This photo was damaged by salt water.I have tried to restore
it on a number of tries but it always winds up looking like a
cartoon.I have tried using the clone tool in Photoshop on it
but I can't seem to get the right blend in and it loses it's
anatomy in the facial area.Would anyone have any idea's of
how I should approach this picture?

I should state that I am very new to this and haven't a real
clue on many of the techniques most of you are using.I have done
some restoration on my old black and white photo's and I enjoy
colorizing photo's a great deal.

As you can see by my statement's I am new to this forum.
I have read and looked at much of the work being done on here
and I must state that you are all very talented.

Thank You.
sage150

Hi Sage, I started working on this last night and didn't finish and don't think I'll have time today so thought I'd post my progress so you'd have an idea what I did.

I duplicated the background layer a coupld of times. Then I blurred the middle layer until most of the gunk disappeared.

Next, I put a blank layer at the top of the stack, made it the active layer and using the clone stamp set to "use all layer", cloned over the mess on her chest and dress. I also did a bit of airbrush over her hair.

I selected everything on the cloning layer and added some noise and then blured to give the skin some texture.

When I look now, I realize I should have put the dress cloning on a different layer than the skin cloning so that I could give the dress a different texture than the skin.

I also selected the woman and removed the background since it didn't seem to hold any significant information and if I was to finish this project, I would create a new backdrop.

Here's my effort, hope it helps, Margaret

Thanks Margaret, I will print your advice out right now.
The picture certainly looks much clearer and sharper.
I really like what you were able to accomplish with
it.
Have a great day.

Joseph

Sage,

Here is my try. This is hard to explain because it is more of a painting mindset, I hope you like it. I didn't get the teeth right yet and I guessed on the shape of parts of her face...

Rough overview of steps;

-duplicated background, turned off and on layer I worked on to check the integrity of the shapes
-painted over background
-painted over the worst of the damaged areas with the approximate brightness, then used patch tool bring in texture and the clone tool to blend
-added a little light painting to eyes and built up what I thought they would look like (copied pupil to other eye), clone tool on teeth and lips, painted a little.
-smudge tool on skin once the obvious damage was mostly removed to average skin brightness being carefull to paint with the smudge tool following the lines and contures.
-added noise, then blurred noise slightly.

Hope this helps,
Roger

Hi Roger,

If I can learn to restore 1/10 of what you can do I'll be
very happy.Unbelievable how you brought that picture back
to life.I've been trying to work with it all day.All I could
accomplish was a real mess.My picture is all out of definition
and began to look like a cartoon again.Not even a nice
looking cartoon.
Thank you so much for what you have accomplished with it.
Unlike other photo's that I have tried to restore this one was
very different because I seem to be having a difficult time
trying to put the definition of the face in as you have done.
This couldn't have been an easy task because I've been trying
for quite a long time to restore it to somewhat of a photo.
Except for just a very slight part of the look this came out
exceptional.You are so right when you mentioned the teeth.
That's probably where it is.

Thank You Again and Again,

Joseph

sage

Thanks, as I look at it again I think I might have the nose a little bright also. It was too dark and then I fixed it ...

I forgot to mention that I also added a color fill layer set to color blending mode to remove the distraction of the different colors.

A couple of thoughts;

-on detail areas, (earring in ear, pupils, eyelashes, etc.); use a light touch with little dots placed where you think the shape should be, then fill in with little dots and build up the shape gradually. I often do this with the clone tool with 'use all layers' and 'aligned' both turned off.

-on areas that need shading to brinmg shape out in clothing and skin. It is easiest to think of that not as drawing but as lightening and darkening (even though you can also use the clone tool to add the lighter and darker areas from similar cloned from spots)

-instead of looking at the object you are restoring as a whole concentrate on the shapes of the highlights (the lightest areas that reflect the light source) and especially concentrate on the shapes that the areas of shadow make. These two things put together will create the shape for you.

Next on my list is learning how teeth should look:)
Roger

Thanks again, Roger,

I've copied and pasted your notes for further reference.
As far as teeth go you did a wonderful overall job of the picture
and the teeth were alright the way they look.The overall
photo captured her persona.Considering that you never saw
any other photos of the subject,you were extremely close to
the mark.I must keep practicing to try to get that same overall
effect ; if that's possible.

