Newbie needs advice!

[cgillel]

I hope that someone will reassure me that others feel very incompetent when they first start on these projects! I've done restorations before, but always knew what I was working with (clothing colors, etc.), and was also given a measure of "artistic license" (cropping allowed, I could make people look better, and so on) which was a big help! These flood-damaged images are really challenging, and I'm so impressed with what many of you have accomplished!

Is it better to work for a while and upload the results and wait for comments? Do most people upload directly or post in the forum first? Is there a way to directly ask questions of the gallery manager, or does everything go through the forum?

You're a generous and talented community - congratulations!

[glennab]

cgillel:

Hello from chilly Florida

Let me give you a few assurances.  I have yet to download a restoration that hasn't caused me to think to myself "Self, what the HECK were you thinking?".  June will mark my 3rd anniversary with OPR, and every image is a challenge and has unique difficulties and means by which to make them into masterpieces.

I would definitely recommend that you post any restoration or work in progress if you have doubts or questions.  Someone (usually several someones) will dive in and do whatever they can to help you.  I've yet to see anyone's work disparaged.  If something doesn't look right, you'll get an observation about that and most likely several possible ways to improve.

I've had restorations that I haven't posted in the forum or the gallery, because they were easy and I was sure they were okay.  I've also returned unfinished photos, because they totally baffled me, and I couldn't figure out how to make them right. Having been on a copy run, I'm aware that it's nearly impossible to reject someone's photo for restoration, no matter how bad they are.  But some were too far gone to be repairable.

Most of the time I offer my work to the experts (especially because I love the really tough ones – they help with the learning curve - and have given me a terrible head twitch! – kidding) before I send it back to QC.  Amazingly you can work on one of these for a week and think you've gotten everything, and someone will notice a glitch that you overlooked.  Forrest/trees, etc. etc.

You can contact your distribution coordinator either through their "office" in the admin area of the forum, or you can use the e-mail icon at the left of their place of business to contact them personally.

I'm glad you've joined us.  It's a wonderful cause.

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!  It's addictive.  You can't do just one!

Cheers,

GK

[Mhayes]

Cgillel,

Welcome from Kansas and we are happy you have joined.

GK's advice is spot on and I think you will find by posting your WIP on the forum, it will give you more confidence and you will get the benefit on lots of help. Plus, you will have fun and safe yourself some frustration.

Margie

[cgillel]

Just signed up with Photobucket and am feeling my way along! If this works, it's thanks
to all of your great tutorials!

Any suggestions for improving my first restore will be appreciated! I had particular
problems deciding on colors for the shirts. I had done a Levels adjustment, and looked at
all the channels, but still wasn't quite sure. I checked the Web for team colors, so I know
that the Rockies use black and silver, with some purple. Charlotte seemed to use orange.
I was assuming that pink sleeves were unlikely, so I went with the bit of blue that I could
see. Similarly, the brilliant pink and aqua on the sweatshirt were not what I'd expect, so I
chose the bit of bluish-gray that was visible.

I'm sure that there are other things that can be improved, so thanks in advance for any
input.

By any chance are those of you who have been doing this for a while seeing any pattern
to water damage? Are certain colors tending to change in particular ways? It's probably
too much to hope for, but if we could establish a data base of common color alterations,
it would be really helpful!

Cathy

[Mhayes]

Cathy, I think you have done a great job on this one!

Every photo is unique in how it reacts to water damage as the circumstances vary. Some may have things like oil, waste, etc., so no size fits all. Plus damage may vary as to how long the water was on the photo, mold on the photo, what kind of ink was used, and also the age of the photo. Unfortunately the closes you will come will be using a variety of color correction tools , such as the you used.

Margie

[glennab]

Very nice work, Cathy!

I'd do just one thing and that's to warm up the colors a bit.  Example:



Cheers,

GK

[Mhayes]

This is a tough call on which looks best. For me it looks too yellow, but that may be just my perception.

Margie

[cmpentecost]

I dunno.  GK's version looks a little like too much time at the beach, but then...GK does live in FL!  I think I like Cathy's version better.  Maybe a bit more dodging an burning on the faces, but not much.

Christine

[Hannie]

Hi Cathy.

Great damage restore, the colors are still a bit off though so I tried to use Christine's amazing tutorial on color cast correction:

http://www.operationphotorescue.org/forum/index.php/topic,1412.msg14623.html#msg14623

After I inverted the color and set the mode to color I changed the opcity to 33% and then added a hue/sat adjustment layer with saturation at +51
Then a selective color adjustment layer in the reds with
magenta +28
yellow -42
black -20
Finally a brightness/contrast adjustment layer with contrast at +5.



Now that still doesn't look all that good, at this point everything I try is merely patching up the wrong colors. 
The best way to get the right colors is to do the adjustments before any damage repair, it will give the most natural color results:



Nice healthy skin tone! (they could be from Florida!) ;D

Hannie

[cgillel]

Thanks to all of you for your input! It's reassuring to know that there's ambiguity even
among the experts! I did warm the final version up a bit, at least in the faces and skin
tones, but of course what I see on my screen may not look the same on anyone else's.

It has been a learning experience, and we can never have too many of those!

Cathy