Shhhhh

[Tess (Tassie D)]

Where is everyone. I keep tiptoeing in here and everyone is MIA. Must all be enjoying the summer sun.  :cool:

[Hannie]

Now why did have to wake me up?   :funny:

You are right about the weather though, better go back and sleep some more in the sun on my little balcony!

:loveit:

Hannie

[glennab]

Bad, bad Tess!

Max will be dismayed that you're keeping the Kraken awake!

I have to admit, I'm wondering where the crew is as well.  I don't remember the forum ever being this quiet.  Must be the summer doldrums (at least in the US).  IT'S HOT AND MUGGY!  ARGHHHHH!

Stay cool, or warm depending on where you are, and let us know you're okay!

Cheers

GK

[Mhayes]

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh is not what is needed right now. I am thinking grab a trash can lid and start banging it and making all the noise in the world to get attention. Yes, right now the Forum seems to be quieter than usual, although there are some members who have contacted me to let me know where they are. One of our members has left to be with his brother who is dying. Others are teachers who are busy trying to get ready for school and there are the really lucky ones who are taking a summer vacation and traveling the country. One of those members drops a line when she can and other times she has no satellite signal from the campground where she is staying--a rare type of peace and quiet!

Our website has a slight decline since about April, but the worst month by far was January of this year. In order to get the word out to more of our membership; I plan to have a newsletter sent out to all OPR members. There are also plans in the works for more web improvements and different ways to get more traffic to our website. A good bit of news is that Matt Kloskowski will be giving a workshop at Photoshop World on "Photoshop Restoration Rescue." Matt said that he would be happy to mention OPR during the lecture.

I am open to ways to help us grow and get the word out. The Forum is a wonderful place to interact, but I realize that there are a great many members who never check in and prefer to work quietly behind the scenes. There are others who sign up and either don't pick a photo to restore or never return the one they took. Communication is vital, but it is a two way street where the volunteer needs to respond.

OPR is what it is today because of all of you that restore photo after photo. Without your help and pointers, many a member would have dropped out in discouragement. We desperately need more members to come back and help with the backlog and new member to add to our family. Currently we are looking at a backlog of over 2,000+ photos. Unless we can get more volunteers working on photos, OPR will not be in any position to help other disaster areas.

Margie

[glennab]

Margie, I think a newsletter is a great idea.  We are, after all, a community, and it would be great to know of anything important that's happening within our group.

Do you suppose Matt Kloskowski would make a video of his workshop available to those of us who can't make it to Photoshop World but would appreciate the information? Maybe to post on the forum for OPR members only?

Of the restorations still to be done, what percentage would you say are easy?  Is it better to grab the easy ones and get them through the system as quickly as possible or work on the more difficult ones if we feel we can handle them, even though they take longer?  I've never really gotten a handle on that.  I like to work on the difficults and leave the easier restorations for people who are more comfortable with the less daunting ones.  But if jamming on the easier ones would be more helpful, I could do that as well.  I see many images in the galleries that are so difficult as to be almost impossible.  Where do they and the lengthy process of getting them repaired fit in?

I'd like to see an effort made to organize local chapters that can be available and prepared to make a copy run if needed.  I know that'll add to our backlog, but I keep thinking about the prediction of many hurricanes this season and how many photos could be lost without our help.  If nothing else, I've wondered how to get word out to people to not throw away their damaged treasures and explain how to preserve them, so that hopefully we could get to them eventually. Who was most responsive when you needed publicity for the runs you've made?

The ever-inquisitive GK.

[Mhayes]

Glenna, I'm not sure whether Matt Kloskowski would have a video to put on the OPR website. I do think that NAPP probably will have DVDs of portions of Photoshop World. That question would probably be a good one to run through NAPP.

It is hard to say what percentage of photos left fall into the easy category, but usually out of each family there are easy ones to be had. My feeling is to do what you like and a lot of times easy photos brings back the fun of restoring photos. Plus, if you can crank out more of the easy ones, go for it.

One problem that I see happening when some photos stay in our gallery too long and if there are no new ones added, people loose interest and don't check back in. This is a Catch-22 problem! Because we do not sent out finished photos until all of a families photos are back in, the galleries are held to a certain limit in the hopes that the numbers will go down. With four galleries going, there are a wide range of photos as far as difficulty. I would love to add more new photos, but I am faced with the possibility of photos that will be forever passed up. If a photo is too difficult to restore, we will then let the family know that some photos could not be restored. I've also noticed that as whole, studio photos are the choice for restoring over normal snapshot photos. I too love these and the very old photos, but sometimes even though that snapshot leaves a lot to be desired in image quality, it means the world to that family.

