Add your comments, questions or general discussion about the September Contest entries here. This is also a great place to share your techniques or ask others about theirs.

Most members are eager to hear comments/suggestions about their entries, so please take the time to help each other out.

Contest FAQs (http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13446)

Contest Entries (http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14476)

Contest Votes (http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14472)

All entries will be put up in this Gallery for easier viewing ...

Edit: 8 Oct. 2006

Removed link

Hi Flora, welcome to the firing line. :D

Thanks for taking on the contest this month, we'll try not to be too rowdy.

Hi Flora, welcome to the firing line. :D... like in 'execution' ?... :o: :o: ... Gosh ... I'm dead!!!!

Thanks for the welcome, Gary!!! :pleased:

I have a question about the rules..............................















Can we brake them ?????????????? :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

Only kiding ;)


Nice image to work on. It's a shame I don't have more time to work with it. I wanted to vote, so did a quick clean up.

Hi Chris!

:lol: :lol: :lol: .... the first entry to this month's contest ... and the first couple of seconds of panic ...
I have a question about the rules.............................. .... Anyway ... a great start! .... (not a very easy picture to work on!!! ) ....

At first glance it looks quite easy. But there is quite a lot of missing/hard to find details. Should keep people working for some time :knockedou
Good luck everybody :happy:

Might need some caffeine pills to keep people working on it round the clock :happy:

I agree. This is one of those photos when you thought you can do it in 5 minutes and then realize you need 5 days instead. The hardest part of this challenge is bringing back the details on their faces.

I'm not sure if I can jump in this month, but I love restoring vintage photos so maybe I'll find time before the due date.

Good luck with all the entries. :)

yup, this is classic restore/reconstruction and a toughy at that. i'll give anyone that wants it a heads-up here. some areas are completely missing in all that dark. try what you want but you're not going to find all the detail you want. it's just plain not there. add in over-exposure and under-exposure and a liberal sprinkling of spots, 'fog' and other unwanteds and you're in for a time.

i'd highly recommend spending a fair amount of time on light balancing before almost anything else. get all the detail you can to show up and balance things out before the other cleanups.

and the other big issue is going to be reconstruction. bringing back detail that no longer is there takes some good detective work and a good hand and a good technique. careful with the clone and smudge, especially on the faces. that's a critical area and one where judging is probably going to be mostly centered. dress/clothing will probably be the next most important followed by the background.

with all the damage in other areas, it's surprising at how much detail does exist in some of the clothing. so, careful with the cloning/repair here too. lose the detail, lose points.

if you feel compelled to use filters, especially ones like neat image, polaroid dust and scratch and similar 'cleanup' filters, dont overdo it. these have a tendency to blur areas and it shows.

and bear in mind the rules state this is restore, not a painting. the idea isnt to 'make it pretty' or to make it art; the idea is to bring it back to its original state or to photo quality.

there's also been a minor debate in the past about sepia tone as opposed to true black and white. to me, this is a very minor issue and more a matter of preference. if you can restore the quality then any toning is more something one discusses with a client. however, i'm sure there are those that think it shld be one or the other, especially if the image depicts that this is the way the original would have been or 'what would have existed at the time it was taken'. so, use your own judgement on that one.

and as always, do not have any fun. work, work, work! and frown often ;)

craig

Hi....

still talking to me?? :o: :wink:

yup, this is classic restore/reconstruction and a toughy at that.... a perfect 'diagnosis' .... and a great help for the 'cure' .... thanks Craig!!!

Good luck to everybody!!!

3. Tasks:
* Final image must be exactly 800 px wide and 583 px high Doug,

your restoration appears to have the 'wrong' proportions ... (800 x 600 px) ... Please, check and correct your entry to avoid being disqualified.

Thanks..... :)

Update: This entry has been corrected. :pleased:

thanks flora :)

but i'm beginning to think all moderators are sadists. first T, then Ro and now you! this is one devilish image! (i love it). it's almost as bad as 'tub girls' ;) now, where's Deadants when you need him :)

craig

Thanks Flora, I fixed the size. Starting to wonder where everybody went. The original looks pretty awful, but there's plenty of recoverable detail in the under-exposed parts - it's just not the greatest quality in spots. I think the darkest areas are legitimate shadow that the camera and film couldn't resolve very well. The biggest problem I found is there's not the same tonal range in the shadow people (compared to the girl on right) to work with once the levels are balanced out.

a question for you please?

Do you have, or have you seen the original photograph not in digital format?

leanan :)
Who flunked Biology, Anatomy, and Art Class .. and it's gonna show .. :dizzy:

I think I found the answer.

