Old Photo

[Paul2]

I have an old photo of my mother and some of her friends standing in front of an old car which I have just found out is a Jowett Javelin. The photo was in very poor condition and I've basically had to piece it back together again. The problem I have is that I need to blend the parts together to make it look like one photo and despite my best efforts I just can't make the colours look realistic enough and I was wondering if some kind sole could help me out.

Paul

[Juergen D]

Originally Posted by Paul2

I just can't make the colours look realistic enough and I was wondering if some kind sole could help me out.

Paul,
I don't quite understand. Are you trying to colorize the picture? It looks pretty good to me, otherwise.

Juergen

[DCobb]

I ran the photo through Focus Magic, a third party PS filter.

dc

[chillin]

Originally Posted by DCobb

I ran the photo through Focus Magic, a third party Photoshop filter.

dc

What settings did you use?

[DCobb]

Focus Magic selects an area and makes its own settings. I think this registered a 4. Might be a little harsh, but certainly an improvement--I feel. I just do this to let the person see the possible results. Not everyone is familiar with this 3rd party filter. And I would also assume that a skilled photoshop user might be able to replicate something similar using sophisticated sharpening techniques.

dc

Checked the picture again ith Focus Magic and it was a 4.

[chillin]

Thanks, I'll play with it. I like filters & plug ins. Some of them are quite good.

[duwayne]

Got about the same results as dc with a little less blurring (see bricks on left side).

I duplicated the background layer, did a Local Contrast Enhancement using Unsharp Mask filter with amount of 20, radius of 80 and threshold of 1. Then duplicated the background layer again and moved it to the top of the stack. Ran High-Pass filter with radius of 1.6, blending mode set to Overlay.

[chillin]

I have applied selectively NikSharpener & FocusMagic. Cganged the B&W style.

[Paul2]

Many thanks to all who replied to my posting. Juergan wasn't sure what I was after so I'll try and explain a little better. What I'm after ideally is to try and blend the two parts of the car in the photo so as to make one car. The rear end of the car in the photo is obviously darker than the front due to piecing together the photo. I'm not trying to colourise it. I'm not very good at explaining what I mean so hopefully this will be enough of an explanation. I've uploaded the original image for you all to have a look at.

Paul

[chillin]

Darken & add some noise & texture from the rear fender. See my post above.

[Juergen D]

Paul,
Thanks for the explanation. Sometimes I don't see things the first time around. I think you did a remarkable job restoring the photo.
I blurred the front of the car some and added some noise. To change the tonality, I used a grouped Levels adjustment layer.

Juergen

[DCobb]

I adjusted the tone on the back to match the existing front.

dc

[Graphics23]

Well done, DCobb! Looks great!

Now how about a little color?

Regards,

Michael

[grannysdc]

Silly me.. I thought by blending the colours he meant the areas marked.. then after all the comments I decided to match the car front with the existing back..

OH well, Anyway, this is my feeble attempt

[duwayne]

Well, Imisunderstood what you were looking for. It looks like someone replaced the front of the car and not the back. Here's the image of the car they used for the front. Just take the back end off this car, desaturate and replace the rear fender in your photo.

[Juergen D]

Interesting! Wouldn't you know it, but that has to be the same picture that Paul was using in his reconstruction...

Juergen