next »

Total Members: 1580
New This Month: 9
New This Week: 3
New Today: 1

Test at 1200px

Young boy

Grandmother

BremhL10

[happyheart]

When I first received this one, my reaction was OMG!  :'(  This poor pic has been through the wringer.  So many areas are completely gone.  So much in the background is unidentifiable.  Everyone, please take a look and tell me what needs changed, what can I improve, what else can I do??  I know some areas like the wrinkles in the skirt, shirt. the one arm needs smoothing. 

From what I can tell, it is a Homecoming or football rally.  There are a couple of band members in the background, but all you can see is remanents of faces.  The face on the woman to our right is completely gone. 

Thanks to all of you who take the time to look.

[Mhayes]

Hi Betty,

You are really brave to take this one on! I really don't think this one should have been accepted as it is too far gone. I would  have blurred out the background or given just enough definition to let a person guess what is in the background. There isn't enough details to bring back. I don't know who the football player is kissing, but it really doesn't look like the a homecoming queen. By the shape and size and the dress it looks more like his mother? It is also hard to see where the woman's arm is as there appears to be two and that would be awkward to have her left arm coming around in front by her right. I would remove the smudges on her arm as it should be light like her hand. On her dress, you can borrow good sections of the stripes and copy and move into place---I would not do cloning. The girl on your left will have soft folds in her shirts and I would soften out the 4 marks you are showing.

Kudos for attempting this one. You may at some point have to call it good as you can only go so far when there is this much damage.

Margie

[happyheart]

Thanks Margie.  I almost sent this back to Jonas, but I figured 'what the hey...give it a try'.  The problem with bluring the background is all the white back there.   It just ends up looking like a mess!  I think the 'arm' you are seeing is really the car or whatever it is behind them, showing through.  I looks like the football player is putting his arm around the woman's waist and really giving her a BIG kiss.  At first I thought maybe it was a dummy or doll that was being used in some mock up, but after I increased contrast, it looks like a real person.  You can definitely see hair around the back of the head.  I can definitely work on the clothing more.  I was mostly interested in whether this was worth continuing with.  A lot of it is going to have to be suggested, as it isn't 'recoverable'.

[Mhayes]

Betty, my thoughts are to send it back and I think it should be a "non-restore." The main reason is that it is really hard to improve this one and the owners sometime don't understand how we restore and that some photos have too much damage.

You are right about the blur and what I tried was more of a motion blur with it set straight up and down. That didn't look too great either. I don't think the white behind them is a car but rather a banner.

Probably not his mother, but it sure looks like an older woman---a cougar?

Great effort on a "goner."

Margie

[Hannie]

Hi Betty,

I agree with Margie that this photo really is a "no restore".  It seems such a shame as you have done so much work already.
What really stands out to me is the difference between the blurry and the sharp parts.  What if we sacrifice the sharp parts (there is very little of it anyways) and give the whole image a lens blur?
Would that be acceptable? (also darken the background and the right side)

Hannie

[Jonas.Wendorf]

Hi Betty,

I have to agree with the others, this one is really a non-restore. However you did an amazing job on it already and I like Hannie's idea quite a lot so think if you want to work with that, you could at least make it look a lot better although it'll probably never look perfect.

[happyheart]

I'll go with the cougar idea!  None of these ladies look like high school.  I'm guessing 60's era.  The dress on the left looks like velvet top with brocade skirt.....which unfortunately, I remember 

I don't think it is restorable either, just way too much damage.  It's definitely NOT going to look perfect....it's way beyond that

How about this....I can finish cleaning the three central figures that are relatively clear and sharp.  The woman on the left doesn't have much facial detail, but at least the basic features are there.  I can then use a radial gradient, or a radial blur to mask out the rest.  I'll send it back in and you lucky folks can decide if it is worth printing!  This one is REALLY BAD, but it might be REALLY important to the owner, and something is better than nothing.. 
I certainly won't be upset if you decide it is too far gone though.  Thanks to all who responded, and thanks for the kind words.

[happyheart]

This was my final pic.  I thought you might all be interested.  Thanks again for your help.

[Mhayes]

Hi Betty,

I like what Hannie suggested and your last version looks good, with one exception. It looks like this was done in darkness and someone caught them smooching and turned a spotlight on them.  I agree that even though this couldn't really be restored to what we would like, it still is an improvement and a memory saved.

 

Margie

[happyheart]

Oookkkkaaayyy...so Margie, what are you saying??    Should I make it lighter?...or do you like the way it is??  I was actually trying to HIDE everything else!!!   Let me know what you think, I can always lighten the gradient.

[Jonas.Wendorf]

The last version looks great :-)!
I'd agree though that you should probably lighten the gradient a bit so it doesn't look like a spotlight

[happyheart]

 
You guys want a spotlight...how about this??

No...well...is this better or still too dark?  If I go much lighter, we start getting all the crud back in.

[happyheart]

This is version 3.  I removed the radial gradient and just manually painted in a gradient.  It may be better.

[Jonas.Wendorf]

I like the version with the lightened gradient the best so far :-)!
Wonderful job, Betty, it's really great to have you on board!

[happyheart]

Hey!!!! I just noticed my status changed.....I'm no longer a JR member...YAAAY!!  Thanks for the upgrade!