[koonak]

Hi,
I have been doing light retouching for awhile now. The sister of a very close friend just lost everything in a house fire except a small box of photos. This is a sample of what they are like. I have been playing around with it and have not been happy with any results. I am wondering how others might handle a project of this diffculty. Where to start and the best way to proceed and finish. Right now I'm searching for the picture on the girls shirt as it was very important to the sisters. I appreciate all help and advice. Thank you!
Ken
BTW, I use PSPX

[Gary Richardson]

Hi Koonak,

Welcome to RetouchPro.

Sorry to hear about the fire.

Had a quick go with the picture.

Cropped it to remove a great deal of damage, and as it didn't really add too much to the picture it seemed it would cut out a lot of unnecessary work.

After that just a matter of cloning to remove most of the remainder. A little Burn/Dodge to remove some of the tone differences. Also adjusted levels a little to adjust colour balance and contrast.

Obviously with a bit more time you should be able to get better results.

[koonak]

Hi Gary,
Thank you very much for your fast reply and help. Sorry it took so long to get back with you. You helped to let me know I was on the right track and gave me a bit of insight on which direction to go. Your version looked great for doing it so fast. I used a noise filter and a rgb percentage filter along with ALOT of cloning and airbrushing. There is still some work to be done but I think it's on the right track. The owners sister was very excited about it at this point. If you see any changes that should be made or something I should have done different please let me know. I really appreciate your help and thank you for the welcome also.
Ken

[Gary Richardson]

Nice work Ken.

The filter has removed a little of the sharpness round her mouth and eyes, might be worth a little selective sharpening in those areas.

Also I'd drop the absolute whites just a tad, her jersey dominates just a touch.