Ezine cover challenge: Retouch this photo!

[plugsnpixels]

Hi all,

I want to invite those of you on RetouchPro (exclusively!) to retouch this photo--download TIFF here; 2.1 megs and compete for the cover of my next ezine!

The ezine will discuss working with family photo archives and the applications that can help you retouch and manage them.

I am looking for something colorized and spiffed up, eye-catching and cool. Use your favorite imaging app and (ideally) third-party plug-ins and other goodies (frames, brushes, etc.). Maybe a scrapbook-like collage? Let's see what you come up with.

Post your examples here as 4.5 x 6's; keep a copy of your version of the original image at its current size, resolution and format.

Whoever's artwork is chosen for the cover will also be a Featured Artist in the same issue, with the possibility of a cover tutorial if the workflow warrants it. You can show off other retouching you have done, with a link to your website/gallery.

Here is the tentative proposed layout of the next cover, so you have an idea of where the header goes.

Thanks all!

[samoflak]

holly shit, im down. deadline?

[plugsnpixels]

Great! How about mid-April?

[CathyH]

for some reason I'm not able to save the tiff file. I can't copy it or save to desk top??
any ideas.
I've got an idea I would like to try to do. :-)
cathy

[plugsnpixels]

Hi Cathy,

I just checked the download link and it worked (??). Although on a Mac, I saved the TIFF in PC format, FWIW.

In other news, here is an alternate print of the same portrait I did not post, FYI. THAT would have been a retouch job for sure!

[byRo]

Originally Posted by CathyH

for some reason I'm not able to save the tiff file. I can't copy it or save to desk top?? any ideas.

The usual fix when images won't download is to right-click and choose "Save link as...", but for me it worked with just the normal left-click. (XP / Firefox 3 Beta4)

Rô

[CathyH]

Thank you byRo that worked.
cathy

[crazyfly1]

Here's my try, 22 layers later.

[plugsnpixels]

Thanks Wm, that's a great interpretation! I like the color tones/scheme, the 3D look and the cast shadows, small and large. Small request: Is there anything you can do with the bottom of his bust to make it blend into the background with a little more feathering or blur--to make him a little less "disembodied" perhaps? ;-) Maybe even reconstruct the rest of his suit?

I'm looking forward to seeing what other totally different interpretations we get! BTW, besides our cover winner I will also publish several of these retouches inside the ezine as smaller examples (with credits).
___________________________________

A little background on our model:

His name was Morris Mara (my great-great-grandfather), born in NYC in 1858 to an Irish immigrant father (mother unknown). He worked in a steel mill in NJ, first as a roller and later as a "labor foreman". He married a girl coincidentally surnamed Morris, daughter of a Michael Morris who ran some sort of saloon in New York City (with some connection to the Philip-Morris fortune, which petered out long before it got to me!). He raised his family in Jersey City, and seems to have died about 1925.

There's some family speculation we may be of some relation to the Wellington Mara/Kate Mara folks, but if this is true, any connection would only be as recent as the mid-1800s or so--perhaps through a sibling of Morris?

[LonK]

Nothing too exotic, just touch-up and colorize...

[plugsnpixels]

Lonnie, that's sweet! Please send the larger version to plugsnpixels @ gmail .com

[smak]

How can a mother be unknown?

[crazyfly1]

Originally Posted by smak

How can a mother be unknown?

Spoken like someone who has never taken an interest in thier family tree.
What's your great, great, great, grandmothers name???

[CathyH]

Hi here is a copy versions I did.
Lonk yours is great as always.
Crazyfly I like the colors you choose.

[plugsnpixels]

Thank you Cathy! I especially like the second one. Can you please forward a larger version?

snak, yes, when you go back to someone born in 1830, it's a bit tricky getting details... Actually, I've done quite well with this research, beginning over this past Christmas vacation and pulling most of it together in just two weeks using a free trial at Ancestry.com! Other details have come from older family members, which, if you have some, need to be interviewed ASAP!

It is sad, though, that over time, people forget who they are. It all depends on the records (or lack thereof) kept by the older generations. In my case, old census forms were quite helpful.

[K_GiMiNi_M]

HI thought id try this one…

[plugsnpixels]

Very nice! This is fun!

[esac]

Originally Posted by crazyfly1

Spoken like someone who has never taken an interest in thier family tree.
What's your great, great, great, grandmothers name???

Along my fathers line? Soulange Giasson. Did you want anybody else?

[samoflak]

here's mine, And now... in colour

opinions?

[AFrazier]

I'm new around here, but I like working with photos and saw the challenge, so I gave it a try. I went for the traditional matted portrait look.

Someone is going to have to teach me how to get larger pictures posted. I realize you can hardly see this thing.

[plugsnpixels]

Thanks samoflak and AFrazier! Please provide me with larger versions, thanks!

[riklehr]

Here is mine.

[plugsnpixels]

Very good, riklehr! Can you please provide me with the original sized version? Also, can you try a version where the vector flourishes are in the same position but on top of the image, and also with a wee bit more space between his head and the top of the inset frame? Thanks!

[anito]

Hello,
here is mine.

[0lBaldy]

Originally Posted by AFrazier

Someone is going to have to teach me how to get larger pictures posted. I realize you can hardly see this thing.

try these posting hints

[plugsnpixels]

AFrazier, OlBaldy gave good advice, or you can even host it on your own server, if you have access to one.

anito, another good one! Please email me the larger version!

[samoflak]

two more;

one

two

[plugsnpixels]

The cartoony one is great! That's funny.

[samoflak]

haha yeah got bored

[AFrazier]

Okay, let's see if this worked out a little better. I have the image (and two others) on one of the sites mentioned.

[img=http://img44.imagevenue.com/loc944/th_70102_ezine_retouch_after_1_122_944lo.jpg]

[img=http://img221.imagevenue.com/loc15/th_70109_ezine_retouch_after_2_122_15lo.jpg]

[img=http://img149.imagevenue.com/loc1196/th_70114_ezine_retouch_after_3_122_1196lo.jpg]