my Dad

[mead]

I have never been one to ask for help, but I can't seem to work on this picture. It is my father,and I can't seem to work on it.
Could someone please help?

Thanks for looking.

His hair is the lighter portion, he's a redhead,

[winwintoo]

Hi Mead, I think the picture is charming as it is, but then I'm not one for changing things too much in old pictures.

What would you like to change/fix on it??

Take care, Margaret

[Leah]

Mead, I agree with Margaret that there doesn't seem to be much at all wrong with this. Just to clean it up a bit, I tried discarding all except the blue channel (that seemed to have most detail in it), tweaking the contrast with Levels, getting rid of the most obvious bits of damage using the Patch Tool in PS7 (cloning would have worked too), running the Dust and Scratches filter on the background only, and lightening the border.

If it were my picture I don't think I'd do any more than that. Was there something in particular you wanted to achieve?

[cinderella]

What a charming photo. Like what you did Leah . Am wondering exactly what you mean by

"tweaking the contrast with Layers" ???

Do you think his coat and the background are too dark now??

Know there is some way to include a quote directly .Do you know what it is??

I like the idea of not doing too much but am glad to see his face better.

Regards, Joyce

[mead]

thanks

Leah, Joyce, and Margaret,
I'm thinking that maybe because I'm close to the subject, I can't think stright! ha ha. Don't you think his hair looks odd, half light and half dark? Or is it just me? Or is that the way it should look?
I also agree with not doing much to old pictures, just wondering about the hair.

Thanks so much for all the input from everyone. You all have me on the right track now.
Thanks so much, and thanks Leah, for taking the time to work on it.
This is a great forum, with really nice people. Thanks again for taking the time.

Kat

[Leah]

"tweaking the contrast with Layers" ???

Oops, that was a typo. It should have read "tweaking the contrast with Levels" ... you know how it is sometimes when you have one word in your head and have to write a similar word down and the wrong one pops out...

I'll go back and edit it now...

[Leah]

Don't you think his hair looks odd, half light and half dark? Or is it just me? Or is that the way it should look?

Personally, I like the way the hair works out. That's very much the way red hair seems to come out in black and white photography a lot of the time and I find it much more evocative than if you evened it all out so it was indistinguishable from brown or mousey hair. Especially in a photo of a boy this age - it seems to really help to bring out the character. I would leave well alone...

[mead]

red hair

Thanks Leah,
I'm new to restoration and I appreciate your input.
I'm happy to know that the pic is fine.
Thanks again for taking the time. Your experience is appreciated.
kat

[Flora]

Hi Kat,

I agree with both, Margaret and Leah on the fact that yours is a lovely picture as it is and there doesn't seem to be much wrong with it.

In my opinion, exposure was the biggest problem as it made your dad's face look even whiter than the book he was reading....

Being a 'fanatic' for details, I usually don't go for very strong contrasts as, in my opinion, they tend to obliterate details even more.

For your picture I started with a combination of the first two methods described in the tutorial I wrote on the topic 'Enhancing Details' followed by the usual 'cleaning up', enhancing and sharpening .... (as your dad's face wasn't as sharp as his coat, shirt, etc. to start with, I could have done a selective sharpening ..(his face only) ... but decided against it as not to change too much the feeling of the original)

Let me know if you'd like a detailed description of what I did to restore your picture ....

[Leah]

Wow Flora, you've done it again - that is truly outstanding!

[mead]

thank you

Flora,
Thanks so much......it's just what it needed. Your amazing.
Thanks for so willingly sharing your talent.
You really brought out the facial features without making it look fake or as they say, photoshoped.
I don't have any pics of my Dad at this age, it means alot to me.
You made my family very happy.
Your truley gifted.
kat

[mead]

tutorial

Flora,
I had read your tutorial but I don't have curves. I'm using elements. Is there any way to achieve similar results using elements?

Also, would love to know the details of how you did this, as would others, I'm sure.

Thanks again, kat

[cinderella]

Flora, Simply beautiful.
I'm going to try your technique (looked at tutorial) on a photo I submitted to this forum called "Reviving a WWII treasure" If you have a moment would you look at it and see if you think this would be a good approach. I was disappointed in my results but couldn't put my finger on why. Now I think the face is too blah and this approach will make it have depth and look real.
Thanks for all your input. Joyce

[Flora]

Leah,

Thank you so much for your great comment!

Kat,

Thank you very much for your kind words! I'm so glad you liked my restoration of your picture.
Unfortunately, I don't have 'Elements' so I'm at loss to give you an alternative to the Curves...but, if with Elements you can create a 'Luminosity Mask', the problem is solved.
In the following explanation, I will describe both ways: with and without Curves.

Tonal Enhancement

1) After duplicating and cropping the image I created a 'Luminosity Mask' (as described in the Tutorial)
a) press Ctrl+Alt+~ (Mac = Cmd+Option+~) to create a Luminosity Mask,
b) feather your selection by pressing Ctrl+Alt+D (Mac = Cmd+Option+D), enter the desired value (I usually go for 2-4 Pixels Radius),
c) press Ctrl+J (Mac = Cmd+J) to copy your selection on its own Layer,
d) set the blending to 'Multiply.

2) With Curves.....Create a new 'Curves Adjustment Layer' as shown in the Tutorial.


3)... Without Curves.....Duplicate your 'Luminosity Mask' Layer (Blending = Multiply), and desaturate the new Layer by pressing Ctrl+Shift+U ....

Don't worry if after these procedures the image looks darker and 'muddier' ... it will get more vibrant later ... the important is that the details are more visible now.

'Cleaning-up)

1) Healing Brush, Clone Tool, Blur Tool.

Enhancing Features

This is actually what I like most ... playing with lights and shadows until what looked rather 'flat' starts 'coming alive' ... In a face I usually start with the eyes ... if the eyes look 'alive' and 'real', most of the work is done .... as they will be the drawing point of any image.

1) What I usually do is work on new empty Layer upon new empty Layer playing with Blendings and Opacity until I get the result I like.

Eyes:
1) Create a new empty Layer (Blending = Overlay, Opacity = to be adjusted), and with a fuzzy Black Brush (Opacity 5-10%)paint over eyebrows, eyelids, and lashes line to increase depht. Decreasing the Brush diameter carefully paint a very thin line around the irises border.
2) Create a new empty Layer(Blending = Overlay, Opacity = to be adjusted)and with a fuzzy White Brush (Opacity 5%)paint or increase the catchlights to give the eyes a more realistic look. Change the colour of the Brush to Black and paint around the catchlights to increase the depth of the pupil.
3) Create a new empty Layer(Blending = Overlay (or Color Dodge), Opacity = to be adjusted)and with a fuzzy White Brush (Opacity 5%)paint some 'light' opposite the catchlight.

Mouth, Nose and Cheeks:
1) Create new empty Layers (Blending = Normal, Overlay, Soft Light, Screen or Color Opacity = to be adjusted)and with a fuzzy either Black or White Brush (Opacity 5-60%), paint over the features to either increase depth or enhance highlights to give a 3D feeling to the face.

If any of the corrections result too drastic, you can always decrease the Opacity or blur the 'offending' Layer and add a bit of noise to it to blend it smoothly with the rest of the image ....

Joyce,

Thank you so much for your great feedback!
I did have a look at the picture you mentioned "Reviving a WWII treasure" ... What a lovely picture!!! I hope you don't mind if I worked on it ... and posted the result on its thread.

[Xaran]

I would really like to thank Flora for sharing her techniques - having seen what can be achieved I just had to have a go.

Hope you don't mind Mead.

Christine