Comment from you Professionals would really help,,

[mytac]

Hey all..

I am still trying to learn and develop my skills base,, any comments on my latest attempt would be really appreciated. thanks.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h2...4614/mum33.jpg

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h2...614/mum33a.jpg

Here is another one I did to remove the colour from the bottom of the dress. Please dont laugh, I am still learning,,

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h2...4614/mum1b.jpg

Thanks in advace

Ian.

[philbach]

Well you have improved the original.

I took your retouched photo and rotated it 2.45 degrees counter clockwise.

I then used levels to increase the contrast.

I then sharpened the image.

[mytac]

I have a thing about Sharpening,,, I am not sure how to do it,,,, is there a way to sharpen the whole image ? or is it a pen tool ?

I use Photoshop CS2 for info,, as well as a few other apps... I never thought of rotating,, good point, I will remember that, thanks

Ian

[philbach]

Well using photoshop find the ruler tool and drag along a gutter or roof line. Next go to Image/Rotate Canvas/Arbitrary and it will give you some advice on how to rotate the image to make the selected line parallel with the top of your image.

Look under filter, sharpen and select unsharp mask and click amount around 100 and radius around three. Its better to sharpen too little rather than too much.

In your layers palette select a levels adjustment layer. Click the right white arrow while holding the option key Mac or Alt Key PC and drag to the left to find the white point of the image. Then click on the black left arrow while holding option/alt key and drag to the right until you see the black point of the image.

That stretches the luminosity of the image using the entire 0-128 grey level spectrum like a rubber band and helps the contrast of the image.

[Kraellin]

hi ian,

first, you'll get better responses if you put your two different images in different threads. putting both in one thread has a tendency for one or the other to be neglected/missed. it's ok, no rules broken or anything, but we do want to see all photos covered.

ok, and on your first image, the sea one, here's the main problem with that one... it's not your retouching, it's the image resolution and i'll show you why. look at my posted screenshot from being zoomed in in paint shop pro. notice the squares on the face. that's pretty low resolution. you want something higher so that you can get more of the detail of the original image.

now, a really good restorer could even work with that, but the point is, why, if there's something easier. so, if it's possible to get a higher resolution scan, that's what i'd do with that one first. if not, we'll talk

and on your second image, love it. you balanced out the lighting and contrast and cleaned the stain quite nicely. that's perfectly fine. you did exactly what you're supposed to do in a restore, bring it back to original quality (or better if you can without wrecking something ).

(and dont worry about having the two images in here. that was just for future reference.)

[TommyO]

Ian,
A good job with both. What Phil and Craig mentioned is good advise.

My opinion, the first (girl @ dock) one you did good removing cracks and discoloration. The overall tonality needs more work. Unfortunately, the image is was out of focus, so not much you can do to correct that. But, the final sharpening from a higher res image will help (as they mentioned).

The second, again good job with repairing. I think you may have gone just a smidge too far with the contrast. I happen to like some darker tones in there. Just my opinion.

So, it sounds like you're covering repair well, need more emphasis on tonality and sharpening. The thing to note is, usually you work on tonality first, then repair all those cracks and stains. So, examine your workflow and ensure you are comfortable with the order in which you are doing things.

Best of luck !

[mytac]

Thanks all for your help and advice.

I am really enjoying doing this work, there is a real sense of satisfaction and the response from people to what I have done is great. Thanks to all of you, I am learning and getting better, so thank you.

I will look at the tone and contrast issues, and will take onboard what you suggest. Is it OK if I continue to seek advice from you? I dont want to offend by keep asking for help.

Thanks again

Ian.

[TommyO]

Certainly, keep asking. We all enjoy advising others (sometimes too much ).

Best of luck !

[sergio2263]

Originally Posted by mytac

Hey all..

I am still trying to learn and develop my skills base,, any comments on my latest attempt would be really appreciated. thanks.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h2...4614/mum33.jpg

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h2...614/mum33a.jpg

Here is another one I did to remove the colour from the bottom of the dress. Please dont laugh, I am still learning,,

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h2...4614/mum1b.jpg

Thanks in advace

Ian.

Hi Ian,

I am sorry I hope you don't mind, I just couldn't resist this beautiful little girl, I was curious to see her in colour.

You are most welcome to the coloured version. Please do not hesitate to ask. I haven't colourized a black and white photo for a while, it was lovely working on your photo.

thanks

regards


helen

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3148/...42c648a1_o.jpg

[mytac]

Hey sergio2263

Thats great, thank you. I am interested in how you did it. What App did you do it with ?

