Is this image beyond repair?

[stuart h]

Can anyone help? I have been retouching & repairing for about a year now & have had great fun with some of the challenges on this site. However, I have just been given a photo that is beyond my skill level & wonder if anyone can suggest some pointers to help me salvage anything from this photo... or is it beyond repair?
Should I give it up as a lost cause or does anyone have a technique or experience with this sort of extreme image?

All help or advice will be grately appreciated!

[roger_ele]

stuart,

Hello, IMO the three men on the right are repairable, the 1 man on the far left could be painted in close to what he looks like but would include some deffinant artistic interpretation.

The bigest problem is that this image was scanned, because of the silvering (the salt like reflection that creates a haze) the image is hidden. The best way to handle this is to take a picture of the photo with a digital camera. Make sure that there is something dark behind you so that the silvering isn't reflected and that the light source is not direct light (like in the shade with a tree above you blocking the light from above and th sky lighting it from the side), then expose normal and bracket from way over to way under exposed (to be on the safe side since I don't know what your photography expierience is). You can then use the best exposure or combine the exposures to use the best areas from each. I think you will be amazed at how much more detail you will see in the photo.

Roger

[roger_ele]

Here is an example;

http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=41888

That I had posted to this thread;

http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4941

It is done with a copy negative, then the negative was scanned. You can get similar results using a digital camera which might not be quite as sharp but will be much better than scanning.

[stuart h]

Roger
Thank you very much for your advice & the link to your example. What do you mean "expose normal and bracket from way over to way under exposed"? (Yes my experience is limited!!!)

I have a Ricoh Caplio RR30 digital camera & I've not tried photographing photos with it before, so I'll follow your advice & give it a go.

I'll post my results when I have them.

[roger_ele]

Way over to way under translates to;

... whatever controls you have on your camera to make the photo lighter and darker ...

[Conk]

Roger
I've neen taking macro's of photos simply because I do not own a scanner right now. I was under the impression that scanner is best but after reading your post about reflection I'd have to think that it depends on whatever the situation calls for.
I suppose that the bennifets of a scanner are higher resolution scans?

[roger_ele]

Scanner benifits can be higher level of detail and closer match on colors. Depending on the camera and lens and lighting used will vary the amount of difference. The scanner is the least expensive way of getting the highest quality, unless there is the problem with reflections ...

Roger