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You know how I said that my mom and I were going through her wedding stuff this past weekend? Well, as part of that conversation I found out the most fascinating thing about her wedding photos—something I’d never noticed in all my years of casually flipping through her wedding album every now and then.
She showed me this picture:
And she focused my attention on one particular detail.
Notice anything about this close-up, besides the fact that my mom is absolutely gorgeous? Anyone thinking that her eyelashes are amazing in this picture? Well, they should be. Those lashes were given the old school Photoshop treatment. If you don’t have the slightest clue what that could mean, then you’re in good company because I’d never heard of this particular technique either.
It means that those lashes were actually painted onto the printed photo itself!! Can you believe that?!
I was completely floored when she told me, but as I flipped through her album looking for additional evidence of old school Photoshopping, I saw it everywhere. There were pictures where the photographer painted in sections of my mom’s hair because the tip of her ear was peeking through, and multiple examples of him painting in eyes on my father because my dad was squinting in many of the photos.
It’s incredible to me that I never noticed this before, but I guess it’s proof that no one scrutinizes your wedding photos like you do. That’s certainly a good lesson for a perfectionist like me. It also made me really happy that there are more advanced photo manipulation techniques available to modern photographers. Of course, the minute I have that thought I flash forward to the day we’ll flip through our wedding album with our kids and they will scoff at how dated those now-so-modern Photoshop effects are. Ahhh, the never-ending march of time (and technology).
Was anyone else aware of photographers painting/drawing directly onto printed images? I’m curious how widespread this practice was.
that is fascinating!!
Ha! That is so funny! I took a dark room photography class in high school and we learned about colorizing black and white photos (which consisted of basically painting on them) but I had no idea this was done with color photos!
Learn something new every day! 
Holy crap! THat’s incredible. I’m asking my mom if they had that done RIGHT NOW! haha so funny.
Both of my grandparents had some pre-color wedding photos that were painted with colors… It looks pretty good! My parents HS senior pics were also touched up this way…. (make sure she is preserving that photo well… my dads photo faded a lot, but not his touchups! Doesn’t look so good anymore! 
)
This is so cool!!! I’ve never heard of people doing this before but its a cool idea. Thanks for sharing!
Ha. I work with some older historical photographs, and have seen this done before, but it’s cool that your mom has it on her wedding pictures! So funny Also, she is gorgeous, and looks SO much like you.
This is crazy and I seriously had no idea! From the scan, it looks totally real — in person, were you able to tell what was painted, once you were looking for it, or did you have to have it pointed out to you?
Also, did you ask her if she had to pay extra for that service? This is seriously fascinating
That is unreal! And, your mom is totally gorgeous, just like you!
my parent’s wedding photo was B&W.. my dad (a budding young artist at the time) painted my mom’s face to give her “makeup”..it was really cute.
My boss has a portrait of his mom from back in the day, holding a cigarette, and the smoke was actually painted on! Back in the day when smoking was glamorous and all…
That is really cool! I can’t believe her photographer had such a focus on details like that; lucky her.
We have a couple painted photographs of a different sort. The oldest one I know of is from the mid 30s of my grandfather in Norway as a child. They painted in a fleshy color to his face and green to the grass around him. Sort of like the selective color of today but a softer effect. We have a couple where members of the family had makeup applied to the photograph with paint.
your Mom is stunning in that photo…what a neat thing to learn!
My mom’s wedding photos were retouched because she had accidentally cut a chunk out of her thumb when chopping veggies a few days before the wedding. You can’t even tell!
That’s crazy! First, your mom is beyond gorgeous, and second, I really had no idea they did all that photoshopping back then. Her eyelashes do look pretty awesome!
That is so cool! I’ve never heard of that type of photoshopping before, so thanks for sharing! Also, your mom is stunning, and I think you two look a lot alike!
@Miss Aardvark: Wow, I didn’t know that was done with black/white photos. So I learned something, too!
@ookbob: Let me know what she says!
@auggiefrog: Oooh, good to know. I’ll be sure to tell her. Thanks!
@Mrs. Candy Apple: Thanks, CA! I’ve never had so many people tell me that we look similar. Clearly there must be something to it.
@Mrs. Penguin: On the lash pictures I couldn’t tell at all and barely believed her when she pointed it out. But where they painted her hair in was a bit more noticeable (colors didn’t quite match), and creating eyes for my dad was apparently a harder job than drawing in lashes. And she didn’t pay anything extra. She said that was just “how it was done back then,” although obviously I’ve never heard anyone else talk about this. Crazy, right?
@Mrs. Pony: Aww, thanks!
@Mrs. French Toast: That’s an adorable story.
@kaytieluv: Get out! OMG, that’s unreal! I wish I could see it because it sounds amazing.
@Knubbsy-Wubbsy: That is just fascinating! Apparently there’s a whole world out there of post-printing altered photos, and now I kinda want to do more research about it. Thanks for sharing!
@HayleyJane: What a crazy story! What kind of edits do they do for such a situation?
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Ms. Ferris Wheel, San Francisco Age and Occupation: 29, Psychologist Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Psychologist Engagement Date: May 23 and 28, 2010 (one for each of us!) Wedding Date: November 2011 Venue: Parc55 Hotel (city lights ceremony, ballroom reception) About Me: Born in the Southeast, educated in the Northeast, and over-educated on the West Coast, I finally earned my city-girl credentials and have put down roots in gorgeous San Francisco. I’m a raging perfectionist with a lightning quick wit and a terrible sense of both time and direction. Our wedding task list is endlessly growing because of my predilection to think that DIY projects I can make = DIY projects I should make (so not true!). I always go to bed wishing there were more hours in the day to enjoy all the things I adore, whether that be hobbies, friends, my career, our two dogs, or Mr. Ferris Wheel. Ours is a story of a non-traditional couple living an oddly traditional life planning a not-so-traditional wedding in this city we adore. Together we are bustin’ out all of our best skills (and some of our worst ones) to plan a laid-back-chic DIY-craftastic love-alicious affair!
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