Any advice? this one's still in progress

[TimeTraveler]

I could use some advice on this one.  I've been working on it for awhile and was wondering if anybody knows any shortcuts. tips, or tricks.  I've been mostly using cloning and healing, some dodge and burn.  I don't mind taking my time, I just thought there might be some other tools or techniques that I've overlooked.  I'd like to upload the photo in a timely manner, but I also want to do my best to restore it.  I'm sure the owner is anxious to get the photo and maybe I'm just being too hard on myself for not doing it fast enough.  I've had it for a couple of weeks and I spend 2-3 hours a day on it, believe it or not.
I don't mind working on it, like I said, I just feel like I'm not restoring it fast enough.  Maybe I'm not the only one who feels like this sometimes.  Any feedback, tips, tricks, etc. are greatly appreciated.  The small section that I posted is at 100%, just to give you an idea of the little things that can't be seen in the smaller versions.  The entire photo was covered with those little water drops, or whatever they are.
I have a long way to go with this one and want to do my best, this one is the most difficult that I've worked on so far.
Thanks for any comments..

[Ausimax]

I think you are doing a great job on it so far, and I wouldn't get too hung up on the time it is taking to do it, there are still a lot of photos that have yet to be taken and restored and their owners are still waiting. I would rather take a little more time and try and get it as good as I can, rather than rush to try and get it back quickly.

I don't know what editor you are using, I use PS CS2 and find the healing brush tool seems to work well on images like that where most of the detail is visible beneath the damage, most of it is just painstakingly working through it bit by bit, those little water drops are a pain, they look like you could just take a cloth and dry them off, instead you spend hours doing them one by one.

Keep up the good work, I am sure it is going to look just great when you finish.

Max

[cmpentecost]

Thank God I'm not the only one who spends a couple hours a day for several weeks on a photo.  I have some similar pictures.  It looks like someone took a spray bottle on the "spray" mode, covered the photo with the spray of water, then let it bake in the sun for several days (which is probably what happened, but Katrina was the spray bottle).  It's tedious, and a lot of use of the clone stamp and healing brush, set to different modes and percentages.  Don't forget the "control-shift-f" shortcut (assuming you are on Windows) to fade something that is too bold, after you've stamped or brushed something.  I'm not sure what version of Photoshop you are using, but save often, so that if you don't like something, you can either go back in the history pallet, or start over from the latest saved version.

I think you've done a great job so far.  Keep your patience, and I'm sure it will turn out great.

Christine   :up:

[glennab]

Hi!

I agree that you're doing a wonderful job, and I really don't think you can take any shortcuts with this type of damage and detail. I'm reading through Katrin Eismann's restoration book again, and most of the shortcuts she cites are on large areas that can be manipulated relatively easily.  Nothing like what we're dealing with.  I have at least 12 hours in my current difficult restoration, and I expect I'll have 8 or 9 more before I have all the details intact. I  look at it as not only a labor of love for the couple in the photo but also a learning experience as to what can be quickly repaired (not much on the difficult ones!) and what has to be recreated virtually pixel by pixel.

I've ordered 3 books on restoration from Amazon.com, so if I find anyhthing especially useful in them I'll pass it on. 

I encourage you to not flog yourself over the time it's taking you.  I've read a number of messages in the forum of people agonizing over the same issue. I know I do constantly. I think that whatever time it takes for you to be satisfied that you've done the best you can is exactly the right amount.  You're doing a wonderful thing.

My feeling is that we are all so fortunate to have the skill and talent to give something this precious back to people who have lost so much, as well as OPR as our means by which to do it.

G'night

GG

[Codeman]

One thing that I have done when used the healing brush or clone tool is to create a layer above the area that I am working on and then clone or heal to that layer. That way you can always just erase the change if it's not good. You can use the mask, opacity, and blend modes of the layer. You can also use that layer as a clipping mask for an adjustment layer and fine tune the cloned or healed pixels. Be sure to have the "Sample all layers" box checked and have all adjustment layers above the layer you are fixing turned off. I have found that the pixels are adjusted both before and after the clone.

You can come hours later and easily fix any cloned pixels without and damage to the layer being repaired. And then when you have it looking good you can merge the 2 layers together, or not depending on whats best for the particular repair.

Codeman