Guidance please

[Hannie]

As part of the"clean-up-the-yuckies-movement" I've been working on the picture below but now I'm stuck. 
It really should go back to the gallery so s.o. else can have a go!
I've tried channels, contrast to find lost detail to not much avail.  The man in photo doesn't seem to have a mouth and I wonder if there might have been a (blond) beard, his face looks too long.  I improvised the lady's mouth, I also don't know in what position her right arm was.  Also I'm not a fan of painted bodyparts... :-\
Now the background is another story, what is it? A ship?





Until there are photo's available that are in my league I would like to work some more on this one so any suggestions are more than welcome!  I have seen some amazing work here!

Hannie

[glennab]

Hi Hannie

I'd love to check out and try to help you with your restoration, but I can't see your image.  Can you try to post it again?

Glenna

[Hannie]

Hi Glenna,

I posted the picures again, hope it works this time!

Hannie

[cmpentecost]

Hi Hannie,

I hope you'll continue to work on the photo.  I think this is an example that doing a bit of touching up and some tonal enhancements are a huge improvement to what the damaged photo looks like.  It's unlikely the photo could ever be restored to its original version, but it looks better already just with what you have done.  As for the background, it does kind of look like a ship.  Since nothing seems to be visible in the channels, just doing a bit of clean up of the rough spots, along with the detail that you've already brought out will be a huge improvement. 

Thanks so much Hannie!  I think you're definitely on the right track!

Christine

[sanbie]

OMG you are doing a wonderful job on this...I can't believe how much info you have already got from the photo! Well done...

Sanbie

[glennab]

Hi Hannie

I'm finally able to see your image.  I think it was my computer, not your post, since I realized that I couldn't see anyone's images.  We had a typical Florida thunderstorm last night, lightning hit very close and we lost power for a few seconds (thank goodness for the UPS!).  Once I restarted the computer everything was back to normal.

I think you're doing a wonderful job on a nearly impossible image.  I ran my usual battery of tests and couldn't see any more of the photo than what you're pulling out.  I ditto what Chris has said.  You won't be able to get all the details, but there's enough information that I think makes the photo salvageable.

Nice work!

Glenna

[Tess (Tassie D)]

I agree with it being a ship. Great job so far. :up:

[Hannie]

Thank you Chris, Glenna, Sanbie and Tassie for your advice, you have no idea how encouraging your comments are!
Just the incentive I needed to go back to pushing some more pixels around :halo:

Hannie

[Lorraine]

Hannie

I just wanted to join the others in saying that you've done a remarkable job on this so far.

Lorraine

[Hannie]

Thanks Lorraine!
After cleaning up the background it really was not much of an improvement so I (cowardly) decided on a vignette.  Did some more repair work and as soon as I have more time I will do the final touch up.
Any comments or suggestions for improvement are more than welcome!  :)

[glennab]

Hi Hannie

I think the vignette works very well.  My only suggestion would be to considerably lighten the dark spot in the middle of the man's face.  It's hard to tell whether it's damage, but it seems to jump out of the photo.  Not a good focal point, I think!

I'd try to eliminate some of the splotchiness, but that's going to be a tough job, because if you do too much, you're going to end up with a painting instead of a photo.  If it's a small photo (the size of the image is in its name) I wouldn't be as concerned as if it were large.  My guess is you're working on a snapshot, so it's probably small.  Maybe someone else can jump in on that issue.

You deserve a lot of credit for taking on this one!

Glenna

[Hannie]

Hi Glenna

Thanks a lot for your suggestions!
You are right, the black spot on the man's face is damage, I hadn't decided yet where the nose would end up (beard or no beard...).
Now the spots are the real problem.  You are right, it would be nice if I could reduce those so they are not present.  The picture is very small (<3x4") that is to my advantage so I will give it a go. 

In between working on the photo I do a lot of searching for tutorials etc on the subject but there is not a lot available for severely damaged photo's.  I have Katrin Eismann's book on Restoration en Retouching, it deals more with tone, exposure and color.  Her methods on dustbusting and texture removal do not seem to work on photo's with extensive water damage, all the channels are affected.

Hannie

[OPRAng]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news. Recently OPR admin have been chatting about the vignette thing and we are basically going to ask that they be taken out of the restoration toolbox (obviously unless original to the photo).

Don't be afraid of leaving weird damage in a photo--we can't recreate what Katrina or other disasters took away--we restore memories not return perfect images. We would rather return a photo with damage in the background and let the family decide how they want to use it. Let them decide if they prefer that imperfect background or would rather do some creative matting. This helps to maintain the integrity of the original photo.

I hope I don't sound like a jerk. We (admin) will get back to everyone with any other guideline changes.

Thanks for all your work on this restoration. The rest of it looks terrific.

Angela

[glennab]

Hi Ange

I hope that you and the family had a wonderful vacation.

You DON'T sound like a jerk.  We need guidlines, and vignettes were an issue about which everyone was feeling tentative.  We're into the really badly damaged images now, and it's truly difficult to know what to do with areas of little or no information.  The more feedback we get from admin, the better we can do our work.  Pretty simple.  I appreciate the information.

Hannie:
I've hunted and hunted for books on restoration that cover the type of damage we work with, and the closest I've found is Ctein's Digital Restoration from Start to Finish.  Toward the end of the book he discusses some types of damage that, while not as difficult as what we get, has information that has been really helpful for me.  His book is geared toward photographers who want to do restorations as a business.  He does have a web site, but I can't remember if he has tutorials or not.

Of course Katrin's books are invaluable.  So are Scott Kelby's, and I'm sure other of the Photoshop experts have books that would have at least some information we could use.  But what we're doing at OPR is so unique that I haven't found any of the gurus who go into depth about anything comparable to the difficulties with which we struggle. I've mentioned before that in this forum we have the basis of a fabulous book on doing impossible restorations.  There's a wealth of information in these threads.

I guess we'll just have to keep on helping each other when we get stumped.  I find it interesting that we come from different fields, and each volunteer has tips and techniques that may be related to their work or expertise that other's don't know about because their perspective is from a different direction.  I'm a graphic designer, so I've learned so much from our volunteers who are photographers and art experts.  Works out quite well, I think.

Cheers

Glenna

[sanbie]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news. Recently OPR admin have been chatting about the vignette thing and we are basically going to ask that they be taken out of the restoration toolbox (obviously unless original to the photo).

Oops and I have just placed some with the vignette on them...I am still working on the original though and that doesn't have the vignette!

Sanbie