is this a photo?

[niteowl64]

Looking for info only here. A friend from Canada asked me to try and restore her old family photo. Upon first look, it does look like a photo but as I clean it up, it looks less and less like a photo and more like a painting. The more i look at it, the less I think the starting pic is a photo. I'm not sure if i am overdoing it with the fixes or if this thing is even a photo to start. I'm not new to photo restoration but I am a bit rusty at it

Her photo is the first time I've encountered one that doesn't clearly appear to be a photo to me once i start working on it. Can any of you tell me if this is an actual photo? I'm uploading the original untouched of it. I'd like to be sure before i spend too much time on it only to second guess myself

[Cupcake]

It looks like the face is a photo with some painting on it; and the rest a painting.

[i-inspire]

The hair and clothes are definitely painted. The face is rendered very well, almost photoreal, but often in portraits the face is very detailed while the clothes and hair are not. My guess is it's photograph of a painting.

[Jerryb]

hi,
well my 2 cents worth... to me it looks like a picture of a painting...

i have a picture of my g-g-g-g grandparents .. but the painting was
done before there were cameras.... much later a picture was taken
of the painting.... the overall quality is very similar to yours.....

[niteowl64]

Thank you everyone for confirming what I suspected but thought i must be nuts. Honestly, I was feeling like a bit of a boob not being sure one way or the other. Have any of you restored photos of painting? I'm wondering if photo restore steps are out (most of them) and approach it more like a watercolor, using those techniques and filters?

Just wondering what the best approach, for the best results would be for this photo

[Flotsam]

I would say it is a photograph that that has had some hand retouching done to it. It was quite commonly done.

[Kraellin]

it actually doesnt matter... photo, painting, photo of a painting... it's moot once it's digitized. use the same tools you'd use for a restoration on anything. know the tools, do the job. simple

[dmeadows]

Third option: it's a real photograph of a man made entirely of paint.

[LQQKER]

I've photographs of my parents and older sister which have had a similiar technique done. Seems some studio darkroom images were artistically painted, with varied talent after the initial processing and at the time people loved it (even though it was more photo art than retouching). As today, most clients like to see themselves in a better light than reality has to offer. Similar to rewriting history. In many cases there's not an accurate example of the original. Just look at the many images posted in modern day high school year books. When looking back you'll see your school friends as they "wished" they had looked.

The attached example of a hand painted photo of the past, which was quite common. Depending on the painters talent, some were done much better than others.

I guess it's apparent I like keeping things as realistic as possible, although this does not seem to be the trend.

[niteowl64]

terrific! Thanks everyone. Good to know the tools are interchangeable to different media. I must have lived a sheltered photo restoration life up to this point because this was the first really old photo that the majority (if not all) was painted and i was clueless.

So much new information, thank you!

[Florin]

Hello. Definitely is a "hybrid", a paintwork and also a photo. I´m restoring a lot of these all time. The restoration must be done as to preserve its paintwork look and not as a picture. Some 50-60 years ago, a good number of "photographers" came from Spain here, in Venezuela, took the shots, then went back to Spain, someone was making the paintwork and after that they returned to Venezuela with this hybrid. All process was about 4-6 months.
In fact, next week I have one waiting to be painted:
http://i40.tinypic.com/24b45za.jpg
Last week had another:
http://i41.tinypic.com/5xsjuv.jpg
http://i39.tinypic.com/2qdmzhf.jpg
Regards

[aartist]

I have done a few of these too, but was unsure also.
Love both photos but the girl is cuter.
Thanks!

[Florin]

Nice jobs, man

[niteowl64]

very interesting and informative. Thanks for sharing the info. it seems there is no end to how creative people have been through the years in regards to photographs and how they work with them based on the technology, tools and process they had at the time. I'd have remained unaware of these things if not for you knowledgeable folks on the forum

[Nezbitten]

This type of image was a very popular restoration for me last year. All at 16x12 inches and all on board, most likely made from pulp and hand screened into card, as you can see the layers of fibres built up in the process. This type of photo seems to have had the light sensitive emulsion painted onto the board and then exposed to light. An example is here board based photos. I would suggest that such large sizes of photographic paper could not be made so the photographer simply grabbed a stable matt cardboard base and painted on the chemicals. The resulting image is a very soft focused photo without any hard defined edges, probably down to slow exposures not so well made optics as we have today. It was then enhanced with only available enhancement methods, black ink and pencils or even charcoal.

Neil
Photo Restoration Man

[Florin]

Exactely. Good jobs in your site, I liked them a lot.
Regards