WWII Portrait Restoration - OPR

[klassylady25]

And yet another work in progress. Feel free to jump in!!! LOL

[pindaro]

good luck buddy!

[Gary Richardson]

Feel free to jump in!!

Thanks for the kind invitation, but I think not this time.

Have fun, and count your hair now, I suspect there'll be a good deal less of it by the time you've finished with this one.

[klassylady25]

Originally Posted by pindaro

good luck buddy!

It's good luck 'Ma'am!!!


I will and my hair will still be all here.

[HroadhogD1]

Sorry this is the best I could do.

[Kraellin]

hehe, cute, hroadhog

candy, i've worked on this a little bit and i'm finding that airbrushing is the most useful tool so far. i set this at a very low opacity, like 2-3% and spray over an area and build up. all on a blank layer, of course. color pick often so as not to get that pasty look and you might even set the density down quite a bit to leave/give some texture.

i'd also suggest some uniform searches on google. parts of that clothing are just going to be complete guesses otherwise.

obviously, it's a very tricky image but i think you're going to be surprised just how nicely it can clean up, especially if you can find a matching uniform.

craig

[Vikki]

Looks like you have some work on you hands.
First thoughts, without seeing the original:
The background should be repaired, not replaced.

[klassylady25]

Thought I'd fill in the request for the original.......

[Kraellin]

candy,

been working on this a bit and thought i'd post what i have so far and see what you think. it's definitely a tricky one. havent even tried to do the uniform other than a bit of rough on the hat.

this is all clone, push and airbrushing. no filters.

craig

[irshgrlkc]

I did a search for some photos you could use as a guide if need be and found this one. The link will take you to the large version.

I found the first photo at the library of congress that may serve as a great photo to borrow the uniform from if you decide to go that route (might want to look around as there may be other photos you could use)...

Library of Congress

A google search turned this one up...

Another Picture

This looks like a tough one and WAY beyond me. Good Luck!

Kerry

[klassylady25]

Today, I closed the photo and will rest my eyes and do more reading on the hows.... The photo links were great... well one was, the second didn't work but the first did and would love the link directly. I'll research there too.

Again thank you both and we'll keep on keeping on!!

[Littlecoo]

Streuth! I hope you like a challenge!
I poured over the library of congress also (for a loooong time- I love old photos) and noticed many different styles of the full dress uniform and I found this whilst not an 'ideal' photo, it looks to me closest to what your Humphrey is wearing without the stripes perhaps (he also looks to be not wearing his jacket...maybe?)
Wow... It's 1:00am already!? I'm off...catchya later!

[Kraellin]

littlecoo, yup, i think that's the one! excellent! thank you

i think i'm going to start over now that i've got the original and a good representation of the uniform.

craig

[klassylady25]

That particular uniform was made from tropical worsted wool so not all things fit. I was able to find a few examples... the closest to what we see now is Army khaki. My son tells me that the USMC has specific ways their clothes are creased thus I steared clear of those examples.

My work is getting to where I want it to be... though I have a long long long way yet to go. My goal is to have it look close to the old photos as it can. I have an ear in place. Now am going to close my eyes and dream happy things.

[klassylady25]

And not to quickly either.... LOL

[Kraellin]

candy,

tricky one, isnt it i keep thinking this would have made a great image for the monthly contest.

i've put mine aside for now. let me know if you want any help.

craig

[klassylady25]

Tricky....... Um is that understated? LOL

I've been working from the bottom up - layer after layer and piece by piece. It is the only way to do it.

I played with the colors last night but with a storm going here at home... I lost the pic twice.... I don't think it was the storm, it was a cashe problem........ I don't have the cashe for a bigger computer!!

But starting it in grayscale was better. As for help... thank you, all opinions are welcome. I think that this is my whale and I hope it's not Moby Dick!

Hugz

[Kraellin]

hehe, yes, i'm known in other circles for understatement at times

yup, layer by layer is the only way i see of doing it as well. i've started to develop a discipline of taking just one section and doing that on its own layer, then another section on another layer. sounds like you're doing the same. much better than trying to do it all on one layer and having to go back through 300 undos to fix

which uniform did you end up using?

grayscale, hmmm, interesting. might be easier that way for the cleanup and then go back and add color back at the end?

i'll also volunteer this; i quit working on mine because i felt this was one you really wanted to do yourself and that by posting one of my own it would be too much of a 'one-upmanship' thing and i didnt want to do that, regardless of if mine was 'better' or 'worse'. yes, i posted the one early on, but sort of got that this was 'klassylady's project' and that you didnt want other postings. so, the volunteering is, if you do want some smaller area specifically looked at and posted, let me know. sometimes you just want to do the crossword puzzle yourself, with no help

also, i mentioned in my first post that airbrush might be the tool of choice here, but after you posted the original, i think clone would be the right tool on that...mostly.

craig

[klassylady25]

Originally Posted by Kraellin

yup, layer by layer is the only way i see of doing it as well....

which uniform did you end up using?

grayscale, hmmm, interesting. might be easier that way for the cleanup and then go back and add color back at the end?

