Latest Challenge

[Ausimax]

Hi,

This is my latest project, haven't got far yet, having a struggle with the faces - despite being a 8" x 10"  there isn't a lot of detail present, really got spots before the eyes from the blouse.






Still a long row to hoe with this one, every aspect has discolouration and scratches - feels as though you are working pixel by pixel and my "Fix Problem" plug-in doesn't seem to be working today.

Max

[RosyBijou]

Max, you truly are a machine on this forum!  HOW do you get through these pictures so fast?  (Maybe you can give us slow-pokes some tutorials on productivity!)

Looking good so far--these pixel-by-pixel restorations are so time consuming--good luck!   :up2:

[zapphnath]

I'm still saving up to get that plug-in, myself.  ^-^

If I may, it seems you may have sharpened this a bit too early.  It may have worked out better to have gotten rid of as much damage as possible before sharpening or doing any color/balance adjustments.  The damage is much more pronounced and "in the way" in the second one.
Of course, that's just my opinion.

Good luck with this one.

[glennab]

Hi Max

I think you're off to a great start.  Getting detail is going to be a challenge.  I'm reading about ways to do that unobtrusively in LAB color.  It actually works quite well. Let me know if you want to try it.

GG

[klassylady25]

GG, while your studying, I will be looking forward to hearing what you have learned.  Saves on the reading time!!  Just kidding!  :crazy:

Max,  I can see where you would be seeing spots, but you're coming along.  Looking forward to seeing how it advances.

[Ausimax]

Hi Folk,

Kerry, I think the thing I have going for me is time, I'm retired and it is still in the high 30's (Celsius) during the day so I can hide inside and put in quite a few hours work on restorations.

zapphnath, I haven't sharpened at all, they ask that we don't as they do that to suit the printing process - most of the problem is my work on the two faces, I seem to have lost the natural detail, and for some reason this image compressed badly when resized.

Glenna, if you have any methods that will help with detail, I am all ears and eyes - I need all the help I can get on this one, Candice, thanks for your encouragement, I am looking forward to seeing it looking good, that is still a way off with this one - really going to slowdown my throughput.

Max

[Kenny]

Max, this image is a perfect candidate for the OPR Sandwich Technique ^tm :up:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=nhhjsy0_yMM

Give it a try and see if it helps.


Kenny

[Ausimax]

Hi,

Kenny, you could be right about using the sandwich technique, its worth a try anything to improve the final outcome.

Right now I am having a hassle with all the hands, the mother has her left hand around the girl in the blue dress, the girl in the white dress is then holding the mothers hand with her left hand.

I can't make out the position of the mothers thumb - I would expect it to be folded into her palm - I can't for the life of me work out what is in the red triangle, from the way the girl is holding her mothers hand it should not be part of hers and the mothers thumb would have to be dislocated to be there.

As for the girl in blue - I suspect she just has her hands crossed in her lap, don't know what I'm going to do with them, hands just about fall into the same category as HAIR for me.

Anyway would you like to have a look and see if you can make sense of the puzzle.



This is a link to a full res version, may help you peruse the problem.

http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/7720/hands100cropad4.jpg

Max

[GP]

Max,  I will see if I can figure it out, might take a while. :D
G.

[Ausimax]

Thanks Gerlinde,

I have stared at it for hours trying to figure out their hand positions, if it were the girls right hand it would work - left hand? That is a little more difficult.

Max

[glennab]

Hi Max

I tried the LAB color method, and it wasn't that effective (obviously I need to get further into the book!).  However, I was able to get a little more detail by duplicating the original layer and running the high pass filter (under Other in Filters) and setting it to overlay.  When you do the high pass, you want to just be able to see the edges of the image (set it at appx. 1). Then decrease the opacity if necessary.  Unfortunately, it worked better on the original than your restoration, because of the amount of grain.  I'm still experimenting.  I discovered that the despeckle filter, under noise, is a very subtle way to eliminate grain without degrading the photo as much as other blurring methods.  You can use it a number of times and still have a fairly distinct image.

Always on a quest for better and/or unique ways to get around these challenges!

G'night!

Glenna

[RosyBijou]

Just did this quick, but these three hands each have 5 fingers and perspectives are plausable...  This is a toughie! 

[GP]

I came kind of to a similar conclusion, allthough I don't think you can see all 5 fingers of each hand. Wir are looking at the left hand of the girl in the white dress,  she has her little finger streched out, her ring finger is on top of moms hand and her middle and index finger are folded into mom's hand. Mom's right hand is resting on blue dress girl's arm, we see only part of her thumb. I'm at a loss at blue girls hands, they could be folded together or just be next to each other. Maybe you could crop the picture and get around the problem that way. Sorry I can't be of more help :(
G.

[Ausimax]

Hi Folks,

Thanks for all your efforts, all those extra eyes are a great help.

Glenna, I checked through channels in every colour mode, there just is no good info there, the original photo is on textured paper and it shows worst where there is damage, so I had to remove the texture.

Kerry, thanks for your good work, Margaret and I have been holding hands all day trying to find a possible solution, we came to much the same conclusion as you, though I did not think of the mothers thumb lying along the little girls arm, now you point it out I can see it in the image and I had not thought of her little finger running along the arm on the other side, that explains the strange bulge the hand has on that side.

GP , you sorted it out also, thanks for your efforts it backs up Kerry's opinion, so I think I can work on trying to create that position, the small girls hands - I don't know - I think I feel a crop coming on.

This is sort of where I am at (or not at) with the rest it, have been doing a rework of the faces, I think they are looking a little better, more like a photo but they seem to have a blurred look - this is one of those that I seem to be going backwards instead of forward.

A very rough image just flattened all my working layers, (the little girls hairline seem very high to me even if her hair is pulled back, but that is where it seems to be in the original)   haven't blended them together yet - but give me your thoughts on it anyway.



Max

[kiska]

Max, don't know if you save color correction for last, but the ladies look a little green to me.