Image Help - - How do I best fix/improve this shot.

Lil Judd · #1 10-11-2007, 01:08 AM

After many years absence I'm getting back to my love for photography. This started at an early age. I was 9 years old when I bought my first camera. Bought with money I won on Bingo by myself. I bought a little Kodak Instamatic.

Anyhow, I've carried with me for almost 40 years a print from that camera of my first very much beloved dog Amulette. Well, tonight I've scanned it into the computer & needless to say - not only age, but mostly - has affected this most beloved photo. Now, I wish to restore it to a better state but I'm really very basic when it comes to retouching. And retouching is what I think I need to do as there's no repairs to be done.

I have CS3, but have not really gotten into in & maybe this is the shot with which I'll do so. Any way..... Where do I start, how do I start. This shot is very important to me & I'm almost crying just writing about it.

Shot can be downloaded at

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/...lette_0001.jpg

needless to say in jpg form, but I've also made it available as a TIFF here

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/...s/Amulette.tif

I've only visited a few times here, but hope to do so more. Can anyone help me here?

Thanks

Lil

Blindv · #2 10-11-2007, 03:31 AM

Basically all I did was to take the image and adjust the red curve to restore a more realistic color representation. Then also duplicated the adjusted layer and set the blending mode to overlay with an opacity of about 20%.

Not perfect but it gets you going in the right direction.

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/e...esis/dog-1.jpg

Lil Judd · #3 10-11-2007, 12:41 PM

Thanks for your help Blindv - I'll work from there.

Lil

1999XLT · #4 10-11-2007, 08:49 PM

This was a quick 2 minute fix. I neutralized the color cast using swampy's method (the greatest method EVER IMHO), quick levels adjustment then fixed the contrast using a curve layer. Regards,

mligr · #5 10-12-2007, 12:43 AM

The book "Photoshop restoration and retouching" from Katrin Eismann is what you need. There is a chapter in there on exactly this kind of images, where one of the color channels is severely damaged. I don't have the book here with me, and I never had an opportunity to try that technique, but when I get home I will look it up and post the result.

Martin

philbach · #6 10-12-2007, 06:03 AM

As mentioned previously, take a look at the channels. The red channel is the most affected. I used levels on each individual channel. Then I copied the layer to a new layer using screen blending mode.

Cassidy · #7 10-12-2007, 08:19 AM

I also used Swampy's method of blur->average, invert and set blending to overlay, but did it several times before doing a final levels adjustment

chillin · #8 10-12-2007, 10:27 AM

I think you have to fix a little the red channel first, then use curves & at last separately boost some colors (i.e. red for the flower).

mayday · #9 10-12-2007, 10:34 AM

Here's my quick fix for you!

If you like it i'll do the tiff when i get time. PM your email and i'll send it to you?

rovis · #10 10-12-2007, 11:00 AM

here's a color corrected tiff:

http://download.yousendit.com/5CB83A6707E9F44F

I applied some curves and then boosted the saturation a little.

mkyam · #11 10-12-2007, 11:49 AM

Hi! It's my first attempt to do the retouching...I begin by independently adjusting the individual color channels using levels adjustment layers. Then boost the saturation using hue/saturation with a low opacity. Finally added a channel mixer adjustment layers to fix the blue channel to restore some details.

James Penner · #12 10-12-2007, 12:26 PM

Here's my attemt. I just used a levels and curves adjustment.

Lil Judd · #13 10-12-2007, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1999XLT

This was a quick 2 minute fix. I neutralized the color cast using swampy's method (the greatest method EVER IMHO), quick levels adjustment then fixed the contrast using a curve layer. Regards,

Thanks for your help 1999XLT. Gives me something to work with.

Tom K · #14 10-12-2007, 01:13 PM

Hi
I also used the blur/average method, also a little touchup with curves.
Tried to sharpen a little bit.... Looking for detail in eyes - could not find any.
Tom

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1eNo...qpcm_thumb.jpg

Lil Judd · #15 10-12-2007, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by philbach

As mentioned previously, take a look at the channels. The red channel is the most affected. I used levels on each individual channel. Then I copied the layer to a new layer using screen blending mode.

Thanks philbach - I have several shots that have this color issue (age I guess) so I will attempt this with all of them. Thank you for your help & time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mligr

The book "Photoshop restoration and retouching" from Katrin Eismann is what you need. There is a chapter in there on exactly this kind of images, where one of the color channels is severely damaged. I don't have the book here with me, and I never had an opportunity to try that technique, but when I get home I will look it up and post the result.

Martin

Hi Martin - - thanks I'll pick that one up. I'm in for a lot of restoring of old slides & shots that I only have prints of. It will certainly help a lot.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassidy

I also used Swampy's method of blur->average, invert and set blending to overlay, but did it several times before doing a final levels adjustment

Thank you Cassidy - I will try that. I have more shots with this problem - I will work on it & thanks for your time & effort

Quote:

Originally Posted by chillin

I think you have to fix a little the red channel first, then use curves & at last separately boost some colors (i.e. red for the flower).

Thank you chillin - I've downloaded everyone's effort to help me. They all look a wast improvement over the original scan. Thank you for your time & effort & I seem to recall yours being fairly close to the colors I remember of our house wall - I will solicit my mother's help with that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mayday

Here's my quick fix for you!

If you like it i'll do the tiff when i get time. PM your email and i'll send it to you?

Hi mayday - looks good. I'll send you a pm with my e-mail & thank you for all your time & effort.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rovis

here's a color corrected tiff:

http://download.yousendit.com/5CB83A6707E9F44F

I applied some curves and then boosted the saturation a little.

Hi rovis - I've just downloaded your tiff. It looks great - thank you for your time & effort. It looks very close to what I remember. Thank you so very much.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mkyam

Hi! It's my first attempt to do the retouching...I begin by independently adjusting the individual color channels using levels adjustment layers. Then boost the saturation using hue/saturation with a low opacity. Finally added a channel mixer adjustment layers to fix the blue channel to restore some details.

Thank you mkyam - thank you for all your help & time. I have all these great version to look at now & compare. Thank you again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by James Penner

Here's my attemt. I just used a levels and curves adjustment.

Hi James, thank you for your effort, time & help. I've got so many to look at up close now. I feel very happy & grateful for everyone's help. Thank you so very much.

Collectively to everyone - - thank you for all the help & suggestions.

Lil