Can't Fix Blur with Unshake, Focus Magic, or PS

[dalerausch]

I have tried Unshake, Focus Magic, and variations on the Sharpen tool in Photoshop, but cannot find the right settings to fix the blur on this picture. The background elements are unimportant, I am trying to improve the quality on the 3 people in the front of the picture.

The best I did was with Focus Magic and the Fix Motion Blur option at 20px, but that also causes elements such as the watch and the shirt pattern to bleed into the surrounding areas.

The original hi-res image is available at this link:
http://www.masterfrankstkd.com/image.jpg

If anyone could point me to the right settings on these tools (or other tools), I would be grateful.

Dale Rausch

[0lBaldy]

Dale Rausch, Welcome to RetouchPRO Hope you enjoy your stay here and make lots of friends. Poke around, ask questions, have fun!

A link to the higher resolution Picture might help get a better response

If you want to post a larger resolution that is over 100K then you can host your image elsewhere and attach a link in the thread.
Other Hosts if you do not have your own site: ImageVenue.com (3Meg max, free) pixentral.com (2Meg max, free) photobucket.com (1 Meg max free, 5 Meg PRO) mediafire.com (100 Meg per file, free) post a link in the thread to the site that is hosting the larger image.

[dalerausch]

Thank you for the warm welcome! Per your suggestion, I have edited my original post to include a link to the high res image and removed the low res attachment.

[slash-5]

The image has motion blur and is out of focus. Not much you can do here.

[dalerausch]

Thank you for the feedback. I'm not an expert by any means, and I was able to achieve some degree of success myself with Focus Magic, but it caused other elements to distort. I think with the right settings in the right program, the image can be improved (at least somewhat). I'm open to ideas.

[holgaman]

Originally Posted by dalerausch

Thank you for the feedback. I'm not an expert by any means, and I was able to achieve some degree of success myself with Focus Magic, but it caused other elements to distort. I think with the right settings in the right program, the image can be improved (at least somewhat). I'm open to ideas.

Use layers. Apply Focus Magic or whatever works best for most of the image, cover that layer with a black layer mask and paint in with a white brush wherever you do want the effect. The distorted areas you don't want to see will remain hidden.

[dalerausch]

I will give it a shot! Thank you.

[0lBaldy]

I should have mentioned that your first image was fine because we always want posters to attach an under 100K version here so the thread remains useful in the future, regardless of external links.

I just used Photoshop

cropped
Levels
tried to bring out some details by using High Pass and Gaussian
blended in a light sketch
tried a Fake Smudge to harden things some

Not much better or maybe no better at all, but here is my try

~ ~ Original ~ ~ ~ ~ My Try~ ~

[dalerausch]

Actually, this is an improvement. I definitely think your version brings out the details much better. Thank you for your detailed reply and for the Photoshop steps. I will attempt to replicate this on the full resolution version.

[Cupcake]

Here is another try. It was done in Raw.

Large image:
http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/1716/3people.jpg

[dalerausch]

Cupcake, thanks for the idea, I never thought about removing the background entirely in that way.