighting, background, ect. is that colorization?
Can you really judge between someone who cuts out all the pieces, colors them then puts it all back together as a big puzzle and someone who uses a app to do all the work and only adjust filters within the program?
Does colorization include changing the lighting if it is to harsh or to dim?

The purpose of the colorization contest is to take a black and white photo and color it, of course you can adjust brightness, contrast etc. to improve the photo, the important thing is to use a black and white photo.
you dont need to make a "puzzle", take a black and white photo and color it with any technique or program you prefer, I dont know apps or softwares that turn b & w photos into color with a simple click, do you know some? that would be very useful

Well said untexp. Right on the money. I also don't know of any program that colors b/w photos with just a click, coloring can be hard work and takes time and knowledge of the software you are using, and there is not only one way to do it.

So the idea is to start with a B&W. Not one you desaturated yourself. So if 3 people had the same image of a person, most likely, each would make the clothing a different color or hue? The recent contest had several entry's that were incredible Knowing that each had unique colors makes me even more impressed. The one that won, left me breathless.

You are correct Carl, I search the internet for interesting black and white photos, not color photos, and then use my software (photoshop) there are many others, to colorize the photo as best as possible. lets say you are coloring an outdoor scene, research similar color photos of scenes and use them as reference to color yours, but obviously you are not to incorporate any color photo into your b/w. The coloring is all on you. One hint, don't use just one shade of a color for a large area, for example, if you color a green grass field, you will find the greens vary from foreground to background, that's a rookie mistake. Study reference closely and see the subtle differences in color variations even when coloring a face, skin tones can be different between the forehead and the cheeks.