Restoring a photo of my Great Great Grandmother

[swansod]

This is my first post here on Retouch Pro and wanted first say hello to everyone. Hello.

I've been in the process of retouching an old family photo of my Great Great Grandmother. I've gotten helpful advice from some nice people on DPReview's Retouching forum and have read some great posts here as well as some general retouching advice.

I'm wondering where I should go from here. I would like to darken the jacket without loosing any detail as well as lighten the center white cloth. From the original photo it looks like I can get some highlights from the hair.

I need to work on the boarder on her left side, it looks somewhat awkward when zoomed in.

Can anyone give me some advice on where to go from here / what could be done?

Here's the original:

http://swansod.zenfolio.com/img/v1/p313694090-5.jpg

Here's where I am right now:

http://swansod.zenfolio.com/img/v1/p354708556-5.jpg

You can download the full size photos here on my site:
http://swansod.zenfolio.com/p879530645/

Any advice would be great.

Thanks!

Dana

[0lBaldy]

Dana, welcome to RetouchPRO ..

it is much better if you post a less than 100K image in your thread here at RetouchPro.. If you link to images on other servers, those links can break and that makes the forum thread essentially useless for future readers.

~Click for Info on how to size and attach images to your posts~

~How to attach Files/Images to your Posts or Threads here~

After you post your less than 100K version, you could link to a site that is hosting a larger version, as you did above.

I worked on your photo using the tutorial:
http://retouchpro.com/tutorials/?m=show&id=255
and Noiseware

[swansod]

Thanks 0lBaldy,

I went over the sticky posts but not everything. Sorry about the links. I did see some various tutorials in the sticky post. I'll have to check out the tutorial you went by.

I was thinking about adding the metal back to the glasses where they had faded or were blurred in the original. The glasses in your version look really nice in your restore.

Thanks,

Dana

[0lBaldy]

Danna, Thanks for your kind words.

I cleaned the frame some and added grain to the photo and used a different Sepia tone to this version..

Looking forward to seeing your WIPs

[swansod]

Hi All,

I have a few issues I'm curious how I can fix. I'll post some specific questions with cropped attachments rather than a general post like this one.

Thanks,

Dana