Where to begin with phtographic copy of damaged Wedding Photo

[ogee]

This is scanned copy (made by myself, and re-sized to fit on retouchpro) of what appears to be a photographic copy of the damaged original. Of course it is the only available image that exists of the wedding and no one knows where the original is or if it still exists.

I would like people's input on the steps you might use to bring the bride back...thanks.

[saby]

Hi ogee,

try this: desaturate, add some softlight and overlay layers in different oppacity with gradient, black to transparent from the left and from the top. I used 3 layers to get this "start"

saby

[philbach]

I started also using levels adjustment layers to increase the contrast on the left side of the photo. After that cloning and background replacement in the upper left corner of the photo

[Charlene5]

Ogee I've studied this photo and concluded that it contains within it's simple rectangle, every single restoration nightmare I've ever heard of or seen. The good point is that it isn't torn

Now then. Didn't that buck you up no end?

MJ (who hopes Ogee knows she's kidding)

[ogee]

Originally Posted by Charlene5

Ogee I've studied this photo and concluded that it contains within it's simple rectangle, every single restoration nightmare I've ever heard of or seen. The good point is that it isn't torn

Now then. Didn't that buck you up no end?

MJ (who hopes Ogee knows she's kidding)

Yes MJ, that made my morning...much better news than what's in my morning paper!

Actually I had formed the same opinion, but based upon much, much less experience in trying to solve the problems which is why I am soliciting "where to begin ideas"...humour definitely helps as does the lack of cracks or tears.

The biggest problem, I think, is trying to find the boundary or edges of the bride's hair.
Ogee

[Charlene5]

Originally Posted by ogee

The biggest problem, I think, is trying to find the boundary or edges of the bride's hair.
Ogee

The left side is pretty clear. I'd copy that and do a paste/flip and then adjust for perspective and view. That's a fancy way of saying get out the warp tool and shove it around until it looks OK

MJ, who can be a real ray of sunshine <cough>

[chillin]

I used level adjustment & mask the right side. I did this few times to get some balance. It isn't perfect, but I didn't want to overuse cloning.