How do you match textures, tones, etc on 2 photos?

[santalady]

I have an old family photo that I have been working on for some time now. My aunt had one photo that was intact but very blurred and faded. She had three pieces of a photo that was taken at the same time. The pieces were very clear and luckily had all of the people on them. I loaded all of these as a "stack" in photoshop and aligned the pieces on top of the large, intact photo. I desaturated and tried to get the contrasts as similar as possible and then set about trying to blend the pieces with layers. It didn't come out too badly, but the people pieces are too contrasty and the house piece not contrasty enough. I have tried everything that I can think of by masking contrast, dodge and burning, cloning, etc. but can't quite get it to all look the same. Can anyone tell me something that will help me match the tones of the wood on the left and right sides of the house and on the shingles? I would really love to be able to get it to look like one photo and not a pieced together mess!

I have loaded all of these images at higher resolution at:
http://ncsantalady.smugmug.com/Genea...10943192_B67oj
if it would help to see a larger photo.

Thank you for any ideas on how to proceed!
Brenda

[TommyO]

Santalady,
I'm having a hard time deciding what could be wrong It looks very good so far. The lower res upload is just not revealing it to me. After examining the higher res image, I still think it looks good. However, I do see what you mean about the siding near the upstairs window on the front/right. The siding there is not as crisp as the rest on the front of the house.

I wouldn't worry about the right side of the house, facing the sun. That looks very natural and realistic.

Other than that, you may have to point out the areas you still don't like. Maybe you're wanting perfection from the image, which can be done but will be time consuming.

[santalady]

TommyO,
Thanks! You're right, it looks pretty good, but I guess I am a bit of a perfectionist and this is an important family photo for me. I am attaching a shot that marks the area I am particularly concerned with. It's just a little cloudy looking and I'd love to be able to achieve the crisp look from the other side of the house.

I have spent sooooooo many hours on this house and just hate to stop short of perfection when it's this close! I've learned so much here and figured that someone here knew some magic trick to get those areas to match. I'll also attach a previous version that I had done before reading some of the tips and comments made on similar photo restorations on this forum. I am self taught, so all of the little tips that you experts here throw out help expand my skills. You all casually toss out tips that I never even knew about and when applied it makes all the difference in the world. Someone pointed out on one of my previous threads "to reduce the saturations in the reds". Something I never even knew that could be done!

Before reading these forums, I never knew that "adding" noise to a photo could actually be a good thing. I had always thought that I wanted to "delete" all noise! I'm the kind of person, that if someone tells me that something can be done and points me in the right direction, I can usually figure out how to do it. So you never know what words of wisdom that you put in these threads may make all the difference in the world to someone like me who is learning.

Since posting I have gone in on a 50% gray layer and darkened some of my areas of concern. They're still "cloudy" but at least blend a little better. I'll attach that as well.

Thanks again for all of the tips that all of you take the time to post!

[santalady]

What I'd like to achieve on this is to match the sheen of the shingles on the left side of the house to the right hand side and the gloss of the paint on the left to the right. If this were a 3D object, I could just pour a little glosssy top coat on it. How do you get that "gloss" look in photoshop on a photo?

[Flashtones]

I think you've done a great job and don't need to go any/much further, as it has a very authentic look as is. However, if you do want to mitigate those small pockets of cloudiness I would do it with masked curve layers.

As you drew out that section of roof, do so with a well feathered lasso tool. While the selection is active make a curves adjustment layer and pull down the black end. Adjust the shape as required.

You can keep lassoing small areas and making a curve adj for each, like Amy Dresser, or, on any given mask paint white with a soft brush to reveal that section to the curve adjustment. Make as many masked curves layers as required to get the job done. Don't be afraid to make 20 curve layers if that's what it takes (just put them into their own folder for the sake of layer neatness.) Levels can be used in the same way, if preferred, but curves are more flexible/precise.

And of course, areas where you want to reduce contrast can be treated the same way with a curve where the blacks are lifted.

