Help My Grandma

[mschoaf]

Well...this is my second official post. And it's a good one. I have this image of my grandma when she was quite young (she's 95 and still kickin'). My mom wanted my to try to save this picture so we could give it to her as a gift.

I've tried a couple things but having great trouble blending her in with the background and just making things look natural. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Hires available: http://www.ipga.com/grandmamachires.jpg

Mike

[Dennis Dunbar]

The first suggestion I would make is to look at the edges you've created between her and the background. While the photo is pretty soft it looks like someone used an Xacto knife to cut her out and then added a white border to her when they pasted it on the background.

The quality of the edges should all be consistent in the image. If she's soft then the edges will need to be soft too, but not softer than she is.

And there should be no visible border between her and the background. Work your masks carefully.

HTH

[mschoaf]

Believe me...I am not happy at all with this try. As a matter of fact, I am starting from the first floor again as I am typing this. The cutout effect on the first post was just a rough mask and where I had stopped, kinda giving up. I thought the background was too much of a mess to use and thought of creating a fake one. However, this go-'round I will try to use what is there. Cleaning up all specks and scratches at the moment, made a simple curves adjustment, but don't exactly know where to go from here...

[philbach]

What a wonderful colorized photo and thanks for posting it. I replaced the background and used neat image to remove some of the grain in the film and increased the contrast with curves and levels.

[klassylady25]

I'm just posting the 100K here. Again, what a lovely young woman.

Hugs,
Candice

[mschoaf]

Thanks Candice.

How did you get the skin smooth like that...I have tried different blur methods but none look very good. I hope to get this done and printed before Christmas so we can give it to her. I will be sure to take a picture and post a follow up.

Mike

[klassylady25]

I have a set of smudge brushes MS and used one of them for the skin set on 25 strength.
Worked over it slowly, so as not to remove the natural lines. You might look for a set of brushes called LindaBrushes

[mschoaf]

Here's where I'm at now...might call it quits until a bit later...liking it more, but still a ways to go...

[0lBaldy]

I had a go at this pretty lady also..
Larger image here

[TommyO]

Mike,
I like the most recent image much better. You probably already noticed that the original was quite soft and the only part in focus was the face. This is quite normal for portraits of that era. The first attempt tried to make it all look sharp, which just did not work. Your last attempt retains the original look better. I would say it is very close to done. Just recheck your colors and soft proof what a commercial print will look like. At that point, it is all personal taste. I'm sure your grandmother will love it.

[Kraellin]

mschoaf, welcome to RP.

you're lucky to have that photo and to have it in such good condition. i'd place the date on that around 1929-1930, maybe as late as 1935, but more likely the former.

i frankly think it's a mistake to replace the background on these. you're preserving history when you do a restoration, and i tend to like to keep as much of the originals intact as possible. replacements shld only be done if there's really nothing left of the background or if it's just too grungy, torn, specked or marred to keep any longer. yours is not that bad. yes, it's rather bland and dirty, but it can be cleaned up and a little color added if desired, though i'd prefer just the cleanup.

i also wouldnt do any extra colorization. the charm, besides the strikingly good looking woman, is the actual photo studio colorization that was done on this image. i'd try to simply bring that out more, if possible but not over-paint it with something.

i would also seriously consider getting a professional cleanup done by a conservator and then putting the original some place safe, clean and dry (though not too dry. a touch of moisture is actually good and keeps the papers from becoming too brittle. i forget the exact recommended moisture content, but it's something like 5-15% if i remember correctly).

at any rate, it's a charming photo and i'm sure your grandmother will love it

[bananabone]

I would have to spend some more time to get the color in but If you like sepia this is what I can do for now. critique please ....thanks

[bananabone]

Here is my try for the color.

[lcramer53]

Here's my quick go at it. Mostly channel adjustments for the color to maintain the 'look' of the air-brushed style of that time period ~ chose to not intensify the saturation much for the same reason. Did some cloning at different opacities and soft brushes for some of the spots throughout;added a layer with pattern and noise and then blurred to try to get some uniformity; masked out the eyes and colored in the iris after using the eyedropper from the original background layer and used "color" as the blending option at a lowered opacity. Cloned & patched the background and then with a 'plastic wrap' brush set at 15% opacity colored over the background with a teal color, added a mask and went over it again at a lower opacity with black on the mask.

[lcramer53]

Just for deviation, I added a levels adj. layer to my previous post and here it is, but personally, I like my 1st one better.

[beefy24]

Haven't had a lot of time to spend on this ...but have enjoyed it ..thanks

[tmnyc]

Just joined this cool site and was intrigued by your granda's beautiful picture. Had to give a try as well to fix it up. Thanks for the post and Happy New Year.

[mschoaf]

Thanks to everyone's kind words and work on this image. I gave one photo to my Grandma and one to my mother...they were both very impressed. I am attaching a photo from Christmas of the 'young lady' with her gift (sorry for the mixed light, ie flash and incandescent...maybe this is the next fixer image...LOL).

Many thanks again and I look forward to much more fun in this forum.

Mike

[0lBaldy]

Kewl Beans Mike! Thanks for showing the finished product along with the lovely model!

The years have been good to her.. She is still as cute as a button!

She must be very proud of her Grandson... You did GOOD!

[tmnyc]

Great job Mike. Grandma looks very happy and still quite a stunner at 95.