Looking for Photo Restoration

[vwonnacott]

Hi - I am looking to find someone to take on a good restoration of an old photograph of my wife's brother who sadly died at a young age.

Unfortunately there are very few photographs of him in existance, this one being about the best.

the photograph has been scanned in high res and can be viewed here:

http://www.professionalcycles.co.uk/Paul.jpg

You will note the black shading around his eyes, as a result of being blind.

Any help greatly appreciated

Vince

[Cameraken]

Hi Vince

Welcome to Retouch Pro

There is a very strange moiré/pattern/texture on this picture. Can you tell us what is causing this? It almost looks like it has been scanned from a magazine?

Apart from that the image looks in pretty good shape. What are you looking for?

Did you want to restore this yourself or are you looking to pay for the restoration?

Looking forward to your reply

Ken.

[vwonnacott]

Hi Ken

Not sure what can be causing this, it is a photgraph that was scanned (it was in a frame)

I am really looking to pay for someone to restore the image as I do not really have the skills.

Vince

[Sanda]

you might include the area you're in to help find a restorer in your area. I'm sure somebody here will be near you and can help.

[Lasa]

I think the glass is causing a little problem with the scan..that is one weird noise-scanline-thingy happening there.
Would you be able to get it out of the glass without ruining it?

Lasa

[vwonnacott]

Hi

Im based in Essex.

The photo was scanned out of the glass..just in a card surround.

Vince

[Lasa]

Are there lines/texture on the image when veiwing the original? Or are the lines only on the scan? Have you tried scanning it sideways or at a slight angle? Sometime that lessens the textures....
Lasa

[vwonnacott]

Hi

No I cannot see any lines across the photo.

Here is another copy which was reworked by someone else, although I wasnt particularly happy with the end result - not sure if you could have worked on this any better:

www.professionalcycles.co.uk/Paul2.jpg

Vince

[Cameraken]

Hi Vince

The restoration that you have had done is not that bad. They have made a good job of removing the "pattern" and made an effort to sharpen it.
I really don't think you will get much better.
If you don't like the vignette or think it's lacking in colour then I would think they could adjust this at very little extra cost.

Is this an Inkjet print? Do you have an original or a negative? I think that would be the only chance of getting a better image

Great job Lasa.

Here is my effort.

Ken.

[chrishoggy]

Those lines just look like noise due to bounce back of light, as the photo is not pressed on to the scanner glass. You need to remove the card and scan it pressed flat to the scanner glass. This will give you a true copy that someone can work on.

done a quick cleanup with what you have, but it's not very good

[Cameraken]

Hi Chris

Those lines just look like noise due to bounce back of light

I have just had a good look at the second image that was posted. (Post 8) It is much sharper. It appears that the restorer did not have the problem with the lines/pattern

Have you seen this before Chris? I have not seen lines like this even when scanning objects which are a long way from the scanner.


Ken.

[chrishoggy]

My old HP scanner used to do it. If I scanned an image in that was in a card frame, the frame was crystal clear and the photo had bad noise or lines (just like this one). Where the photo dropped down to touch the glass (in the middle of photo), the noise/lines would vanish. I can't say exactly what it was that caused it, but assumed it was to do with the image reflection on the glass, or distortion caused by the distance from the glass. It sometimes fixed it if I only scanned a selection within the frame, but it was always noisy. The other thing could be any "Auto settings" (auto contrast etc) in scanner software, that is changing the image as it is scanned. They could be over compensating, and causing this noise in the image.
You can also get these lines if your scanner PSU is on it's way out, but they normally show on the whole image (and frame). That one is caused by lack of smooth power to the scanner, causing a juddering of motor as it moves the scanning head down the image.

[Cameraken]

Hi Chris.

Thanks for the Info

It appears that the restorer had a much better image to work with than the one posted here.

Thanks Again.

Ken.

[Kraellin]

definitely a tricky image. i got rid of the scan lines with psp's digital camera noise removal. but that caused a reduction in sharpness which had to be put back with a usm layer. but, i agree, a better scan would give better results.

[vwonnacott]

Thanks for all of your help, I have found a senior member (Ziaphra) who lives very close to me and has agreed to work on this for me from the original

Your efforts have all been appreciated, and maybe the final image can be posted here for you all to see.

Vince