Problem Restoring Color to Damaged Slide

TwoChimney · #1 07-10-2007, 07:38 PM

Image AA007 is from a 35mm slide made Dec 1958 in north Alabama. Unfortunately it spent several years in a Houston, Tx attic. Image AA007A is the progress made so far to restore the color.

It appears to me the red channel is badly damaged. Used the blue channel in the Apply Image filter to restore the red, 40% opacity with multiply blending mode. Then found the white and black points using a levels adjustment layer. The bush behind the boy on the right remains green all year and is about the right color. There is a large cedar tree in the background which should be a dark green. The grass is dormant and I think it is close to the right color. The boys are wearing dennim jeans. The rabbit should have more gray as should the box, the sky has a red cast and the hill in the background should have more of a green tint because it was largely covered with pine trees. However, the porch post between the two boys has about the right color (which is where the white point resides) as does the brick as I remember.

Right now I am at a loss as to how to proceed to remove the color cast. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, even if I need to start from the beginning.

Thanks
Morris

Britsdad · #2 07-10-2007, 09:26 PM

Morris, welcome to RetouchPRO
Try this...add a new blank layer above the image and fill with 50% grey, change the blend to "difference" and then add a "threshold" adjustment layer, move the slider at the bottom all the way to the left, then bring it back until you see the first signs of the image breaking thru', put on a colour sample mark at that point (that is the grey point) then cancel the "threshold" layer and deleate the 50% grey layer, add a curves layer and use the grey point selector to set grey point at the indicated place. This should get you somewhere near the colours you want.
Hope this helps a little....John

DCobb · #3 07-10-2007, 10:52 PM

My try. Ran this throu a 3rd party filter. A five second fix.

dc

Curious about John's method so gave it a try. Second picture is the results.

albatrosss · #4 07-10-2007, 11:06 PM

Using Levels adjusted each channel. Then sampled the color cast and filled a new layer with this color. Inverted this new layer and blended. Then made some adjustments to finalize color.

TwoChimney · #5 07-11-2007, 06:17 AM

I applied John's method to the layer where I reconstructed the red channel. I think the results are improved. Interestingly enough the white and black points are basically in the same place. I did do a bit of color replacement to the legs and removed some green artifacts. Am still thinking about the best way to remove the red and/or magenta cast from the sky. Otherwise, I am reasonably pleased with the results.

Thanks
Morris

TwoChimney · #6 07-11-2007, 06:34 AM

The reworked version failed to load on the previous post.

Morris

Britsdad · #7 07-11-2007, 08:53 AM

Morris,
You could try Swampy's tute for fixing a "blown out sky" here....
http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/rp-...n-out-sky.html
John

TwoChimney · #8 07-11-2007, 07:13 PM

Thanks everyone for your help. The final product of our labors is posted below. I'm declaring this one finished and turning to the next challenge. Fortunately for me my mother, uncle and grandmother took a lot of photos and collected a lot. I am blessed with a pictorial history of our family to before the beginning of the 20th century.

Thanks again. I will be back for more advice.

Morris

Britsdad · #9 07-11-2007, 07:23 PM

Hiya Morris,
Much better, nice job, you may want to remove the mark on the boys right cheek, who's holding the rabbit. (but then again you could go on forever

)
Regards....John

Kraellin · #10 07-11-2007, 10:35 PM

this image raises an issue that's been on my mind lately. we, as restorers, tend to want to make the very best image we can. but, there's a bit of a possible problem there. if the image wasnt a good image when it was taken, we still tend to want to make the image a good image, as if it had been taken perfectly to begin with. but, that's not really a restorer's job.

this posted image is a prime example of this. more than likely, from what i can tell, this was not a good image even when it was new. so, what do you do? do you just do the restore, taking the image back to just a mediocre shot or do you take it to the next level and make it as good as you can, even in light of the poor photography to begin with?

so, here's my take on it. the first image posted here is a basic restore. a lot of the highlights were blown out. the faces were blown out and so on. then age or whatever has turned everything red. well, the blown out areas were just poor photography, so, i mostly ignored that to start. i just wanted to see what the orignal shot looked like.

the second image is the restored image taken another step, fixing some of the blown out areas.

but, it's an interesting question. do you just restore to the original values or do you attempt to take things to that next level?

Britsdad · #11 07-12-2007, 10:00 AM

Craig, good question
Personally I think if the photo is similar to the one above, then why not get it as good as is possible? just because it was "bad" in the first place it doesn't mean it has to stay bad (does it?) What happens if the snap was taken in poor light? does it have to stay "wrong" when it can be "fixed"? after all it's still just a snap, it's not as tho' it would be changeing the world.
Now, if it was a historical document, and say you added things into it (say a helicopter, just because you liked them

) then it would be wrong, but I say "get the image as good as you can with the information that is there".
This could do with another thread starting because I can see this going further!
Regards.....John

Kraellin · #12 07-12-2007, 11:33 PM

britsdad,

i was thinking of this more if you were a professional charging for the service. do you stop at the restored stage and charge only for that or do you take it to that next step and just automatically include that in your charges or do you stop at the restore and then contact the customer?

a simple example of this is, a customer comes in and says, 'i want this restored'. now, i'm sure most of you have run into situations where someone says one thing, but means another. so, they say they want it restored, but what they really want is a pristine, professionally shot photograph. in other words, they want the restore and the extras. they're just assuming the 'extras' are part of the restore job.

now, if you estimate the job of restoring as taking 2 hours, let's say, and tell the customer that, and they say fine and then come back for the finished product and it's only been restored but not the extra, they are likely to be quite disappointed. so, do you automatically include the extras in the estimate, just do the restore estimate but tell them it can be taken further and ask if they want that also or do you do something else?

and yes, this could develop into a longer thread and may indeed need its own thread.

Alison · #13 07-13-2007, 07:37 AM

Hi All,

I'm new, but thought I'd have a quick go at this before bedtime. The results are attached.

As per the discussion above about how far we should go with restoration, I think it is important to remember that colour from the 60's, 70's etc., was a lot different than it is today. Do we stick to the original, or try and put older photos into todays colour spectrum - I think they look better left in the original spectrum.

Britsdad · #14 07-13-2007, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kraellin

britsdad,

do you stop at the restored stage and charge only for that or do you take it to that next step and just automatically include that in your charges or do you stop at the restore and then contact the customer?

do you automatically include the extras in the estimate, just do the restore estimate but tell them it can be taken further and ask if they want that also or do you do something else?

Craig,
If I were a pro, I don't think I would have thought about not going to "the next step" I would have just assumed that's what the customer wanted, unless they specifically ask differently.
I have done little odds and sods for friends (as you must have seen on this forum) and the buzz it gives me when they see the full (next step included) restore is amazing. You wouldn't get that if you "just restored" it.
Going further, surely this must be a question you would ask a client before you start the restore/retouch, if you were doing it for a living, isn't it?
Regards.......John
Edit....sorry Alison

Got a bit carried away there...welcome to RetouchPRO, nice job, and I agree with you, old photo's look better as "old photo's", but do the people who want a restore agree, or do they want it to look as good as it can possibly be, "next step" included?

BobJones · #15 07-13-2007, 12:25 PM

In response to Craig's issue, goals are situational. If you are trying to achieve a historically accurate restoration, you have one set of goals. If you are restoring for yourself or a friend for the family album, you have another. A professional must satisfy the desires of the client whose desires must come first.

Before I was able to do my own restorations, I had some professionally done. The restorer asked a lot of questions and we had a clearly defined scope of work before anything was done.