Photo Restoration - - Bill's Grandma, at a wedding in 1912

pctalent · #1 08-12-2006, 03:24 PM

Hello, Friends:
I just made a newbie post and I wanted to share the results of a project I did recently of my guitar player Bill's grandmother at a wedding in Fort Worth, Texas in 1912. I have serveral versions, but these 2 should show the basic stuff I did to "single her out" of the picture and now the family has a picture of Grandma by herself to cherish. Hope I do this right. If I don't, let me know and I'll fix it! Thanks, John
Before:
http://img2.glowfoto.com/images/2006...016031280T.jpg
After:
http://img2.glowfoto.com/images/2006...016071477T.jpg

Flora · #2 08-14-2006, 10:03 AM

Hi pctalent,

welcome to RP!!

The image you posted is very small (33.76 KB ... allowed are 100KB!) ... so it is very difficult to see the details ...

but, for what I can see, it is very well done (I guess you borrowed and pasted the 'missing' parts from somebody else in the same picture ...) ...

The only thing I'm not sure about is the half sleeve?/glove? on the new 'arm' ...

pctalent · #3 08-15-2006, 10:29 AM

Thanks, Flora...I was playing it low-key on the file-size; sure don't want to come barging in with big files...the arms and sleeve came from a lady who was standing on the right side of the picture, who turned out to be this person's sister. I explained that to the family and they were delighted that she had her sister's arms. Serendipity...anyway, those half-sleeves were to protect their arms carrying those flowers, from what I could tell...the stems from the flowers (they look like Chrysanthemums [sic?]) were wet and they probably had sap coming out of 'em? I have thought about softening the neckline of her dress, but by now the picture is framed and hanging in Bill's Mom's house...if it should get used again for anything I will do that. I'll make sure my images in the future are 100k...Thanks again and have a great day! John

Flora · #4 08-17-2006, 06:57 AM

Hi again,

thank you for your reply!

Quote:

Originally Posted by pctalent

sure don't want to come barging in with big files...

.. No barging in whatsoever ... It's always nice to be able to see the details of a great restoration!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by pctalent

.anyway, those half-sleeves were to protect their arms carrying those flowers

..Thank you for this information!! I'd never seen it before .... (I guess it shows my ignorance in the field...

)

Looking forward to seeing more of your work!!

pctalent · #5 08-17-2006, 08:29 AM

Many thanks for the compliment and reply, Flora...what was so interesting to me about that picture was the overall atmosphere of the setting. The picture was taken in a big house with 20-foot-high ceilings, and the wall behind the wedding party is a hanging backdrop that is a painted mural of an outdoor scene. To the right of the picture, the edge of the mural is visible. It was one of those pictures where the photographer has the black shroud over him and he's holding a tray of phosphorous and everybody has to freeze for 15-20 seconds while the photo exposes and then he sets off the flash (or was it the other way around?)...they were all stiff as boards except for the kids (ring bearers and flower girls), who moved and were slightly blurred in the original. I got a very moving look into the windows of these folks' souls...they're probably all gone by now...the person having the most fun was the lady whose arms I borrowed for Grandma's fix...her sister. She was relaxed and confidently giving a kind of easy-going grin at the camera. I don't usually get requests to do work like this. Most of what I do is motorsports concept presentations (mainly sponsorship graphic concepts to be applied to drag racing hot rods or body and aerodynamic changes to be evaluated and discussed by the builders of these cars) and flyers/online ads for bands and concerts in the Houston area. I'll be posting some of this stuff from time to time. Heck, I've been reading the threads and looking at what everybody's doing with retouching and it's been incredible how much I've learned from you folks. Thanks again, John

pctalent · #6 08-17-2006, 09:32 AM

Here is the original...I worked on this to try to get the file size down...hopefully the URL to the Glowfoto picture will show up. If it does show up here and the file is too big, let me know and I'll remove it. Thanks, John
http://img2.glowfoto.com/images/2006...726487596T.jpg