:)

leanan

for idiocy, here is my entry.

*sighs*

I resized at some stage without realising so the proportions are wrong .. this is layered onto the original until I can figure out the cure for the tone discrepancies.

There is hope yet .. so they say!

leanan

Hi,

....i'm beginning to think all moderators are sadists. first T, then Ro and now you! this is one devilish image! (i love it). .... we are... and it is !!!! :vampire:

Kidding aside ... it is a devilish, tricky image to restore!!! .... So, a :bow: for all who worked on it and all who are still working on it!!!

Starting to wonder where everybody went...... I do hope this image didn't scare everybody away .... and if it isn't the picture ... do you think it would help if I changed my perfume??? :wink: :o: :wink:

Do you have, or have you seen the original photograph not in digital format?.... No... I found it here (http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?pp/nclc:@field(NUMBER+@band(nclc+02127)))... (Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington)

******

Well ... about the "disappearing/temp" link ... I was really starting to think the gremlins were playing games with me... :bawling: ... so I went searching for answers and found them in ... ... the 'Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington' help file:
Linking to Particular Records

The display of PPOC catalog records is dynamic. That is, the computer assembles the display in response to your particular request. This poses a challenge for linking and bookmarking since the URL (Uniform Resource Locator or Web address) is temporary; if you bookmark one of these temporary record displays, you will not be able to reach the address later. Do not rely on any address with the word “temp” in it. For most PPOC records, you can get a permanent URL by following the steps below: ..... ... so ... after following their 'linking' instructions I have 'hopefully' corrected the link to a permanent one...

keeping my fingers crossed ....

I found it here (http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?nclc:4:./temp/~pp_6kwU::@@@mdb=fsaall,app,brum,detr,swann,look,gottscho,pan,horyd,genthe,var,cai,cd,hh,yan,bbcards,lomax,ils,prok,brhc,nclc,matpc,iucpub,tgmi)... (Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington)

Anyone on the fence about entering the contest should keep in mind that we're just about done restoring all of the Library of Congress photos - this could be your last chance.

... Please, don't ask me how I had managed to link to a temporary file .... :D :D ...

from CathyH's recent entry: I have spent way to much time on this, and I still don't like it. boy, do i know that feeling. i started over again last night and may replace my current entry. this is one of those maddening pictures where the light is both too bright and too dark and there's just enough detail to know what shld be there in places, but just enough missing in key locations to drive you nuts. i fudged quite a bit on the first attempt and in re-doing i've gotten some areas better, but now others are worse. lol. i strongly recommend folks never go into the restoration business; you'll be bald and depressed in no time ;)

craig

AH Craig you have given us a hint of what you look like maybe????

Swampy
You may want to resize your pic. I think it should be bigger.

shalford and swampy, it may just be my browser acting up, but i think your images are the wrong size. hate to see anyone disqualified for something like that.

peterS, actually, my picture is here on retouch...somewhere. i've still got my hair and prettier than ever :)

craig

Thanks for that Craig, or is it Hawkeye!

actually, my picture is here on retouch...somewhere. i've still got my hair and prettier than ever

Craig
Modesty is one of your finer points.

Peter

peter_s, :)

craig

3. Tasks:
* Final image must be exactly 800 px wide and 583 px high Swampy,

the size of your restoration appears to be wrong ... (600 x 437 px) ... Please, check and correct your entry to avoid being disqualified.

Thanks..... :)

Hi everybody!

Great entries so far .... :bigthmb: :bigthmb:

... A real killer this one eh?? ... :dead:

Out of curiosity I only tried to 'brighten' the darkest parts of the picture .... and realized that, no matter what I did, I wasn't going to be satisfied with the results ... meaning ... this is what I call a 'compromise' picture ... But still a great example and exercise ground for what we could get as 'real life' job request!!! ...

Looking forward to many more entries, I've put up the contest images posted so far (in order of date posted) in this Gallery for easier viewing and comparison... :)

Edit: 8 Oct. 2006

Removed link

flora, that's a nice gallery format. is that something you made or is it a pre-packaged type thing?

also, please note, i've updated my entry. please update the gallery. (sorry, not trying to give you extra work)

as for compromise, yes, with areas blown out in the black there is no choice. details are just lost and there's no other way but to fudge a bit here and there. a distinctly difficult challenge.

craig

Hi Craig,

is that something you made or is it a pre-packaged type thing?... simply a MS FrontPage pre-packaged gallery format...

also, please note, i've updated my entry. please update the gallery. (sorry, not trying to give you extra work)... No problem at all :pleased: :pleased: ... Your entry in the Gallery has been updated ... and don't worry about possible future changes ... ;)

thanks flora :)

craig

Looks like I'm going to miss this month. I got so far as to copy the image onto my computer. Never even got a chance to open it up. :bawling: Too bad. Because there are a lot of beautiful entries and I'd love to vote. However, I don't just want to "throw something together" just so I can. Great job all who attempted this.

