Is there help for this picture?

[LeslieGug]

I have been working on this picture on and off for 3 - 4 months. O believe the green stains are from mold, but I'm not sure. And then there is the issue of all the cracks. The picture is at 30 years old. My scanner did a great job of restoring the color, but I haven't had any good results with what I have tried.

The picture is of my boyfriends 3 children and I really want to restore it and surprise him with on his birthday in September.

Any input to help me accomplish this would be greatly appreciated.

[Kraellin]

at a glance of what you have posted, i'd start with a 'color balance' adjustment layer, then probably move to clone type actions.

[TommyO]

LeslieGug,
A very nice image, and at first glance it would appear to be one of those that would be an easy fix.... nice detail, not a lot of damage, the mold damage all in one color, just some color issues and light cracks.

But, after looking closer, the color issues seem to be more than a one or two step fix. In fact, I would rather have seen an image that had not been altered by the scanner. That way we have control over what is done.

Looking at the current color channels, the red channel contains most of the mold damage (odd isn't it.. since it looks green). The green channel is one of the best. And, the blue channel isn't bad but has some blown out highlights.

Thinking out loud, a possible workflow could be....
- Rebuild some of the lost data in the red channel, by mixing in more from the green.
- Same for the blue... but subtracting blue and replacing with green.
- Then use multiple Hue/Sat adj. layers and Selective Color adj. layers to get the tones right. But it may take some masking also.
- Then filter out the greenish mold with a simple photo filter layer... selecting the mold color... reversing the LAB a & b values. Then use the mask to paint on just the mold spots as needed.
- Then some final tweaks in curves for your liking.
- Then work on the cracks.

I could also see abandoning some of the color in the worst areas and simply re-colorizing those areas.

I'll play with some of those ideas and see what comes of them in the next few days.

[Gary Richardson]

Hi Leslie,

Had a quick play around with your picture.

Colour problems were such that I couldn't get a good result working with what was there, so I hand coloured it.

The rest was just a matter of cloning.

About 30-40 mins work, with a bit more time I'm sure you could get a better result.

[sergio2263]

Had a try, I am not very good with colour cast and getting rid of stains, but wanted to have a try non the less, I did an adjustment levels using the grey point, that got rid of the colour cast, then mucked about with selective colour and got the result. Clean stains a bit, I didn't work too heavily on the photo as I didn't want to destroy it.


thanks for sharing

regards


helen

[Flora]

Hi Leslie!!

Welcome to RetouchPRO!!!

What everybody said about looking easier to fix than it really is...

The colours were really in bad shape...

• I duplicated the background and run Image>Adjustments>Variationsclicking on 'more yellow' and 'more red' and this gave me a good start already (Attachment 1 = Original + result of this procedure).

• I used Heal Brush and Patch Tool to minimize the spots

• Hue/Saturation, Selective Colors and Color Balance to further improve the colours

• Dust&Scratches to refine the skin.

• Neat Image for the excess noise (can be downloaded free here )

• Blank Layers (Tutorial here ... just scroll down the page to the paragraph BLANK/EMPTY LAYERS SET TO.... )

• Levels to increase contrast and definition.

• Unsharp Mask to sharpen.

Attachment 2 = my result.

Very nice Gary and Helen!!!

.

[sergio2263]

Originally Posted by Flora

Hi Leslie!!

Welcome to RetouchPRO!!!

What everybody said about looking easier to fix than it really is...

The colours were really in bad shape...

• I duplicated the background and run Image>Adjustments>Variationsclicking on 'more yellow' and 'more red' and this gave me a good start already (Attachment 1 = Original + result of this procedure).

• I used Heal Brush and Patch Tool to minimize the spots

• Hue/Saturation, Selective Colors and Color Balance to further improve the colours

• Dust&Scratches to refine the skin.

• Neat Image for the excess noise (can be downloaded free here )

• Blank Layers (Tutorial here ... just scroll down the page to the paragraph BLANK/EMPTY LAYERS SET TO.... )

• Levels to increase contrast and definition.

• Unsharp Mask to sharpen.

Attachment 2 = my result.

Very nice Gary and Helen!!!

.

Thanks Flora for your nice comment.

