Historical Imaging

Using Photoshop, I took images from the Colorado Historical Society and others, and altered them to fit my story. For instance, this photo of freight wagons in Rico, Colorado (1890), contained tell tale mountains in the background. So I cloned the pixels from the mountainside in the upper left, to replace the Rico peaks with a steep grade like the mountains surrounding Georgetown. Finally, I changed to sepia and added a frame title.

Creating an image of 1885 St. Patrick’s
Simulating an 1800’s photo of the original church required several steps: (1) My original 2005 color image was squeezed at the top (called “keystoning”) due to my wide-angle lens. Using the “skew” feature and grid lines, I lined up everything vertically and horizontally. Notice that the store building leaning into the right side, has disappeared in the next image. (2) Using “clone,” I removed electric lights, stair railings, the bell tower (it had been built later), trees from the mountainside, the sidewalk and pavement of Main Street. I also changed from color to sepia tone. (3) I added an Italian miner at the front door for perspective, and an old fashioned photo-edge for affect.