LittleC - ongoing...

[videosean]

I'm just starting on this trying to define some areas that aren't clear.  Anyone care to give me their idea about what's in front of the woman?  I suppose it could be a watermelon but there's a voice in my head telling me :huh:
I also think it looks as if the man is wearing gloves of some kind...

[Dave]

Vid,

I can see why you'd think it was a watermelon, but that just can't be right. Best guess is that she's holding a baby that looks like a watermelon. Maybe it's shaped that way, because it's wrapped in blankets or watermelon shaped blankets.

I suppose I could be a little less help, but I'm tired. Good luck with it.

Dave

[OPRAng]

It's a Boy! Or a Girl! In either case, I vote baby! If you are used to looking at pregnancy ultrasounds you can use those skills to pick out baby parts here too. There's a head and both arms showing...And and ton of blanket (although you rarely see blankets in ultrasound pictures)...

Good luck with the restoration!

Angela

[Kenny]

Vid,

I can see why you'd think it was a watermelon, but that just can't be right.

Wow, it really does look like a watermelon. But a watermelon that size would be heavy enough she might be able to hold it like that, but she wouldn't be smiling about it  ;D

I'm guessing it's some sort of bassinet or something like a basket to carry a  baby in.


Kenny

[Julie M.]

The man is definitely wearing gloves--they're the same tone/texture as the darker parts of the photo and end cleanly, so it's not dirt.

The baby is looking towards the woman; we're mostly seeing the back of his/her head. You can see the baby's raised right arm from the elbow onward, and the left hand (curled into a little fist).

-Julie

[GP]

Dave, right on :up: I could have not said it any better!
Sorry videosean, but this threat is just too funny   :funny:
But serious, I think this is a picture of a christening or something down that line, so the baby might be dressed up for that occasion. And I have to disagree about the gloves, I think his hands just look very dark because they are in the shadow. You picked a real hard one, this will need allot of work.
I'm glad you are back Kenny! I missed you  :loveit:

Gerlinde

[glennab]

Hi!

I think you're looking at a swaddled baby.  Usually the baby is wrapped tightly in several blankets, which is supposed to make them feel secure.  However, good luck with the features.  You've picked a tough one!


GG

[videosean]

Wow you guys are awesome :)  I still can't see the baby but in the back of my head I figured that's what it was.  If the man is wearing gloves then that means it's cold and the baby is wrapped up in a ton of blankets and it at least makes sense... gloves = possibly winter = definitely not watermelon season ;)

If I keep struggling to find the baby I might post again with a rough drawing of where I think the features are.  Of course I thought this didn't look so hard when it was smaller in the gallery :-[

[kiska]

REALLY don't think the man is wearing gloves. Light colored jacket, open collar on Mom. It's warm.

[glennab]

Hi Sean

I copied your photo and looked at it in LAB and CMYK modes.  In both you can pick out a little more detail, though not a lot.  I agree with everyone's assessment that the baby is facing toward mom.  I can barely make out a tiny ear, and the arms are out of the blankets.

In looking through the channels, and based on the clothing on the rest of the family, I'd say the man isn't wearing gloves.  His hand is not well defined anywhere, but as you look through the channels it seems apparent that his hands aren't covered.

Hope this helps.  Some of these are so tough (and you picked a doozy) that it's like the blind leading the blind!  Everyone sees something different.  I find, though, that the comments give different perspectives that help you discern more and more.

You're a brave soul to take on this one!

GG

[videosean]

Seriously, I wouldn't be able to consider doing this without the input y'all have given!  I did finally find the baby but I never would have without you guys!  I showed it to a coworker today and he picked it out no problem and now I can't imagine how I missed it to begin with.
I'm with ya on the open collar = no gloves and warm, especially once I saw the baby's head sticking out.  It's probably the odd fuzzy looking texture (similar on faces too) as well as how dark his hands are making me think that.  Then there's also the kid's coat... just so many not-so-small details I'm debating in my head.

I've made some rough outlines of what I think I can figure out.  Theres the part I did in red near the leg end of the baby that I'm wondering if it could be a hand (mother's left?) or maybe the end of a sleeve.  I've been trying to come to a conclusion about the mother being in front or behind the kid on dad's shoulder and I think she has to be in front in order to be holding the baby properly.  The area where mom & kid come together is tough... almost looks as if his arm could be on her shoulder and covering part of her but I think that would be a physically awkward pose.  I think that regardless the green line for her left shoulder is wrong though, should be lower and just go with the line that's already in the image with a collar sticking up.

The more I look at it the more worried I get LOL  No way am I going to try and add detail that isn't there to begin with - I've never been good at drawing people and animals anyway...  just try and clean up what I can see for sure.  It looks like it was a fuzzy image to begin with.  :(

Thanks again VERY much to everyone for the input on the baby :)

[GP]

Hi videosean,
I'm glad that you are now able to see the baby. This photo is really tough to deal with. I have done a couple of those old photos with a lot of damage and not much detail, so I know what you are up against. I found that it helps a lot sometimes to zoom out of the picture and look from a distance at it. These old photos are not very sharp to begin with and now they are scanned in ( photographed ) at a high resolution much higher than they naturally are. This has just the opposite effect than it would be with a modern high resolution image, you get less detail ( or let's say to much detail) not more. I wish you good luck with this and can hardly wait to see it when it is finished.

G.

[videosean]

I'm back for more eyeballs if nobody minds :)
I'm still debating where the kid's arm goes.  Looks more like it should be in front of the mother to me than behind.
Still can't quite figure out all the... stuff near the foot of the baby to the left of dad's hand.
Discovered some kind of structure beneath the baby.
The rough painting of the background is definitely not final... nor the color or contrast for that matter.  Just steps I take (in separate  layers of course) to help take away some distrations.

With outlines

Without

[Kenny]

I'd say the child's arm is in front of the mother. It looks like the dad is holding his arm, just above the wrist.

I wouldn't agonize over the stuff around the baby. There's not really enough detail there to pull anything out, IMO. I'd just clean those areas up and leave them looking subdued. You don't want anything there jumping out and stealing focus away from the rest.

Looking really good so far, though.


Kenny  :)

[glennab]

Hi Sean

I'd agree with Kenny that the little boy's arm is over mom's shoulder.  I think the white that's below the baby is part of the blanket or the bottom of a christening dress, as there is some evidence of draping near the baby.  I can barely make out what look like booties sticking out of the blanket, but the bottom area of the blanket is such a mess that I'm not sure exactly where they begin and end.

'Fraid I can't be much more help than that (if that's even help!).  I will say that you've already pulled out much more detail than I would have thought possible. Super job!

GG