Thank you kindly for the tips.

Joseph

Hi Joseph,

beside the excellent tips you got from Margaret and Roger, if you work with Photoshop 7, here is another way which I used trying to restore your picture .... the new Healing with Pattern technique from Katrin Eisman's book (Second Edition).

Please, let me know if you'd like a detailed explanation of the steps I took to get to this result ....

Flora, that is beautiful!!

Makes me wish I had PS 7 - and even more, I wish I had half your talent.:) :)

Margaret

Hello Flora,

You have done a very beautiful restoration of the photograph, I especially love the shading in it.You are
all so very talented.If I could come close to what you
have accomplished I'll be very happy.
I feel like a beginning swimmer, swimming with Champions.

If it wouldn't be too tedious on your part to explain the how
you accomplished the picture I would be very pleased.
I never dreamed I could get such beautiful renderings of the
photograph.Try and try as I would, I found it very difficult.
I put in so many hours trying to restore it.

Flora somehow the above got posted before I could say,

Thank You so much for the restoration.

Joseph

Margaret, Joseph,

Thank you so much for your great comments ....:blush:

....Margaret, I've seen your work ... and admired your great talent :)

Joseph, sorry I haven't had time for the description yet :( .... but I'll post it as soon as possible .....

Flora,

Thanks for the teeth!

When I was working on the photo I thought that the nose was wider because of the nostril shapes and the width of the flare of the nostril area. But maybe a person with a wider nose would have the top of the nose (from the bridge to the tip) closer to the face...? I am curious if you guessed that shape because it was pretty & classical & there were no clues to it's real shape or if there were any physical charachteristics that you used as a guide.

I might be inclined not to say anything since we all have our own subjective vision, but I see this difference in interpretation as a real opportunity for me to learn (even though it might well show off how much I don't know). Yours is a beautiful job and I really don't know if my assesment of the shape of her nose being wider is right or not ... what do you think?

Thanks,
Roger

Hi Roger,

Actually when I look at both pictures as a whole both of
them are extremely truthful to the look of the person.
I would assume if you knew the person there might be
some very,very minor changes.But as far as the restoration
of that particular photo, both renditions are true.
They are both excellent.

I know some people that must listen to music through
certain speakers and audio systems as a whole in order to
enjoy their music.They will tweak their music systems so they
can hear certain sounds from the instrument's,the bass,etc.
I've never understood that because when I listen to music
I can enjoy it coming out of any type of audio system,
including a transistor radio.
If I look at the picture of someone I know I see that person
whether or not they are in their best clothes or jeans.

I guess what I mean is that when I look at either of the pictures
you or Flora restored, I see that person in that picture.

I see I have quite away to go before I can achieve that
type of restoration.I've sure been practicing and reading.

Joseph

To give you an example where I was going.This is the
disaster I was creating.I figured I'd put this here
because I see by a later thread it is expected to see
how far the person who is asking for assistance got
with his photo.

Joseph

Hi everybody .... sorry for being so late in answering!

Joseph,

....better late than never :( .... here is the step by step explanation of what I did with your picture:

Tonal Adjustment:
1) Trying to bring out more deatils in the most ruined parts of the picture I used the Curves (you can find a snapshot of the curves which I used on another picture here (http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=59942))
2) Created a Luminosity Mask (Ctrl+Alt+~), slightly feathered it (Radius = 2 Pixels), copied it onto its own Layer (Ctrl+J) and set the Blending to Multiply, Opacity = 40%.

Removing spots etc.:
1) On big areas such as most of the background, Marion's décolleté and right cheek, I used the 'Healing by Pattern' technique mentioned in my first post on this thread.
2) Clone Tool.
3) After selecting 'good' parts from a surrounding area (background only), I used the Layer via Copy method (Ctrl+J)to copy the selection on its own Layer and moved it to cover the damaged part adjusting Contrast Luminosity and Opacity to better blend it.

