First picture of my wife and I. Bad shape

[timmy1729]

Hey everyone! It's been a while since I've been able to get back with photoshop. The anniversary of the day me and the wife met is October 21, so I am trying to get our first picture together fixed up. Her mother took it as the sun was setting so the lighting was horrible so the image is very noisy. Also, the brightness and contrast is terrible. I don't know where to begin. I did a levels adjustment layer using the "restoring an old photograph" tutorial and it helped, but it also made the noise more noticeable and it still looked bad. How should I go about this one?

[cristiano007]

Please, post a bigger version to tryout. And look at my Dark Prom thread in the Photo Restauration forum for a similar problem, we all got interesting results...

[timmy1729]

Hi cristiano007! I will definitely check that thread out. The picture I attached should show up as 518x800, which is the largest I could have and still get it under the 100k limit. If you click on the attachment, it should bring up a flash window. If you click on that picture, it should open the picture in a new tab at full size(518x800). I tried it at home and here at work and all was fine.

[0lBaldy]

These links may help you in posting much larger pictures here:

Attaching Files or Images to Threads or Posts

Size and quality for Attached Images!!

After you post your less than 100K version here, you could also post a larger version at ImageVenue.com (3Meg max, free) or pixentral.com (2Meg max, free) or photobucket.com (1 Meg max free,... 5 Meg PRO)-- then post a link here in this thread to the site that is hosting your larger version.

This is the best I could do on the small one

[timmy1729]

Ok, sorry about that. Here is the full size one:
http://picasaweb.google.com/timothy....44756934355874
Click on 'Download' at the top of the picture to get the full size file.

[Verywierd]

You didn't show us what you got with your repairs, so I don't know if this is any improvement over your efforts.

After the usual histogram fixes, I tuned colour saturation and contrast, painted in some green on the grass. Then ran it through two different noise filters and manually d&b out the worst of the remaining noise "clumps" and spots on the skin.

The full size version is here if you want it:

http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.p...mnbn0j&thumb=5

[timmy1729]

Here is what I could do so far. I did a Levels adjustment layer and did each channel separately. Then I copied merged layers and pasted. I ran the Surface Blur on that layer and added a black mask and whited out me and the wife so we could look a little smoother. So, any suggestions for this? I am thinking that I might just want to make it look like an oil painting or pastel drawing so the noise won't be such an issue.

[Verywierd]

If you really want to be rid of the grain, you could combine painting with the dreaded "blur smoothing" techniques. I did a quick test and the grain is even enough to smooth out quite well. Of course fine detail will need to be painted back.

[timmy1729]

What blur smoothing techniques are you referring to? Is there a tutorial for that?

[Verywierd]

The same smoothing techniques people use for skin. Anything from simple gaussian blur to degrunge. If they can remove pores and pimples, they can remove grain and noise too. Same problem though, you gain smoothness at the expense of detail and texture.

[Elkhornsun]

Why spend hours trying to fix a severely underexposed image. If it is a recent picture and everyone is still alive why not take another picture in decent light? When the lighting is bad outdoors go indoors next time.

When you boost the EV for an underexposed image 2 stops as this image needs you are likely to increase by 4x the apparent noise. When in doubt with digital it is better to overexpose 0.5 to 1 EV.

[timmy1729]

Hi, Elkhornsun! That is true about being easier dealing with a slightly overexposed image. The reason I'm fixing this one up is that it is the first picture that me and my wife took together when we were first dating. It just has sentimental value for us. I'm not expecting perfect results, but I do want to make it look as nice as Photoshop will allow.