You don't have far to go. Have fun.

[Flashtones]

Originally Posted by santalady

What I'd like to achieve on this is to match the sheen of the shingles on the left side of the house to the right hand side and the gloss of the paint on the left to the right. If this were a 3D object, I could just pour a little glosssy top coat on it. How do you get that "gloss" look in photoshop on a photo?

What I think you're saying is that you'd like the the lines of the clapboard siding to show as much on the right as they do on the left, which I suspect will be a real challenge because the shadow details just aren't in the original.

Try selecting the whites on the right of the image, then create a curve layer and pull the black end sharply to the right and pull the white end back up to keep them from muddying. That will show you what detail you have to work with. There's not much there.

Beyond that you'd be drawing them in by hand, and really, is the clapboard siding what this shot is really about? It's great that you're pushing the boundaries of what's possible, but you're getting pretty darn close to "Miller Time".

[santalady]

Flashtones,
I see what you're saying about this shot not being about the clapboard siding. I guess I get too caught up in the tiny details and don't know when to call it quits. When you've been working on a piece as long as I've worked on this one it's hard to look at it with an objective eye.

I'll try what you suggested with the masked curve layers and the white selection w/curve layer to find the details, if only for the practice of it and seeing how that might effect it.

Thanks for taking time to look at this and for the suggestions and comments.

[aartist]

I didn't want to be the first to say it looked fine to me when I first read your post.
But now that others have voiced something similar... well, it looks fine to me.

If you were to do anything further, more overall contrast, small increment of overall brightness,
followed with spots of darkening/lightening on roof/sidding.

You've done a great job!

[0lBaldy]

Well shucks I will go ahead and say it !! .... Quit now or you will never finish!!

When you paint the side to perfection then you will look at the branches, then the sky, then maybe want to add some clouds, then are they too dark/light, then think how it would look tinted Sepia or colored, then is the Sepia to light/dark OR what if this shirt was another color, then is it the right color for the period, ... it is never ending unless you put a stop to it now.... It looks GREAT!!

Simply do a before and after then sit back and take it all in and settle for does it look better than the original starting point... answer... Heck Yea!

The level you are at now is doing those invisible refinements only known to you and the most experienced, perfectionist eyes.

UNLESS it is for your portfolio.... then continue on and do it all and do it the best you can and as perfect as possible.... make sure you include what you started with in this composite/restore

[santalady]

Thank you so much Aartist, Flashtones and TommyO for your kind comments and suggestions. I've painted a bit more on the roof and wood to make the transition in the tones and textures blend a little better and brightened and contrasted a bit more. Since the general opinion seems to be that it is finished.......I'm calling it FINISHED!!!! Here is my final version.

Thanks again for all of your help.

[santalady]

Thanks OlBaldy....I guess I was in the process of posting my last message at the same time as you. Thanks for your kindness. I DO keep a notebook of before and afters just in case I might get good enough to do this for someone other than myself and family someday.

[TommyO]

Santalady,
I hate to say it but it looks like you missed a speck.... aaah, just kidding I just couldn't resist after sooo many people begged you to stop.

Looks very very good. I think after you rest from it for a while, you may come back and experiment slightly with the contrast. It's an interesting image, and could look good as a small or a large print. If you ever decide to print larger, you may in fact have to do a little more tweaking, but not much.

You are lucky to have come across such an interesting and good piece of family photography. Most of us don't have such interesting pieces to work on. Best of luck putting it away.

[santalady]

Thanks TommyO.......now about tweaking the contrast.... No, I'm kidding, too. I am finished with it. At least until I get a print ordered and see how it looks. Then we'll see.

Since I am the family genealogist I am fortunate to have tons of these photos. Most of them don't have this much work to be done, but I do get a lot of practice on family photos. It has been a labor of love learning how to bring these photos back to a nice condition. I only wish that I had access to all of the originals. The scan makes all the difference in the world!