Enhancing Features and correcting Discolorations or 'Flatness':
1) What I usually do is create new empty Layers playing with Blendings (Normal, Overlay, Soft Light, Lighten, Darken or Color)and with a fuzzy either Black, White or Color Brush (sampling colour from surrounding areas, Opacity 5-60%), paint over the features to either increase depth or enhance highlights to give a 3D feeling to the face. I also tweak with the Opacity until I get the result I like.
2) I use the same 'Layers Method' for enhancing or fading the overall shading of a picture.

Roger,

Looking again at your restoration, I think that the shape you gave to Marion's nose is much more realistic than mine ....I did guess... ..because it was pretty & classical..... and was misled by what I took as details (but were, probably, only part of the water stains), after the Tonal Adjustments I did... :(
After reading your post, I went back and corrected it following your considerations ... and have to say that I like this last result much better ... thank you so much for pointing it out .... I'm posting a snapshot of how I got to my result...and after the correction ... :)

P.S. Joseph, I have to disagree with your definition of 'Disaster' regarding your restoration .... I think you did a very good job with the cloning on Marion's décolleté (cloning is definitely not my cup of tea!!).
I'd change the background, though ....When changing Background, I tend to use a soft Radial Gradient (keeping the colours as close as possible to the original to minimize transition problems), instead of a flat one colour which I, personally, don't like ....

Flora I Thank you for writing the technique you used when
restoring the picture.I have saved it and will again attempt
to work on it.The knowledge is more important than the
restoration. I would like to Thank you,Roger and Margaret
for your input in this little project.It has been a very good
lesson.I have also saved the jpg's as part of the lesson.

Joseph,

You are doing really good. The skin on her 'dec...' is almost done. It looks like you are using the clone tool with a stroking action. Try this;

-Set the clone tool at around 30% opacity with hardness at 0.
-Go back and forth between the same light and dark adjacent spots (not strokes but clicks). Sample in the dark area, click in the light. sample in the light, click in the dark.
-With each sample move the sample point a little so it has a random quality.

The goal is to blend the light and dark areas to arrive at a smooth average.

Flora,

Way to go, that is beautiful! The nose shape it perfect. It is a real treat to see something I have worked on and then see it done so well, having worked on it, it really teaches me alot, thanks. I didn't have the guts to run the highlight all the way up the nose not seeing it in the original, but that is perfect and it is the darkness of the shadow in the side of her nose that gives it the width - now I see it ...

Roger

Although I am new to this forum - I only discovered it a few weeks ago - I could not resist having a go at this restoration.

Lots of work and re-work but I felt quite pleased with the result even though it is not a patch on Flora's which is absolutely wonderful.

Christine

Welcome to RetouchPRO!!

Thank you for sharing your talent with us :) :) :)

You've done an amazing job on this restoration, and I for one look forward to seeing more of your work.

Margaret

Hi Christine,

Your restoration is really wonderful.As in the former two
restoration's each has something to offer in the way of an
very close likeness of the person being restored.You were
able to restore teeth.Also it is different being in a colorized
version.
If I can get as close to the restoration as you did I'll
be very happy.I can see that you've put in lots of work on
it.
I know my problem with the project is that although I do
know how to use many of the techniques using PS, I don't
know enough.Every time I go about restoring this picture
it turns into a cartoonish efffect.
I have ordered Katrin Eisen's book and it should be in my
mailbox today.I have lot's to learn with restoration methods.
Up to now my only experience has been restoring some
crack's and tear's in some photo's that are B&W.I then enjoy
colorizing them.
I welcome any input on what techniques are used to restore
this photo in what I feel is a very difficult task.

Thank you so much,

Joseph

Thankyou for the welcome Margaret.

Joseph, Sorry I did not make notes while I was working on the picture but did use some airbrushing on the dress and large areas of damage after sampling colours nearby, cloning, patching and healing of course.

For the background I selected the lady and copied to a new layer when I was happywith the results. Then created the background by applying a radial blur to the non- cut out layer followed by distort/ocean ripple.

Looking at it again I feel the jaw line has too much shading so I may redo this part.

Christine

Try as I might, I can't get close to Flora's shading and bringing out subtle contours of the nose, jaw line, etc. Are there any tutes or tips on how to do this? Well, Flora?

Duv