Clothes

[Charlene5]

I coaxed a face (that still needs work) out of the mess but I don't know what to do about his clothes.  All I can see is the neckline and everything else is drooling.  What should I do?
(His sister (to his right) looks as if she's sporting Bose headphones but know that can't possibly be right.)

[Hannie]

I love the Bose headphones!
This photo is so hard to restore, there is important detail lost and it'll never come back. :(
MJ, you ask what you should do, I can only tell you what I would do:  clean up as much as possible without adding new clothes and such.  I would try to pull out as much detail of the faces as I could and then burn the the eyes, nose, mouth and ears a little. (the ones that show anyways)  The rest of the damage I would try to make it stand out less.  I think that is the best way to preserve the memory that is left in the photo.

Hannie

[Mhayes]

You really picked a hard one! I wonder if you could give a very soft outline of his shoulders and fill in where his upper torso is behind the two women. Even though you have nothing to go on for his clothes, filling in with a darker gray would tie them together. Otherwise, he is going to look like a decapitated head floating above. Good for Halloween, but not so good for a family portrait.

[cdm2007]

Hi...if I can offer my two cents worth...

As it looks (to me) like any image data from his clothes is lost, you could assume that he's wearing typical clothing for the period (i.e., collared pullover shirt with waistcoat) and composite a subtle example in.  Then, bring out as many details available from his face and the neighboring subjects to focus attention away from what he's wearing.

Best,
Chris

p.s.  If the woman to his right has Bose headphonse, he needs to have an iPod or something similar.  ;)

[Ratz]

Charlene, it looks like the little girl has a bobbed hair cut and is wearing a wide, white headband.
As to the clothes...could be anything!

[schen]

Speaking for myself, if I were the owner of the picture, I would like to have them fully clothed, any reasonable clothing for the period.

The woman on the right has the Y shape cord for the iPod ear buds  :funny:

[Charlene5]

Thank you everyone.  I shall try some options and ask your opinion again.  Mar, you put wicked ideas in my head :)  How about I clean up around his head, attach a nice string, and pretend he's a mylar balloon?

[Mhayes]

Charlene, it would appear that this photo has caused you to hit the bottle. Go with the string and Mylar balloon idea and we will all be seeing rule number 119 forbidding its use. Afterwards it will make the rest of us nostalgic for the good old days and the vignette. Good Luck!

[Tess (Tassie D)]

 :funny:  Uh oh, another great idea that will get banned.  >:D