when do you give up?

[ezpkns]

Let me just preface this by saying that I'm the worst volunteer here; that is, I've been sitting on 2 half-finished pictures for over a month.

I can't remember if this one came from "difficult" or "moderate", but it's so far from... perfect (can it ever be perfect?) that I'm almost ready to classify it "impossible".

This is where it starts...


And this is as far as I could take it...


Am I just taking pictures that are beyond my skills? I've been doing this a long time (but not so much to snapshots this damaged I guess).

[Kenny]

Worst volunteer? Please, you have me to contend with for the title!  :funny:. Nah, anyone who's even attempting this work and is still here after tackling a project like this is a good person, so enough beating yourself up, OK, or we'll have to have Mr smiley here come visit you  :knuppel:

I kid, I kid. Anyway, Wow... The original is so faded out. I think you did a fantastic job on it. At first glance I thought it looked a little splotchy on the clothing, but I believe it's just the light coming through the trees. Overall it looks pretty good and I think it's about as good as it's gonna get. I do see a couple of places that could use a little attention, though. The tree right above the man's head could use a little work. Maybe just lightly using the burn tool on the trunk to even it out a little. Also, above the tree in the leaves there looks to be a red spot that could be taken care of pretty easily. Finally, the very bottom of the image looks to have a little damage. I really don't know what could be done about it, except maybe use the burn tool set on darken to even it out.

Kenny

[Dave]

You both would lose out to me for worst volunteer. There's a reason that I don't work on restorations.

And I agree that you did a very fine job with this image. It's important to remember that perfection is not what we're striving for. Preservation of the memory is the focus of our efforts. It's a job well done.

Dave

[OPRAng]

First of all--you rock! You've done a fantastic job with a really hard one. You've saved the image so that the owners can look at it and remember that picnic, or show their kids what they used to look like way back when. That is our mission--the memory. It is even the OPR slogan--Insurance can't restore memories, but we do. That is what matters most. Having the strength to hold back from trying to do too much is probably the hardest part of OPR restoration work. Everyone has an amazingly big heart and that is why you've volunteered to help. Don't fret about the image--you did a fabulous job!

Thanks for all that you do,
Angela

[glennab]

I want to ad my congrats for a fine job!

I have to tell you that you're NOT the worst restorer -- I suspect we've all gone through the process of restarting - especially with the difficult photos.

My second restoration took three tries before I was remotely happy with it. I can't even tell you how many hours I spent trying different techniques even after getting invaluable advice from our experts on the forum.

Last night I restarted a photo I'd spent 5 or 6 hours on because I just wasn't happy with where it was going.  The important thing is that you care enough to put so much into a VERY complex image.

I've done photo restoration before, yet I'm  humbled by the challenge we've  taken on - I also find it so gratifying when something works!  Consider that every image you work on will give you more expertise with which to attack the next one.  As my husband says "Pwactice, pwactice, pwactice!"

You're wonderful for hanging in and getting the job done!

My very best!

GG

[cmpentecost]

I've been doing restorations for a couple of years now, and am STILL learning.  I've learned a lot just through OPR members, and working on these pictures.  With Photoshop, the learning NEVER ends!  So, stick with it, keep practicing, and you'll do great!

Christine