'klassylady's project'

Layer by layer is the only way to go and like you, I am learning to keep to a formula that will get the best outcome "consistantly". I've always loved your work but you are right, no matter what this is a project that I've got to work on for OPR. I've been frustrated because this is the first of "difficult" work that's got me stumped. I've learned to work in PS7 just but practice, practice and more of the same, not to mention reading a lot of good things and seeing/studying the things I've read here and other places. I'll get it even if I have to walk away from the puzzle every now and then.

As for grayscale, someone suggested it and it's working out well. Lastly, my dear, the uniform was the one of that day. It was called Tropical Worsted. I have a friend that served in the Army and that uniform was still used in the 50's.

I will end with saying this..... please don't stop teaching/communication. You might see something that I can use and don't know. You're very welcome to pitch in with a "have you tried"..... I promise I dont' know everything YET.

Have a wonderful day.

[Kraellin]

candy,

ok, you mentioned starting from the bottom and working your way up. i dont know if you meant that literally or figuratively but if you meant it literally you might try going a slightly different route. i wasnt too specific when i said i worked on a section at a time so what i meant was take a certain area, in this image maybe the hat, and work on that. put all your work on that on one layer. it's sort of like working on cell animation where they'll do one arm as a cell and then another part as another cell. there's a real advantage in this in that you can 'flip' through the cells and see how each affects the overall. for us in graphic editors the 'cells' are simply the layers and you just turn each on and off after doing some work to see how it affects things. i'll get 5 or 6 of these stacked up and just sit there and flip each on and off and try different combinations to see if one stands out as flawed more than another. it's a good way also to 'get a fresh look'.

so, you might have a layer that is the hat work, another that is the nose work, another the eyes and so on across the boards. if, somewhere down the line, you decide a given layer really isnt what you want you can either just turn it off and do another of that area or even delete it to get it out of the way. you can even fix a given layer by working into it again as if from scratch. i rarely delete them as there might be something i can still use but i think you get the idea. thus, your workflow and entire project becomes one of compositing all of your layers.

this is a discipline i still work on myself. i rarely, completely, 100% follow this, but i'm working on it it's a lot less frustrating to reject just one layer than ALL your work.

I've always loved your work...

boy, always love hearing that. flatter me some more and i'll follow you anywhere thank you

re the uniform, i guess i asked that wrong. what i meant to ask was, what image did you get it from? what picture was your guide for the uniform?

I will end with saying this..... please don't stop teaching/communication.

again, thank you and one last thing i'll throw in here regarding this, we're working in different programs, you ps7 and me psp 10, so if there's ever anything i say, some term or something you dont understand, please let me know. i can usually translate that into photoshop if it's a specific psp thing.

and most of all, do have some fun while you're doing this. i find glueing my hair back in works for me

craig

[klassylady25]

The final version has been sent to OPR, still because of all of your suggestions I wanted to share it with the best people I know.

Thank you all, especially you Kraellin, for your words and to my son for his military expertise. Daniel helped me position things properly on the uniform. And to my partner, Larry Edwards, for his knowledge and help.

Hugs to you all!

[Kraellin]

you're welcome. i hope they appreciate and enjoy it

craig

[irshgrlkc]

I bookmarked this thread because I'm from a long line of military veterans (so the restoration of this picture touched my heart) and I wanted to see how you progressed. Being a beginner at this sort of thing it was really informative to see how someone can go from point A to point B.

One of my biggest challenges is that I have a hard time seeing how things progress. I can't look at an image and say, "oh yes, I'll just add this layer and this layer, a few more steps, and viola a finished picture (it's also probably the reason I can't draw at all - I can't see the steps needed to get a final image with shadows, etc.." So anywho, what I wanted to say was, thanks for sharing your work as you progressed, it was really helpful for me.

I'm sure the owner of the image will be thrilled with your work. I love how you did the eyes, they really bring the soldier to life (and to me are the most important part of an image like this). Well done on this VERY tough image.

Kerry