Ditto: Just didn't seem to have the time to get to grips with this months contest.

My apologies to Flora, who must have worked hard to find such a fiendishly subtle challenge.

Hi,

Craig,

you are welcome! :classic:

PhotoB,

.... :sad: ... (there is still a bit of time... :wink: )

Gary,

My apologies to Flora, who must have worked hard..... :heul:

Yes, I did spend a lot of time searching through the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog at The Library of Congress' site ... They have tons of great images to choose from...

....to find such a fiendishly subtle challenge.:vampire:

...Well, I had actually found 6 images I liked for this Contest ... the final choice was a 'joint' one... :wink:

When this contest is over I'm going to post the other 5 ... I'd like to see if you can guess which one was the one I liked most... :happy:

Beth,

I'm going to update your entry in the Gallery right now!!!

The contest is closed...

Congratulations to ALL that tackled this 'killer' challenge!!!

All Entries in the Gallery have been updated.

Edit: 8 Oct. 2006

Removed link

Hi Everyone.

I would just like to say ‘Kudos’ to everyone who entered this competition. :bigthmb:

I really wanted to post an entry but I tried and tried and got nothing worthy of submission. I even downloaded the 52MB tiff file hoping that would help but I have now got over 1GB of ‘tries’ and false starts. I even tried HDR on it. :eek:

I hope everyone posts their workflow on this. I am sure that we could all learn from it.

Once again, congratulations to everyone. This really was a ‘Killer’. I think you are all winners. :bow:

Ken.

Hi,

I took at look at the jpg posted thought it was too small to attempt any decent restoration. After reading Cameraken's reply I realized that a large tif was available, so I gave it a looksee....

There is a face there! Still would need more work, but it was fun finding a face :)

Too late. :cry: Should have use the tiff file to save me the trouble. Spent more time fixing the faces than with everything else. Good exercise though.

It would be nice to know just how many bent the rules a little, and got the tiff file :lol: Personally I stuck with the image in the contest thread, as that was the image offered up for restoration :)
I will get my votes in later today (fingers crossed)

Ok, seems like I'm the only one who doesn't know about the damned tiff. Where did you find it?
Even Hollowman has a face on it :(

Flora posted the link, click on the picture and you'll see a tiff file available for download.

Here's the post:
http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/131968-post18.html

chrishoggy, ying .. me too.

No matter .. it proved to be a very interesting mission.

Restoration Challenge

The File:
Download 02127u.jpg (1692 KB) and restore it.

Thats the reason I stuck with the jpg. Plus I didn't have time to do much to it :happy:

Using the tiff does give a bit of an unfair advantage, as there is more detail to pull from it. But never mind, we are all in it for the fun. We don't want any silly falling out over who used what image. It would just be nice to know who used it, and compare their image to those who didn't :)

I did not find any more detail in the Tiff than the jpeg. “Hollowman’s” (The man at the back) left eye (our right) is findable in both files.

The really difficult bit is blending all these ‘bits’ into one believable image. I even tried HDR to do that.


Ken.

I took a look at the jpg again and indeed I found the detail. The difference I can see is that the jpg has artifacts. Maybe they were caused by the way I extracted the detail in the jpg, but it didn't occur in the tif? Guessing.

I didn't want to start controversy, I was just excited to find a face that was reasonable to restore.

I did not know about the tif file being available - I just used what was supplied, and then hoped for the best.

It would just be nice to know who used it, and compare their image to those who didn't :)

I doubt anybody used it since the big tiff link didn't appear until half way through the contest (Sept. 11). For those of us still on dial-up a 52 meg file is a pipe dream, and for those with high speed I suspect any added detail wouldn't survive the 100 k sizing.

Hi everybody!!

Just want to clear a couple of things about this:
Hi,

I took at look at the jpg posted thought it was too small to attempt any decent restoration. After reading Cameraken's reply I realized that a large tif was available, so I gave it a looksee....

There is a face there! Still would need more work, but it was fun finding a face :)1) I didn't originally post the link to the TIF file for the simple reason that not everyone has a fast internet connection... and 52 MB on a dial-up can be a 'neverending story' ....

2) I didn't post the link to the 'Prints and Photographs Division' .JPG file either because that was too small to work on. (149 KB)

3)I dowloaded the .TIF file and reduced it to a reasonable 1.65 MB to give everyone a chance and, at the same time, to have enough details to work on.

