Purple Mom

lurch · #1 07-22-2007, 02:43 PM

This badly discolored snapshot of my mother was taken in the 1950s. I've been fighting with it for years, literally, trying to get the colors back to something resembling normal. It's not a good photo - never was - but it's my Mom! The second image is my own latest best effort - still a long way from good. Surely some of you can tell me how to do better with that awful magenta shift. Michael (Graphic23)?

Carole

Charlene5 · #2 07-22-2007, 03:12 PM

Lurch!!

I'm happy to offer the following that I picked up from a book somewhere. It works for almost any sort of color cast.

I made a copy of you photo. Using the copy I went to Filter-Blur-Average. What you'll have is a pink picture

Go back to the original and do a Levels adjustment. Do the white and black adjustments as normal. Click on the middle dropper - the gray one - and click on your pink picture. About 75% of the pink vanished for me..

Did a Ctrl/shift/alt E and made a new level with the changes. Used the Auto Color filter. Finished up with a green (the opposite of red on the color wheel) photo filter at 30%.

I'm sure that someone who knows what they're doing will have some suggestions to refine it more. I still see pink but a lot of it is gone?

Cheers,

MJ

Charlene5 · #3 07-22-2007, 03:15 PM

Well I tried to correct the picture but I still see the wrong one. I think my mind is failing

lurch · #4 07-22-2007, 03:55 PM

Thanks, MJ. That's an approach I hadn't tried in all this time, and it makes a significant improvement with little effort.

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chillin · #5 07-22-2007, 04:39 PM

It is a very difficult picture. I had to rely heavily on the iCorrect PictoColor plugin. First I applied Charlene5's method, then played with plug ins & a patching tool.

lurch · #6 07-22-2007, 06:34 PM

That came out very nice, Chillin. I wish I could remember what color those walls were. I do know the piano was a wood finish that they called 'blond' then.

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chillin · #7 07-22-2007, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lurch

...I do know the piano was a wood finish that they called 'blond' then.

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Maybe something like that.

lurch · #8 07-22-2007, 07:56 PM

I like that color a lot, but the your original effort was very much like what I remember the piano being. Sorry if my words implied you hadn't got it right - you had!

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byRo · #9 07-22-2007, 07:59 PM

Seems that the walls are the same colour as you mother's skin.

This is one of those that would be easier just to paint the colours in, rather than trying to "fix" them.

Rô

Charlene5 · #10 07-22-2007, 08:52 PM

Dear Carole,

I fiddled with your mom some more - well not with her, but her magenta rendering- and reached the point of diminishing returns. Instead of folding the laundry (it can wait) I colorized your mom with a memorable 50's color scheme. If you look closely you'll see one of those "modern atomic" patterns on the lovely <cough> aqua blue curtains. We had those AND a pink wall and some of the most hideous wallpaper I've ever clapped eyes on. I'm sure it's in the background of some Christmas pictures. I'll have to post it for you to enjoy

Anyhow, here's your Mom back snug in the 50's. I enjoyed doing it!

MJ

Graphics23 · #11 07-23-2007, 05:06 AM

Hi Carole!

Sorry to be jumping in so late in the game. But you posted just after my play time was over yesterday.

Here's my first take. This was done with a curves adjustment layer. I was able to get reasonable skin tone and seem to have found the blond wood tone you mention. If you like I'll save the curves settings and send them to you.

This is a tricky one. The color cast is not consistent from shadow to highlight. I seem to be introducing a green tinge which I don't like. Was there a lot of green in the room? Is that a Christmas tree to the right?

I'll take another crack at it tonight. However, I think you should consider rescanning the original. There's very little detail in the dress, it's pretty much completely plugged.

You should be able to compensate for the color cast and retain far more shadow detail with a better scan. Don't try to make a scan that faithfully reproduces the original. Play with the scanner settings and leave some room at the endpoints, particularly in the shadows. Also, a little shift of the blue channel midpoint should help kill the yellow cast.

Chillin: great job. That plugin really seems to help.

Best regards,

Michael

Graphics23 · #12 07-23-2007, 06:39 AM

I forgot to mention, scan in 16-bit then apply your curves. Once you've established full range and correct color you can convert to 8-bit to repair the damage.

Good luck,

Michael

albatrosss · #13 07-23-2007, 08:55 AM

Don't really know what I did but I took quite a few liberties. Did mostly with curves and Hue and Saturation.

lurch · #14 07-23-2007, 11:45 AM

Rô -

Quote:

This is one of those that would be easier just to paint the colours in, rather than trying to "fix" them.

That had crossed my mind . . . but I've got this bulldog streak in me. Thanks for looking at the image, for your tweaks, and for your advice. May well just go that route in the end.

MJ - Charming 50s portrait! Have you seen where Formica is now releasing a 'retro' boomerang laminate pattern? And we thought we'd seen the last of that stuff.

Michael -

Quote:

This is a tricky one.

Yup.

I had tried curves in just about every color space. Yours got good skin, and the piano, but I don't remember the walls being that dark. I had the same problem with the green cast. Look forward to more of your magic.

I will go back and re-scan the photo. 'Fraid that dress is just as plugged in the original, however, thanks to teenage Brownie flash high-contrast photography technique.

albatross - Nice. Wish you could remember how you got there. Walls may be more saturated than I remember, but when compromises have to be made they're not the important part of the image.

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manta1900 · #15 07-23-2007, 01:00 PM

That's a better place to start....