Ok, well I hope I'm following all the rules. Since this was my first restoration, I wanted to show my work in progress to get any comments on things I might have missed or could have done differently. There was light facial reconstruction and a difficult patterned dress but I feel pretty good about the results . Please feel free to share any comments.
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1681/24117186646_13a44354e2_h.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/CK9TmS)DoskeyB_23_03_3x4_75_Before_After (https://flic.kr/p/CK9TmS) by claycrowell1956 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/93172467@N05/), on Flickr
I just spotted an issue myself down in the lower left hand corner where part of the necklace was cloned and I forgot to remove it.
Hi Clay a warm welcome to the forum and congratulations on your first OPR project!
I have few minor picks on your otherwise beautiful restore. You have adjusted the blown out parts, there are now bits of skin that are too pale. Perhaps you work on layers and it is possible to fade the "burn" a little?
The lady on our left, her hair behind the ear is a little more visible.
great job,
Hannie
(http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb18/marijtje2/OPR/Untitled-4.jpg) (http://s210.photobucket.com/user/marijtje2/media/OPR/Untitled-4.jpg.html)
Thanks for the comments. I added hair behind the ear and lowered the opacity on the adjustment to the woman's face in the middle.
Question: If the original photo has blown out areas such as the face on the middle woman, should we leave it as is? It appears that the use of direct flash most likely removed any chance for detail in those areas.
(Made the mistake of replacing the image on Flickr so the image at the top in the original post is the new image.)
Clay,
I'm somewhat confused as this post looks the same as it did with the original on top and your restore under it? When you fixed that, post your new wip below with your last comment. It gets confusing if you change what's at the top as the comments that follow will not make sense.
Perhaps the middle woman has part of her features blown out by the flash or some is missing because of water damage and age. I think what Hannie has done looks good and better than being totally washed out.
Welcome to OPR and great to have you on the Forum.
Margie
Most new members don't realize that to print properly, your whites must have color and your blacks can't be solid black. You can set your Levels and Curves black and white eyedroppers to 244 and 10 to prevent that. Always check your color correction using the Threshold adjustment layer. Here's what the black and white settings look on this restoration so far.
(http://i1184.photobucket.com/albums/z332/BambiNicklen/Screen%20Shot%202016-01-03%20at%2012.44.59%20PM_zpsxrpy8imy.png) (http://s1184.photobucket.com/user/BambiNicklen/media/Screen%20Shot%202016-01-03%20at%2012.44.59%20PM_zpsxrpy8imy.png.html)
(http://i1184.photobucket.com/albums/z332/BambiNicklen/Screen%20Shot%202016-01-03%20at%2012.45.25%20PM_zpsroptu6yb.png) (http://s1184.photobucket.com/user/BambiNicklen/media/Screen%20Shot%202016-01-03%20at%2012.45.25%20PM_zpsroptu6yb.png.html)
I think I finally see what she Hannie is talking about, all of the faces were too dark, not just some of them. I've adjusted it.
Sorry for the confusion.
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1703/24073619651_67811058f5_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/CFiApM)DoskeyB_23_03_3x4_75 (https://flic.kr/p/CFiApM) by claycrowell1956 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/93172467@N05/), on Flickr
I apparently posted this while you were adding the additional information. I will go back and check the black and white levels.
Great job so far. The woman in the patterned dress still has a discoloured mark on her jaw and the wallpaper has a mottled, yellow appearance up the top.
Black and white levels corrected. Wall looks more consistent in color. Forgot to do the jaw. I'll go back and correct that now. :(
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1487/24157038845_7f7c653cdb_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/CNF92K)DoskeyB_23_03_3x4_75 (https://flic.kr/p/CNF92K) by claycrowell1956 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/93172467@N05/), on Flickr
Jaw fixed.
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1635/23789633829_393ba87854_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/Cfd6jv)DoskeyB_23_03_3x4_75 (https://flic.kr/p/Cfd6jv) by claycrowell1956 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/93172467@N05/), on Flickr