The new Channel 4 series Britain’s Railway Empire in Colour explores a fascinating era of industrial expansion. Woodcut Media produced this two-part documentary. It reveals how the railways acted as a tool for the British Empire. This project marks another...
I am proud to announce my work as a Photo Restoration Artist and Colourist. The documentary special The Three Kings of 1936 was produced by Woodcut Media. It premiered on Channel 5 on March 7th 2026. Restored archival stills for this production are subject to...
Why were old photos sepia? Sepia was a chemical byproduct of silver sulfide conversion used to stabilize photographic prints. It was a preservative used by early photographers, not an artistic style choice. Is colorizing historical photos accurate? Accuracy in restoration depends on ‘visual archaeology’—the process of researching geological, botanical, and historical data to match the original gray tones captured by specific film types.
Artificial Intelligence has revolutionised how we edit images, raising the big question: Can you colourise old photos with AI for free online? The short answer is yes, but with significant caveats. While AI tools like MyHeritage and Photoshop’s Neural Filters can...
What is strange about this photo? What do we know about and why is it not what it seems? I found this image at a car boot sale. What a great photo such grandeur and that hair it looks like it is his and not a wig! Just amazing. I coloured it for this blog post. What...
H.M.A. R34 was a British-engineered airship that entered service just after the end of WW1. With a design inspired by the German Zeppelin L33, brought down and captured on English soil in 1916, H.M.A. R34 was the first-ever aircraft to make an east-west transatlantic...
Should we colourize images and what are the ethics of colourizing images? We can all agree that History was not in black and white. People didn’t live in a multitude of grey tones. There was plenty of colour around back then as there is today. You will see many...
When colouring any photo we must use research to ensure what colours you add are accurate and in keeping with the period, location and time of year. Colour references and accuracy when colouring old photos is an essential part of a successful project. In a railway...
What makes a re-colouring a photo really work? I’ve talked about colouring before but with advanced colouring techniques combined with various blend modes, it makes the colouring process look realistic and not fake. Simply put, adding a layer of colour over part...
The process of restoring a badly damaged sepia photo to colour is a long one. This image presented some challenges to keep me busy for hours. The badly damaged photo A client contacted me with a very badly damaged photo. There was a figure in the background who had...
Restoring broken glass images is tricky but those with faded colour as well makes for a very tricky restoration. This Christmas period I have already seen some very poorly photos. This image dropped through my door still stuck to the glass and broken and heavily faded...
Skin recolouring is not always easy. There are many subtle tones in human skin. There no Wikis for Old boxing photo recoloured but there is a Wiki description of Dave and his fighting style. “Charnley had a powerful build and large forearms and was often...