Image Help - - White-out conditions

dc57 · #1 03-03-2005, 04:59 PM

Hello everyone,

I am having a heck of a time with this picture. I can't seem to do anything with the man on the right without getting too much contrast or making it too dark. I'm using Photoshop 7. The quality of the picture was terrible to start with and this problem isn't making it any easier to restore. Is there something I can do with channels or does the picture need to have color information?
Thanks in advance for your help.

Don

Gary Richardson · #2 03-03-2005, 06:15 PM

Hi Don, haven't had a go yet with your picture, but from 1st impressions I'd say there's little you can do to improve the blown out whites. From their very nature they are difficult to deal with, as they contain no real pixel data, they are in effect just pure white. Darkening the pixels will just make them grey, it will not restore picture info that is'nt there. Best bet is to paste on detail from another picture if you have one.

Legacy~Art · #3 03-03-2005, 07:00 PM

I wonder if you could get a picture of this chap in a shirt that is clearer then add it to the original, or find a picture like this one on the net and super impose the shirt over your picture, as i think the whiteness is too much, just my opinion as i am learning here.

I have a filter program called filter unlimited 2.0 if it was possible i would add it in the forum, but i have no idea how to or how big the program is.

Just adding this picture to show you what the filter can do, having to resize it to fit the forum as made the couple alittle bit wider...Sorry!

dc57 · #4 03-03-2005, 08:15 PM

Thank you Gary and Legacy~Art for your quick responses.

I am not surprised that there's not much I can do with the picture. You both suggested pasting in from another photo and I had not thought of that. I'll give that a try. He is a relative of mine so, maybe I can come up with another picture of him to work with. I also downloaded the demo version of filters unlimited so, I can give that a try too.

Thank you again for your help. I'll post the results if anything works.
Take care
Don

Legacy~Art · #5 03-03-2005, 08:16 PM

We look forward to seeing your final result!

cardmnal · #6 03-03-2005, 08:46 PM

I look forward to see what you come up with as well as I don't think t my solution was too hot.

I duplicated the background layer.
inverted the image.
adjusted levels to increase the contrast.
I then selected the white (inverted from black) with magic wand and selected similar.
I deleted the white.
Made a layer mask out of this inverted layer.
Used a brush set at very light opacity to paint out some of the white.
I was able to add a little texture to the shirt this way as well.

Wasn't the greatest but someone with a little more patience than me could probably do a better job.

Of course if you can find that other photo and...

cardmnal · #7 03-03-2005, 08:48 PM

hmmm, it looked better before I uploaded it

Legacy~Art · #8 03-03-2005, 09:00 PM

Hey don't beat yourself up that is a really good attempt, well i just had a thought, if all else fails take all the attempts and super-impose them ontop of each other and change the opacity etc, might work for you, good luck!

dc57 · #9 03-04-2005, 05:20 AM

Thanks for your efforts and ideas cardmnal, That's quite an improvement. I'm going to take a crack at it again this weekend when I have more time. I will try to find another picture to borrow from.
Again, I appreciate everyone's help and suggestions with this.
Thanks
Don

Flora · #10 03-04-2005, 07:12 AM

Hi everybody,

Don,

don't have anything to add to what Gary said ... if there are no details, no matter what you do, you'll just darken the whites to greys .... I suggest the same as Legacy~ 'borrow' the shirt (and arms' details) from another picture ....

Quote:

Originally Posted by dc57

.....without getting too much contrast or making it too dark

Increasing contrast is one of the last things I'd do for this image even if faded .... Too strong a contrast is, in my opinion, the main problem of this picture (I'm talking about when it was actually taken....) ... What should be done is balancing lights (when possible) and shadows trying to retain as many details as possible ....

In my attachment, I've worked on the shadow only using the Curves to balance them ....

cardmnal,

You really did the best that could be done !!!
Without 'borrowing' parts from another picture I really don't think anyone would get different/better results than yours!!!

Legacy~Art · #11 03-04-2005, 07:27 AM

Flora your very clever at this, that picture is superbly done! I am sure Don will be very happy to see it.

dc57 · #12 03-04-2005, 07:41 PM

Thank you, Flora for your efforts. that's a huge difference from the original. It looks great! You are truly amazing. Forgive me for asking, but, can you go into a bit more detail about how you used the shadows and curves with this? I have not used that option before.

Thank you all for your help.
Don

TylerRB · #13 03-04-2005, 08:39 PM

Sorry if this isn't what you are looking for. Perhaps just a differnt approach to consider.

First, I used the lasso to isolate the man's shirt (sloppily like), and copied it to it's own layer.
Then, on the "Shirt" layer I Rendered Clouds and Difference Clouds and adjusted the levels to be a bit whiter, followed by the Render Fibers filter.
Finally, I changed the layers Blend Mode to darken and lowered the opacity to 25%.

What this does is simulate a bit of shadow ( folds? ) within his shirt that I think helps break up the contrast and adds a bit of texture. Of course, as mentioned before, if you overlayed an actual image of a shirt with texture and shadow than all the better.

T

Flora · #14 03-05-2005, 05:49 AM

Legacy~, dc57,

thank you so much for your great comments!!!

Here is how I did it:

Duplicated the background, named it 'Mask', inverted it (Ctrl+I), and used the Levels on it to get an acceptable mask ... (attachment 1).
Still working on the 'Mask' Layer, press (Ctrl+Alt+~) to select its luminosity.
With the selection still active (marching ants), click on the 'eye' at the left of the Mask Layer to make it invisible ... after which click on 'activate' the background Layer, press Ctrl+J to copy the selection to its own Layer and name it 'ShadowMask'

At this point you should have 3 Layers, from the bottom:
1) Background.
2) ShadowMask.
3) Mask.

Activate the 'ShadowMask' Layer and run a light Filter>Blur>Motion Blur on it to minimize the 'lines' (adjust Layer Opacity)
Create a Curves Adjustment Layer and apply the values as in attachment 2.
With a soft black brush (Opacity 40-100%) paint over the parts you'd like to restore to the original or nearly there .... (adjust Ajustment Layer's Opacity)
Merge Visible. (the action for merging 'visible' without losing the underlying 'steps' can be downloaded here).

My final Layers' Palette: attachment 3.

P.S. the action for creating a Shadow Maks can be downloaded here.

Hope this helps.

dc57 · #15 03-08-2005, 04:52 AM

Flora and TylerRB,
Thank you for the step by step instructions. They will be a big help to me. I have found another picture that I can take a shirt from. When I get time I will try to transfer it over and let you all have a look at it. I'm sure it won't look as good as what's been done already but, maybe I'll get lucky.
Thanks and take care
Don