WOW your work is fantastic as usual, I've managed to get the color cast like your first attachment hence! the brown t.shirt of the boy, I can see the colour is suppose to be green, for some reason I thought it was brown, a newbie is a newbie, one live and learn and one can only learn from one's mistake , I didn't want to mucked about further, in case I destroy the photo more, I shall just sit in a corner and learn from the Pros. I love the way you've brought out the colours of the children eyes

thanks

regards


helen

[philbach]

Well what made this photo interesting to retouch were the various color distortions. Too much green in many places . And other areas with other colors.

I used a little of everything on multiple layers with masks.

[chillin]

The color correction wasn't so difficult, but lots of cleanup.

[Gary Richardson]

Hi Flora,

Glad to see you back, I see you haven't lost your touch. Like what you did with the picture (the dark BG really works for me).

I haven't been around as much as I'd like just lately so haven't had chance to say hello and welcome back.

Nice work everyone else, I always enjoy seeing the different approaches that people use to get towards a similar goal.

[Kraellin]

why you're not doing this professionally, i'll never know, flora. that is a truly remarkable job!

and philbach, very nice, also.

and i like yours, too, chillin.

[Flora]

Helen,

thank you so much for your feedback!!!

Originally Posted by sergio2263

.....I can see the colour is suppose to be green, for some reason I thought it was brown.....

... I have to admit that I'm not sure about the t-shirt colour .... I know that the greenish spots were more 'discolourations' (also seen in some parts of the skin of all three kids...) but I thought that it could have also been the original colour based on some areas of the t-shirt (particularly in the fabric folds), so, I took some liberty there for the sake of making the image 'pop' a bit more .... just as I did by changing the colour of the background and darkening it .... and by 'guessing' the eyes' colour ....

philbach, chillin,

Really great jobs !!!!

Gary,

thank you so much for your kind feedback!!!!

I haven't been around as much as I'd like just lately so haven't had chance to say hello and welcome back.

Thank you! .... Don't worry Gary .... It's not very easy to follow my 'comings and goings' .... I get lost myself trying to do it!!!!

Craig,

thank you ...thank you!!!!!

why you're not doing this professionally, i'll never know, flora.

....It wouldn't be so much fun!!!!!

[Kraellin]

....It wouldn't be so much fun!!!!!

now, that part i DO understand

[sergio2263]

Originally Posted by chillin

The color correction wasn't so difficult, but lots of cleanup.

WOW Chillin,

your restore look so crystal clear on my monitor, the colours are strong and clean, I am having problem at the moment viewing photos online, my computer new is HD, when I looked at old work that I have done the colours are so very strong, so now I am toning down the strong colour, but perhaps I am now making everyone skin tone look too pale like the children above their skin looks too pale.

I am glad I am not going colour blind , if you don't mind me saying your colour t.shirt is brown as well, the problem with this photo there are so much colours need correcting, one don't know which is which, but I've enjoyed experimenting, I am new to this colour cast and stains restoring thingy.

regards


helen

[TommyO]

Everyone did very nice work on this one !

I chose to leave the smallest girl a little less saturated, as sometimes they just are. I guessed at eye colors and of course the boys shirt. However, I chose to leave his shirt brownish... back then, we boys liked brown.

I am still not happy with the boys skin color and shading. Will work on that. But, I think I'm done for now.

Leslie,
If you need a workflow, you can certainly use mine for comparison... not that it's perfect, but it is grouped nicely and fairly easy to follow. Just send me a note and I'll email it to you.

Great work all of you !

[Verywierd]

Since there is mould, I assume that this is a transparency. If so, given what happend to the skin tone, the sky, the tree and the boy's shirt, it is likely that one entire colour layer has almost perished or become corrupted. By applying the colour correction required for the skin on a overall basis, I got the eye and clothing colours you see here. I won't give a work flow, because I used (and abandoned) so many layers that I lost track.

[LeslieGug]

Thank you to all who have looked at or worked on my picture. I think it was Tommy who said he would like to see the scanned picture w/o any color adjustment, so I have uploaed the original picture that I actually started with.

With everyone's input I will be attacking this project again. I think the one thing that got overwhelming was how to get rid of all the small cracks.

Again, thank you Craig, TommyO, Gary, Helen, Flora, Phil, Chillin & Verywierd. You are all awesome!!

Leslie