Newbie needs critque

[Sheri Medford]

This looks nice. I have printed all the directions out and when Flora sends her details I will start from scratch and try everyones suggestions. This is a great way to learn. Thanks again. Sheri

[Flora]

Hi,

thank you all very much for your kindness!!!

Bart, ...

Going through the problems I saw in this picture, what I did is:

1) The picture is very faded so consistency had to be added...

* I duplicated the background and set the duplicate's Blending to 'Multiply'

2) the contrast had to be increased...

* I duplicated the 'Multiply Layer' and changed its Blending to Overlay

* Not completely happy yet, I added a Brightness/Contrast Adjustment Layer (Brightness +41; Contrast +43)... This made some areas of the picture like windows etc. much too light so I first painted black over those areas on the AL's mask, then decreased the AL Opacity to 86% and changed its Blending to 'Luminosity' as to not increase the already very strong bluish/cyan cast of the original.

3) the bluish/cyan cast had to be removed...

* If possible, what I usually try first is the old 'Set Grey Point' trick ... meaning: if in the original I find an area or a point I can quite safely assume it could be grey, I create a Curves AL (or Levels .... they are the same for this purpose), select the 'Set Grey Point' Picker and simply click on the previously 'chosen' area or point. .... That's exactly what I did here .... I selected a point on the filing cabinet between Sheri's Mom's chin and shoulder and set the Grey Point there... Since the cast hadn't completely disappeared, I duplicated the Curves AL hiding the points that had become a tad too yellow by painting with a fuzzy black brush (Opacity 50%) on the duplicate's Layer Mask.

4) the colours had to be corrected

* Much better, but it still looked rather 'flat', so, I added a Selective Colors AL and tweaked the individual colours until I was satisfied.

* I created a Color Balance AL to increase the red in her hair ...

Originally Posted by Sheri Medford

Yes it is a Beehive hair style and it was very RED

5) shadows and spots had to be minimized or removed

* For this, and for selectively enhance areas of the picture, I used the "Blank Layers set to ..." method as described in my Tutorial

Finally, I used USM to slightly increase Contrast and Sharpness.

Snapshot of part of my workflow (Attachment 1).
Results after the different steps described here (Attachment 2).

[Sheri Medford]

Not only did your details help, but I am working through a Lynda.com tutorial on enhancing photos so I even understand what you are doing this time. I can't wait to try it.
Thanks.

[Kraellin]

Originally Posted by Sheri Medford

This looks nice. I have printed all the directions out and when Flora sends her details I will start from scratch and try everyones suggestions. This is a great way to learn. Thanks again. Sheri

thank you, sheri

btw, sheri, that image is cropped to an 8x10 standard for easy printing.

flora,

i'm curious. would you look at your finished pic and mine together and tell me what you see different? i see a difference but not quite sure how you got to where you got and why it's so different from mine. i think both look good, but the differences got me to wondering about them.

craig

[Flora]

Thanks Sheri! ... Glad I could be of help!

Graig,

... sorry, but I'm afraid I didn't understand your question ...
For what differences are there between your restoration (great by the way!!!) and mine I'm sure you have done what I did in the attachment ....
For how I got to my result .... I thought I had explained it ....

Glad to see you too "tried to fix things in smaller gradations rather than trying to fix it all at once." .... That's what I've been doing since always ... It can be very time consuming ... but, on the long run, I personally find it very rewarding ....

[Kraellin]

flora,

thanks

ok, we have some color differences, but that's not what i'm asking about. i think the best way to describe it is with an analogy. yours i would liken to something done by hollywood on film, where mine looks more like it was done with a video camera. it's an overall quality to the images. i suppose it could be yours are warmer and a bit softer, where mine seems a bit colder, i guess.

i did look at your write up but couldnt really figure what to attribute that quality to, that 'hollywood film' quality. it's a good look, btw.

craig

[Photomaster]

Hi Sheri,

You are off to a great start and you picked a great forum to learn the craft of retouching. I have only been coming around for a few months and I can't believe how much I have learned.

This image was a real challenge. To save time, I started with Bart's image. I used the Shadow and Highlight and the Exposure adjustments in CS2. I followed with selective blurs to the background and use of the smudge tool to smooth out some edges. The "mother of all Beehives" still needs some brush work to create hair strands and the arms could use some further color adjustment. However, a good example of the power that Photoshop has to rescue old photos.

[Sheri Medford]

Photomaster

I still haven't gotten to the part in photoshop CS2 where I have learned how and when to use highlights & shadows and the exposure. There seems to be so much to learn. I will go to that part of my Lynda tutorial and learn about them and try them. Thank you!