first post first colorization - STUMPED on background?

[idriveacomet]

What should I do? I'm stumped on the background. These are my grandparents when they were younger. They passed over 10 years ago and I wanted to redo the only pic that we had of them in a portrait like setting. Going to send this out to the family. I know that I have a little bit of work to do on some of the edges, and I would like to add some blush to her lips and face. However, I am really stumped on what to do with the background. I would really like to COLOR it, but I'm just at a loss.

Any suggestions or even critiques are more than welcome. I hand painted all of it. Just made selections, used one color, changed mode to color or soft light in some cases and voila! I don't know. ANY HELP, SUGGESTIONS PLEASE!!!

[MBChamberlain]

I used gradient map adjustment layers set to the color blend mode. The first gradient is for the rocks and trees in the background, the second is the water and rocks. You could get much better results if you spend a few more minutes than I did playing with the maps... I only had about 20 minutes to play with this.

Michael

[Vikki]

I would suggest finding a scenic type photograph, similar to your backkground. Use that as a model for choosing colors, and then just start coloring as you would in a coloring book. Create one, or as many layers as you'd like, over your image. Set the blend most to "color". Don't choose colors that are too bright, go for more muted colors for a more natural look.

What you've done so far looks good. My only recommendation is to warm up the magenta. I imagine the scene being sunny, with warmer tones throughout.

[Bruce Hayes]

That is pretty good work. This is one thing that I have never tried to do is color a old photo.