The original photograph
James Mellett 2nd Battalion Northamptonshire Regiment
This photo was taken, most likely, between 9 October 1899 when he called to rejoin the colours under Special Army Order dated 7 October 1899 from Army Reserve and 21 October 1899 when the battalion was deployed to South Africa for the 2nd Boer War.
After 120 years it's not surprising there was dicolouration, fading and an amount of mildew.
I wanted to keep the photographers information as that has historic significance.
Clean Up
It took a lot to clean up the image before I could even start on colouring.
Colouring so far
Once that was done I needed to get the correct colours for the uniform which took time to research. The sash was the hardest to get as there was no information available anywhere.
I haven't coloured the background yet and probably will not. I think the bokeh will look fine as is and it highlights the main subject.