old photos need resto for anniversary present

[kawana]

Ok heres the thing, my parents 25th anniversary is coming up so i am doing a slideshow of them from babies till now, i have a few pictures that are nice but need some restoration. Ive tried but i dont know my way around photoshop very well yet so i need some assistance, please do what you can, im not asking for a perfect picture but any improvement is awsome, thanks again.
Shawn


photos are at:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...a/scan0004.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...a/scan0002.jpg

thanks again

[DCobb]

I hope this helps. If you need a larger file size, I can e-mail it to you.

dc

[Gary Richardson]

Very quick job.

I'm a bit pressed for time at the moment, if you want details let me know.

[DCobb]

Can't really say that much has been done for this picture. Added the original to the right of my picture for comparison.

dc

[solitear]

Hi Shawn....... just another version....

Beth

[zekeode]

Originally Posted by solitear

Hi Shawn....... just another version....

Beth

Wow. That's a really nice version. I have mostly edited only really old b/w family photos, and my color restoration skills could surely use some help. So, if you can tell some steps for what you did to that photo, and any plug-ins you used, i would highly appreciate it.

thanks

[kawana]

Originally Posted by solitear

Hi Shawn....... just another version....

Beth

wow..... thats truely amazing! Thank you so much, better than i could have hoped for I just need the soldier one if its salvagable, can someone take a crack at it perhaps? Thank again solitear

p.s. i just showed my mom and she actually cried lol, thats the only picture of her has a child and shes very grateful to you, thanks again.

[auroraskye]

I may be a party pooper, but I thought it was against the rules to come in and just blatently ask for restorations for free? I have asked for /tips/ but I am trying to actually restore family photos.. Forgive me if I am wrong. It's awfully generous of those who are offering.

[kawana]

sorry if it is against the rules, my problem is that there anniversary is coming up in 3 days and i dont know how to do this on my own, nor do i have the time to learn all this in 3 days, sorry again and thanks for your help people.

[solitear]

Hi Shawn...... what a good feeling and I'm so glad...... I felt drawn to your post since my husband and I just celebrated our 34th wedding anniversary Nov. 11..... ( I can email you the larger file if you'd like)

I know, if you're like me, as soon as this anniversary has passed you'll want to try all kinds of techniques for working with those photos...... so here goes.....

Image > Adjustments > Auto Color

Layer > New > Layer (Change the Blend mode here to Soft Light)

Image > Apply Image (Layer in this dialog box should be = Background, Channel = a, and Blending = Soft Light)

Image > Apply Image (Layer is still = Background, Channel = b, and Blending = Soft Light)

Now, you should see more pleasing skin color.........

Layer > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation (Adj. either more/less saturation)

Layer > Flatten Image

Ctrl + J to duplicate layer and begin using clone/heal tool to repair photo

After you're happy with your cleaned up version you can Flatten again...

At this point I also used the De-grunge skin tutorial by Ro (found in the tutorial section under photo retouching) to smooth your mother's face, arms & legs...

Flattened again

Ctrl + J and on the duplicate layer I used the color replacer tool to color over her dress to refresh the color.... Flattened again

Also, I used a color burn layer to darken the section of sofa that the flash brightened....... I think I also did a levels adjustment to sort of sharpen and intensify the colors a bit.....

Hope this doesn't sound like too much because the more you play with PS the more natural these things will be for you.... which is also why sometimes it's hard to remember step by step what we've done to a photo....

If something doesn't work right for you then I've probably forgotten something.... just let me know and we can figure it out together...... have fun and my congratulations to your parents!!!!

oxoxo
Beth

[Kraellin]

it's not 'against the rules'. anyone may volunteer to work on someone else's image they've posted that needs help. however, it IS encouraged that the person posting said picture is also trying to learn to do it themselves. it is also encouraged that anyone receiving help, whether they are learning or just looking for a freebie, make a contribution of some kind. you are also more likely to receive help if you are also attempting to do the work as well.

one such contribution would be to make a donation to the site. another might be to allow others to use your posted image in their portfolio and i'm sure others could find other ways of contributing. exchange is a good thing.

so, there's no rule against posting for a freebie. and a thank you and a bit of admiration are sometimes considered payment as well... though these rarely pay the bills

[nomi]

Adjusted the pic of soldiers. Very quick job and not the best it could be.

[kawana]

Thanks, already looks better, ill try to take a crack at it, but truthfully i dont know where to begin :S How would i go about reducing the brightness at the bottom?

[chillin]

Overall manipulation, a lot of neat image

[kawana]

Ok i took a shot at it. Suggestions on what else i could do?
If needed i can scan a copy of it at very high resolution.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...a/adjusted.jpg

I just need to know how to brighten the 2 people without brightening the haze at the bottom.