I totally agree about having local chapters that would be able to organize and set up a copy run. At the present time, we just don't the membership to do it. With fuel cost rising, this will be the way to go.

I think all of the news media have been very receptive to covering our copy runs. At the last run in Winona, the TV and local newspaper coverage was great! Getting the word out on how to preserve photos seems to be a word of mouth thing.  Hopefully at some point, we might be able to have a place on our website on how to persevere photos and also the importance of saving them in a safe and secure spot.

Margie

[hoodman3]

My 2 cents on what Glenna said about choosing difficult photos and leaving the easier ones for others.

In the beginning I always chose photos I knew I could handle. Now I've moved up a bit and learned new techniques that give me more confidence with some of the more difficult restores. That being said, they take a lot of time and I agonize over every little detail and it delays getting the photos back to OPR. Many times I've thought about "jamming on" a handful of easier restores and get them back to OPR on time and angst free.
Glenna, maybe we should take the easier ones every so often to maintain fresh eyes.

Pete

[glennab]

Pete, I can tell that you deal with the same dilemma I do.  I want the challenges, but it is nice once in a while to grab a couple that can be done quickly and easily and help with the backlog.  Personally, I like working on the snapshots when I'm looking for easier ones.  As Margie mentioned, they're not necessarily of the quality we see in the studio portraits, but they're still precious to their owners, and the lack of perfection often makes them a breeze.

Margie, if only one or two restorations are holding up a family's order, maybe a general request could go out to volunteers to work on those specifically to expedite the process.

As for Matt's workshop, it might be worth contacting NAPP.  Larry Becker, the executive director, is very receptive to requests from OPR.  He and I had several back-and-forth e-mails about my placing in the forum the color correction tutorial from a seminar I'd attended, and he's a peach of a guy.  And as a matter of fact, he said that if we had a specific issue with the restorations (i.e. texture, spots, etc.), we could request that one of the gurus address it for us.  Worth considering when we come across a muck machine miracle that baffles everyone.  He said they're too busy to address a large number of individual questions, but if we asked as an organization we might get a response.

Cheers!

GK

[Johnboy]

I am glad to know that I am not the only one noticing a reduction in forum chatter. I figured that with so many photos out there that everyone was busy. I know I haven't check in as often lately. I was surprised my news article about the escaped zoo animals in the Netherlands didn't get more reaction.

I know I haven't done that many photos. I am usually on the look out for the easier ones. Of course what looks easy in the gallery turns out not quite that way in high resolution. Anyway we all have had those. Extra muck from the machine and pig bristles.

Right now I am involved with my vegetable garden which I got in late. I may get tomatoes & peppers by late August. I also picked up a part-time seasonal job at a local garden store which was thought to end at the end of May. I am still going although the work is starting to taper off.

While I am here can anyone point me to a good tut on painting and colorizing? This is one area I have no experience but would like to expand my skills. Then I might be able to step into more dangerous territory.

Keep up the chatter.

Johnboy

[Tess (Tassie D)]

Hi Johnboy. I found this tut http://www.photoshopsupport.com/tutorials/or/hand-tinting.html Someone else may have a better one?

[Johnboy]

Thanks Tess. I have added it to my OPR bookmark folder. I took a quick look but will get into it another day as it is getting late for tonight. I did a search for Photoshop CS and found a technical painting tut on the same site. The sample they were showing is a cruise ship. I'll dig on the site more later. Thanks again.

Johnboy

[Mhayes]

Tess, nice tut on hand tinting. Johnboy, there was a nice tutorial in Photoshop Creative magazine some time back on "Colour B & W photos, which was similar to what is in Katrin Eismann's book Photoshop Restoration & Retouching. However, this article has some really neat tips that enhanced the photo even more. I will try to find a good photo and see if I can demonstrate.

Margie

[Hannie]

Tess, I like the Photoshop tut on tinting, have to practice that a little more!

Thanks for sharing,

Hannie

[klassylady25]

http://www.worth1000.com/tutorial.asp?sid=161018

Here's the one that I use.

[Hannie]

Can't wait to try that one!

Hannie