Need help with my restoration

[albatrosss]

I found an old prom photo from the 50's and tried to bring it back. You can see what I've done which, although improved, could really use a great deal more improvement. (As someone said "It may be better but it's not good")

Would appreciate some help. Not so much to restore the photo but to learn what steps to take in getting there. I have 3 or 4 others in the same condition that I would like to work on.

Thanks.

[Swampy]

You did a good job bringing back the color, Albatross.

[Charlene5]

Albatross,

Here's how I started:

1. Basic levels/color correction. You did a better job than I

2. I used Filters-Distort-Lens Correction. Use the little thing that looks like a level to straighten the picture. Find something that is supposed to be true vertical - I used the edge of the window. Press OK and Photoshop will correct the perspective and angle. Magic!

3. Ever heard of a Rod Stewart song called "Every Picture Tells a Story"? No matter I keep that in mind when looking over something that needs help. What story is this trying to tell? It's about the prom. We've got four teenagers all dressed up and I'd bet good money that one of those young men borrowed his dad's car (probably a 55 Ford) for the big night. The picture was taken by your grandmother with her Brownie Hawkeye. It is not the work of Ansel Adams and you're not desecrating it to do some cropping . I took out everything that distracted from the story. I'd consider changing the background as well because it's distracting as well.

Cheers,

MJ

[Charlene5]

I thought I sound a bit imperious in that last reply and I do apologize This is what I meant by replacing the background. It still could be grandma's living room but all the distraction of the flashbulb on glass is gone. I didn't do a good job of it - just wanted to give an idea of what I was preaching about

Cheers,

MJ