Thank you very much for your efforts all the same, and if you get time to explain your process, I would be really pleased to hear itl.

Kindest regards

Ian,

[Flora]

Hi mytac!

Welcome to RetouchPRO from me too!!!

I really like your 'soft' approach to photo restoration!! No starting with over strong contrast, over blurring, smudging etc. ... just softly correcting and blending the corrections ... well done!!!

As Phil showed you, contrast can really make an image 'pop' .... but, like he did, be very careful to not destroy the details in shadows and highlight when increasing contrast.

Sharpening should be done as one of the last steps in restoration and follow Phil's advice on it...

..Its better to sharpen too little rather than too much.

Here you can read some tips on Restoration I've collected along the way ...

As for Colorizing .... well, Vikki, one of our members, is, in my opinion, one of the best in the field!!!!
Here are some of her tips on colorizing which I've collected and treasure!

And here are example of what she manages to do with colours!!!

Helen,

I like your clean colouring and the colours you used very much ... ... If you like colourizing, read Vikki's Tips and go to her site to look at her work.

Hope this helps!

[sergio2263]

Originally Posted by mytac

Hey sergio2263

Thats great, thank you. I am interested in how you did it. What App did you do it with ?

Thank you very much for your efforts all the same, and if you get time to explain your process, I would be really pleased to hear itl.

Kindest regards

Ian,

Hi Mytac,

thanks for letting me work on your photo. The tutorial I use to colourize your photo is. Please see link below. I use Photoshop CS2.

http://www.worth1000.com/tutorial.asp?sid=161015

I just warn you whilst this tutorial give the best result, you will need a lot of patient and hard work to achieve a very good result, I've spent a year with this tutorial, I've just about crack how to get a decent colourization from it.

If you follow several times you will get the hand of it, but remember you will need patient.

here is the last one i've done. The photo was of good quality and modern, some vintage don't always work as good as others.


http://www.pbase.com/mstmart/image/94282423/large

I hope i've been of help.

thanks


helen

[sergio2263]

Originally Posted by Flora

Hi mytac!

Welcome to RetouchPRO from me too!!!

I really like your 'soft' approach to photo restoration!! No starting with over strong contrast, over blurring, smudging etc. ... just softly correcting and blending the corrections ... well done!!!

As Phil showed you, contrast can really make an image 'pop' .... but, like he did, be very careful to not destroy the details in shadows and highlight when increasing contrast.

Sharpening should be done as one of the last steps in restoration and follow Phil's advice on it... Here you can read some tips on Restoration I've collected along the way ...

As for Colorizing .... well, Vikki, one of our members, is, in my opinion, one of the best in the field!!!!
Here are some of her tips on colorizing which I've collected and treasure!

And here are example of what she manages to do with colours!!!

Helen,

I like your clean colouring and the colours you used very much ... ... If you like colourizing, read Vikki's Tips and go to her site to look at her work.

Hope this helps!

Hi Flora

Thank you for your kind comments on my colourizing. I've heard and know of vikki and has seen her gallery which is brilliant brilliant work. I use the same colouring tutorial as vikki and have found this method to be very hard to get a grasp with. I have heavily modify the primary colour tutorial to suit my needs and as vikki I do not make selections I just use layers and the paint brush. I am happy so far with my colouring, I am no Pro like vikki, I am still very much a newbie but I am aiming to get as good as her, well a girl can hope can't they , I am not one to give up, if vikki can achieve such a fantastic result with this tutorial then so can anyone else, as far as I am concern it is not impossible to achieve good colouring digitally, we just have to be patient and work hard and most of all enjoy colouring and have fun.

I've just look at the tips you've given mytac and had a look at the links, they are very useful. I am useless when it comes to colouring clothes and surrounding etc, but the main aim for me is to achieve good realistic skin tones, so I know I am being neglectful when it comes to colourize clothes and surrounding, I shall worry about that later, for now I just want to practice and practice with skin tones.

here is the link to my last colourization.

http://www.pbase.com/mstmart/image/94282423/large

Many thanks

regards


helen

[Flora]

Originally Posted by sergio2263

....here is the link to my last colourization...

WOW!!! that is beautiful!!!!

[sergio2263]

Originally Posted by Flora

WOW!!! that is beautiful!!!!

Thanks Flora your comment are much appreciated.

regards


helen