Level of detail we are after?

[ReactionStudios]

I am new to OPR and this is my first restoration in this program. I wanted to post my results thus far and see if this is the level of detail and restoring we are striving for. Is there anything else I would need to do to this image?

ORIGINAL


RESTORED


Thanks!-
|shawn|

[Kenny]

Hey Shawn, and welcome to the forum!


What you've done so far looks really good. I would suggest repairing the trophy. It appears to have one good side, so it should be relatively easy to fix. I would try to do something with the upper right of the image. The doors in the background and the wall will be easy to fix. I'm really not sure what to do with the girl on the upper right. Maybe just fix the wall and leave her as is.  You might try to clean up the bottom a little. They all have the same uniforms, so you can sample those for the repair.

Oh, and you might add a sepia tone back to make it look more like the original


Kenny :)

[ReactionStudios]

Thanks for the feedback, Kenny.

I am still trying to get my head around the liberties we can take with the restoration. I can repair the trophy, windows and wall (to the right) and possible add some detail to the bottom row of shirts and arms.

I am not sure if I should make it Sepia though. I would imagine the original photo was black and white. I think because of wear, tear, humidity and acidity it has turned yellowish over the years. Another thing that makes me wonder is that Sepia tone is reddish-brown and the original is yellowish. Hmmm? Is Becky around? Maybe I can send her an email to verify. Sepia tone FX is not hard to do at all, so I might save that for last, just in case.

Thanks again for the feedback, it's much appreciated!
|shawn|

[Kenny]

I'm a huge fan of black and white photography, by the way. Over time black and white photos turn a nice sepia color on their own. My philosophy on the ones I've done is to add just a light sepia back to it, so it more closely resembles the picture they had before the disaster. For photoshop I use the hue/saturation and set the hue at 35 and the saturation at about 20. When I say original, I'm talking about pre-hurricane. Old photos should look old, in my opinion.

Maybe Dave or one the higher ups can wade in and give us a definite answer on this.


Kenny :)

[ReactionStudios]

Ok here are some of the touch-ups. Thanks for the tip on the Sepia settings.



Thanks-
|shawn|

[Kenny]

Shawn,  I wonder if it might be feasible to do something with the girl on the bottom's face. There is a almost half of it there, so I did a quick mirror job on what was there and added a subtle nose from what I could see of it.



This might be a good candidate for cropping. I messaged Dave to look at this thread when he gets on and he can decide if that's the route to take. I think a crop removing the right side and lower damage would leave the aspect ratio about the same and still have a nice image.

Looks fantastic, though!


Kenny :)

[Ausimax]

You have done a nice job on this one Shawn, what Kenny suggests may be feasible, beyond that there is not much more you can do, it looks great. :up:

Max

[ReactionStudios]

Thanks for the comments Kenny and Ausimax!

Kenny, I do like your example comp. I am new to OPR and read in the guidelines about not re-creating faces. I did two on this project, but I had more information to work with, pixel wise. Can we indeed take such creative liberties with faces that far gone? I am all for it, I just want to get a feel for what is acceptable and not.

You guys have more experience with OPR and what is cool with their guidelines. I will give her face a shot and keep the layers intact should they not accept my restoration.

Thanks again guys!!  ;D
|shawn|

[Kenny]

Shawn, I've seen several restorations where half a face was missing and the good half was copied and flipped to restore it. I think what they're talking about here is not using donor parts from another person.


Kenny

[Dave]

Shawn,

I think you've done a great job. You can always turn in two versions - one b&w and one sepia. In  quality control we can make a final decision about what will make for the best print. If that's not appealing, I would always default to b&w anyway.

As long as you are using "parts" from the same body or from the same person in another photograph, feel free to reconstruct as much as you can. Just don't ever use parts from one person to another.

Let me know if you need more clarification, but keep up the good work.

Dave

ps: I personally copied this photo when we were down in Metairie. I know this woman is going to be happy with your work.

[ReactionStudios]

I have updated the RESTORE image at the beginning of this thread. I think I am ready to submit the photo.

Dave, thanks for the words of advice and encouragement. My wife is a OR Nurse and she was able to fly down to New Orleans right after Katrina to volunteer and help make a difference. I am very please to find my own way of contributing. This is a great project you guys are running!

Cheers!-
|shawn|