4)As Doug pointed out I posted the link to the site, answering a question by leanan`si on Sept. 11.

5)In my opinion, the face from the 52 MB .TIF file may be softer/smoother, but, as Ken also said, it surely doesn't seem to have more details than the face from the file originally posted. (see Attachment) ..

Since you've quoted me, I'll answer.

I've already said that my post was in response to being happily surprised to find more useable detail in the tiff file, imo.

I did not question whether you should have made that file available for the contest. If others have made that complaint, take it up with them.

Hi Bill,

I did not question whether you should have made that file available for the contest. If others have made that complaint, take it up with them.I wasn't taking anything up with anybody ... I simply wanted to clear some points/doubts brought up by your post ... that's why I quoted you ...

Come on people, lets not forget this is a "fun/friendly" contest . I was only interested in who used it, so I could compare against those who didn't. It is no BIG deal, just a tiny bit of face detail that would be gained at the most.
I only looked at the tiff today, and haven't even tried to work on it. But my first impression was that there was a little more detail in the darker areas.
PLEASE don't start getting all fired up about it :depressed

First off congratulations to ALL that tackled this difficult challenge!!!

And the winner is....Doug Colwell

The Prize:

Backdrop Designer donated by Digital Anarchy (http://www.digitalanarchy.com/backdrop/backdrop_main.html)

Top 5:

Doug Colwell - 57
soleah - 49
Cazubi - 28
Peter S - 27
Ying - 21

Congrats Doug - well deserved.

Thanks Peter and many thanks to all who voted for my pic. Congrats to everyone for doing a great job on a tough photo! Here are the steps I remember using.

The basic levels were done in three steps - each applied to the whole image and then masked to apply to the target area. I didn't take note of the levels but I've gone back to the original and think the following numbers are pretty close to what I used. The first adjustment rough leveled the house, bg and the two girls on the right (approx. 13/1.68/249), the second leveled the boy (approx. 13/0.69/176), and the last did everyone else plus some foreground, and a bit more on the house (approx. 13/3.09/143). I did a few more of these level/masks to fine tune areas I wanted lighter or darker. Using a low opacity brush with the masks also makes it easy to paint in (and back off) shadow and highlight where it's needed.

I used usm filter and masks to increase the contrast and definition in places where leveling had flattened the tones. Used dodge and clone to smooth and lighten the hard shadows on the darkest faces, and burn to emphasize some eyes, noses and lips. Somewhere in here I gave up on trying to hang onto the original sepia and I desaturated (levels and usm's kept increasing saturation in different areas which I then had to waste time fixing). Applied slight Neat Image filter to smooth and sharpen a bit. Selected the washed out railing and boards around the boy, cloned in a darker, more uniform tone, and blurred the edges to keep them slightly out of focus. Used variations (fine - red, yellow, yellow, lighter (I think)) to do the sepia, but couldn't quite get back to the tones I had before desaturating.

Congratulations Doug. I think that you did a great job on a very tough restoration.

Cathy

Nice work Doug, congratulations to you on a well deserved win, and to all the other finalists and entrants for tackling what looked to be a very difficult restore.

Congratulations Doug .. an awesome piece of work :)

.. and thanks for the work flow .. six months ago I would have understood one word in ten, I consider it progress to understand maybe five in ten now!

Overall, I learnt a great deal from all the entries and it's a real privilege to be amongst you all :)

leanan :)

contratz, doug. not an easy task and very well done. had we been able to vote for our own entries, i'd still have voted you number 1.

craig

Well done Doug.

A magnificent job!
Nice to see your name up in lights.

All the best

Superb job, Doug. Congratulations on a well-deserved win. And thank you for posting your procedure. Many good lessons there.

Carole

Congrats, Doug!!!

And congratulations to everyone who even attempted this one!

Congratulations Doug!! You really worked a miracle on that photo!

Really, congratulations to the top 5...... and to everyone who worked on this one....... you all keep the bar high in restoration ......all did an outstanding job...... it was so difficult as a restoration but more difficult to vote on.

Beth

Welldone everybody and congratulations to the winners :)

Excellent work Doug and thanks for posting your work flow.
cathyh

Congratulations Doug and also to the top 5.

Thanks everybody! And thankyou Flora for your time and hard work.

It has been a pleasure, Doug!! :happy:

... Congratulations again for your excellent work on such a difficult challenge!!! :bigthmb:

Congratulations Doug! Well done.

Thanks Soleah, and congrats to you too - it was a close one.