Tell me what else I should do

[philbach]

I've been working on this for a while and I need another set of eyeballs on this restoration.  The lady in the center has her mouth wide open and I am not sure what to do with her at present.  At any rate take a look and tell me what you think.

[Hannie]

Hi Phil,

Very nice clean up, there was a lot of damage in this photo that is not so easy to on the original.  (spotting machine seems to be working fine still)
The missing lady doesn't really have much of a face left so all you can do really is just give the impression of a face without any details. 


blue channel

I have 1 suggestion for the lady in the red dress, perhaps it is possible for you to use the original area of the photo, as it is now she looks a little detached from the background?



Great job!

Hannie

[philbach]

Looking along her right side I did have to deal with some distortions of her right cheek.  And also along her right abdomen and her hair on the right side.  I'll try to blend that in better.  Perhaps shorten her hair on the right side.  

The blue channel on the original as you have posted does show another person to the right of the lady in the red dress and the missing lady sort of obscures the red dress lady's right shoulder.

It also identifies a Christmas Tree in the Background.   So more to work on.   


Thanks.

[philbach]

 :P
Well since the missing lady identified on the blue channel can't be restored, I was more or less forced to add more of the red lady's right shoulder and right arm.  I also added a vertical partition in the background.   Again I would appreciate a comment on this latest version. 

Thanks.

[Johnboy]

Phil,

I am by far no expert with this kind of restoration. In other words I haven't tried one of these yet. However I have some observations and suggestions.

Observation: There is a candle either behind or part of the floral arrangement on the table that is missing in the restoration.

Suggestions:
1. You might guess that the damaged background on our right may be the same as the decorative background on the left. Perhaps you could make the left a selection, copy it, flip it horizontally and place in as some of the damaged background. You will probably need to fill in some areas.

  Something I recently learned from Katrin Eismann's book that may make this a little easier. a. Make your selection of the background area using a 1 or 2 pixel feathered Lasso. b. The go to Edit>Copy Merged to copy the selection. Then Select>Deselect. Then Paste the copy to a new layer. c. Move and rotate as needed to match the new area. (Probably need to horizontal flip first in this case.) Then hit Return/Enter. d. (Here is the real helper.) Option/Alt click on the Layer Mask button at the bottom of the Layers Palette to add a black layer mask to hide the new area. e. Now select a soft white Paintbrush and paint back the portion you need. Add a Gaussian Blur of 5 to 10 pixels to help blend the area, and use the Healing brush as needed. f. If the patched area does not match the new area in density then Option/Alt click on the New Fill or Adjustment Layer Button at the bottom of the Layers Palette. In the dialog box select Use Previous Layer to Create Clipping Mask. Then adjust the curve to make the new area match. The adjustment will only affect the new area, and not the whole photo.

2. Use the blue channel to make the missing lady a selection. Then copy her and paste her in on a new layer. Then colorize her dress and supply a generic face. I think the generic face is what Hannie was referring to. To me it seems strange to have the gap when the owners will know someone is missing. This is where I have no experience at all so I am rather bold in suggesting someone else do it.

Hope all this helps.

Johnboy

[philbach]

Thanks Johnboy.  Good pickup on the foreground candle.  I guess on the right side below the picture there is a table with some flowers on it too.  You may be right about the right background too.  I guess if I am not sure I will not do anything but if I did, it would be to replicate the left side over to the right.

I deliberately left out the missing lady since the owners of this photo probably would not like a "stranger in their midst" so to speak so I decided to just to leave a gap.

So thats the entry of the day.  Tomorrow I will post another version