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Heine

Their, just like on a copy stand

Milo

Belmont University

[Bambi]

Let me know what you think.

[happyheart]

Well, I for one, say GREAT job.  WOW.  I think it looks great.  You even got the faces inthe background and I think the shadowing is a good touch for the areas you can't pull.

[Hannie]

Hi Bambi,

You have done a great repair job on a badly damaged photo!
Too bad your were not able to use the original detail of Mr. Clinton's suit.  His new crisp suit gives the appearance of a cut out against the background?

Hannie

[Bambi]

I can take the crispness out of the suit if it looks out of place. (It is President Clinton's suit, same pinstriped single breasted two button, two vent boxy jacket and pleated pants with two breaks and cuffs. And black wingtips with no perfs.) I can blur it a bit and add more grain if you like.

[lurch]

Great job, Bambi. I have one minor pick about Clinton's shadow, however. The lighting in the original is high and to his left. The shadow you've added is from a source much lower to his left. Looks odd.

[Hannie]

Bambi, it is OK that it is the same type of suit that Mr. Clinton wears and no need to blur. 
It looks like perhaps it came from another photo, different folds and shadows?  If so, I think that is why I feel it jumps out a little.
Using another similar suit or parts is fine but in this photo the suit is repairable. 

Hannie

[Bambi]

Hi, Lurch: I know. That's the flash-on-camera shadow from the photographer's camera. It's also on the flag and podium. It does look odd and if I were retouching, I'd take it out. It's clearly in the original, maybe a little darker.

Hi, Hannie: Thank you for your expert eye. If you flip the layers on and off, you can see the suit is a match down to the creases in the sleeve and the pants. I didn't use the original suit because it's full of 3-color red noise that can't be spotted or blurred out. I can go back to the original if you prefer, or I can go back into this and make it more like the original without the red noise.

Bambi

[kiska]

Bambi, nice restore. When there are a lot of colored blotches, a color layer painted with 'good' color, built up,  helps tremendously.
I just painted the sleeve and above.

[Bambi]

Thank you, Kiska. That's what I'll do. Meanwhile, any other things I should fix?

[Bambi]

It was easier than I thought. I masked the original suit, took the red out with a Hue Saturation adjustment layer, then smoothed out the grain a little more with Surface Blur.

Bambi

[Tess (Tassie D)]

Lovely job Bambi. Is it just me or do his legs need to be longer? The chair leg seems longer behind him as well?

[lurch]

Bambi - the shadow in the original is not the same as the one in the restore.

[Bambi]

Tess: The feet and legs are precisely where they are in the original. The cuffs end about where your drawing starts. His left foot is pointed toward the camera, his right shoe is only partly visible behind the podium leg. The right shoe is mostly missing.

The chair leg is a good question. It does look odd the way it is. The chair is on a stage, Clinton and the podium are on a riser. The chair leg is either a regular chair with the leg behind the riser or she's sitting on a high stool on the stage. Given her hunched posture, she just might be sitting on a high stool with her feet up on the rung. In the original the chair leg ends in kind of an endless yellow squiggle in the stain. What do you think would look best?

Lurch: You're right. The flash-on-camera shadow in the original (on your left, by his face is much darker. The same shadow on the flag and mic are lighter. I did lighten it. Should it be darker?

[Tess (Tassie D)]

Bambi you could be right about the chair leg. The rest of it may be behind the podium step therefore not visible?
With Clinton being 6'2 I thought his legs would be longer. Must be the camera angle.

[Bambi]

Bill C wears his jackets wide and long and his pants full, cuffed, with two breaks in the front seam. That and the angle of a point-and-shoot lens make him look stouter. I worked in DC during his first term and edited hundreds of pictures of Bill Clinton. I might not have attempted this if he wasn't someone I was very familiar with visually over the years. (There are pictures in the galleries now that I won't request because I have no idea what type of shoes they were wearing.)

I still wonder what people think about the chair leg and the flash-on-camera shadow. If either is an unnecessary distraction, I'm happy to revise the image. This person was that close to the President. It's something they'll cherish and I just want it to be right when it goes home.