GIMP: Fun with Technicolor/Lomo (Part 1)

 

The GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) Editor has many plugins/filters available to give images that unique look. 

Picture taken on Chester Park Road Looking Southeast in Harlingen, TX. I took this picture a few months ago. I applied a technicolor filter over the image to give it a 1940-1950's-ish appearance.

Anyone who is a regular/semi-regular to my Facebook profile knows that I sometimes do cover photos with my pigeon prop (Lonesome Dub). A picture of my bird was taken in front of a solid color surface, which was then loaded into the GIMP Editor. Using the alpha transparency tool, the background was removed, making the surface around my avian prop transparent. I could then impose Lonesome behind various backgrounds and settings, giving my cover photos that unique look.

In case you didn't know, GIMP is intended as behind a free, open-source alternative to Adobe Photoshop. The program is loaded with a rich assortment of plug-ins and scripts that can perform various task like sharpening images, adding effects, changing the colors, etc. Sometimes, the plug-ins that come with GIMP may not be enough. Like PhotoShop, there are various plug-ins available throughout the wonderful world-wide-web that can perform some amazing task. My favorites are the vintage camera plug-ins.

I have an interest in vintage photography. I like to glance through old National Geographic magazines to view the amazing pictures that must have been eye-popping for their time. Glancing through these pictures though left me with a whole lot of questions like:
  • What camera models were utilized?
  • What type of film was used in those cameras?
  •  What type of filters (if any) where applied to these images?

With these questions in mind, I decided to try to recreate these image effects using the GIMP filters available on the web.
Jackson Street in Harlingen, TX. Baxter Tower is featured prominently in the image. I applied the equalize filter to the image to give it a "retro look". This picture was also only taken a few months ago.

These were the actions performed to give the image that vintage look.

The actions performed to give the Baxter Tower image that unique look was performed using tools that were included in a stock GIMP installation. Both the curves color levels were adjusted, and afterward, the color equalize action was executed, giving the image a very vintage look.

Bank of America on Van Buren Ave. Harlingen, TX. The same actions were performed on this image as with the previous one.

Palm tree image with color equalization applied.

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