Any pointers on my latest project?

[santalady]

Here is another 100+ year old photo from my family files. Please look at it and tell me if you think there is anything else I need to do to it. Here is a link to to the original: http://ncsantalady.smugmug.com/photo...3_KZAz5-X3.jpg

and here is a link to my current version: http://ncsantalady.smugmug.com/photo...1_9CVE3-X3.jpg

Thanks,
Brenda

[Kraellin]

nicely done! '...anything else i need...' uhm, nope. anything else you could do... uhm, yep. it's all about how much you want to do, how much time to put in on it and so on. so, i think you did a pretty remarkable job, first off. most folks would be thrilled to have this done. but, if you want to improve it a touch more, the house/log cabin on the right and the leaves overhead are oddly contrasted. the guy on the jackass to the left could be helped with the blur a bit. you wont get it completely right, but it can be helped a bit and the other gentlemen could be sharpened in the face just a touch more. but, those are all nitpicks extraordinaire. it's a nice job

[TommyO]

Again, I really like what you're doing with these images.

One idea, when I like most of the contrast but not all.... I look at an area I'd like to improve. Let's say the levels between a mans jacket where it's hidden from the sun, vs his jacket sleeve where it is in the sun. If I could improve the contrast between those two shades, it could give the people a little more pop.

So, this is what I do.
- merge work up into new layer;
- add a curves layer;
- move over into the image, zoom in, find those two points. Ctrl-clk each to add them to your curve.
- go into the curve, lock one point on the curve in between those two points, so they don't effect each other.
- darken the dark, lighten the light.
- use a mask to avoid doing it to other areas, i.e. ground, trees, etc.

It takes only a few tries to get it right. This works for any image, even better in color images.

Below is a very quick sample, with just a nudge.... nothing dramatic.

[santalady]

Thanks Craig.....how would you approach the blur? The blurred figures in this one really bug me but I've been reading the other current thread about the blurred photo and it didn't sound/look like much could be done. Can you point me in the right direction?

[santalady]

TommyO,
That really made it pop. Thanks for the detailed instructions. I'm just beginning to learn curves so those details will help. I've mostly been working in levels up until this point. I'll give it a shot!

[santalady]

Okay. I've taken the suggestions offered and tried to make the corrections. I tried Focus Magic on the blur, but it didn't help. So all I could think to do was freehand a little to reduce the blur and emphasize some of the details. I suck, suck, suck at freehand so I'm not sure that I really helped anything or not. I tried to reduce the contrast of the leaves at the building a little, but the white in between the leaves is blown whites and I wasn't able to do much with that either.

I did use TommyO's instructions for bumping the contrast on the clothing a little. Thanks for that.....your directions were easy to follow and I'm sure that's something I'll use many times in the future.

All in all, I can't really say that this revised version is much if any better than before. But for whatever it's worth, here it is. http://ncsantalady.smugmug.com/photo...2_xHFnc-X3.jpg

[Kraellin]

santalady,

on the blur, i doubt a filter would work. you ended up doing it pretty much the way i would, by hand. blurs like that have to be treated like rebuilds, not restorations, so you did fine. it does look better.

on blown out whites, just airbrush them. levels and curves and such wont work on rgb 255, 255, 255 (blown out whites).

get used to the hand work. suck or not, if you do this type of work you're going to need some skill there sooner or later.

and overall, like i said before, you did a nice job, especially considering the state the original was in. so, dont take my critque too seriously.

[Nezbitten]

Awesome job, what you have accomplished is a wonder in itself. For my 2 cents I would look at the overall differences between the clothing on the characters. To the right there is a guy with almost black trousers, and crouched in the middle a chap with greyish non distinct tone trousers. Have a play with the dodge too (shadows) and see if you can balance the sort of greyish fog that appears across some of the clothing. Use a gentle setting and slowly build up the darker tones. I have attached a strip from the middle, if you lay it over your version on a separate layer you should see what I mean. I hope this helps.

Neil
Photo Restoration Man
www.image-restore.co.uk

[santalady]

Neil, Thanks for critique and kind comments. That does look better. I'll give it a try.