This is an image I restored about a year and a half ago...It's a photo from my parent's wedding that was really starting to transform into something distasteful. Despite my comments that it was "becoming gold as you both enter your golden years!", my Mom wanted to know if it could be salvaged (as she glared at me for my comments), and if the background could be changed, as she always hated the curtains in the original. I told her that it would be no problem...how wrong I was!
Correcting the color in this was a nightmare and I'm still not sure I have the skintones where I want them. It was impossible to correct things without making a mask for every area...skin tones, flowers, hair, etc... There was actually a remarkable amount of detail still in the original image that began to reveal itself as I corrected for the fading.
The new background was scanned from an old Kodachrome slide of my great grandmother's garden (A restoration in and of itself!). I figured this would have a bit more meaning than a stock background or generic scene...plus, it dates from about the same era. Placing my parent's in their new setting was pretty simple except for the veil. I had to cut that out and place it in it's own layer so that the new background would show through and help convince the viewer.
I think I did a pretty convincing job with the image (after many hours!) and my parents are more than pleased, but there are still some things that bother me. Does the color look natural? Do they appear to be cutout...especially around my Dad's head? Is the new background too distracting? ...am I just really picky?
The original scan -
Correcting the color in this was a nightmare and I'm still not sure I have the skintones where I want them. It was impossible to correct things without making a mask for every area...skin tones, flowers, hair, etc... There was actually a remarkable amount of detail still in the original image that began to reveal itself as I corrected for the fading.
The new background was scanned from an old Kodachrome slide of my great grandmother's garden (A restoration in and of itself!). I figured this would have a bit more meaning than a stock background or generic scene...plus, it dates from about the same era. Placing my parent's in their new setting was pretty simple except for the veil. I had to cut that out and place it in it's own layer so that the new background would show through and help convince the viewer.
I think I did a pretty convincing job with the image (after many hours!) and my parents are more than pleased, but there are still some things that bother me. Does the color look natural? Do they appear to be cutout...especially around my Dad's head? Is the new background too distracting? ...am I just really picky?

The original scan -
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