Seeking advice, speculation, whatever

[lurch]

I'm part way through restoring this photo (reconstructing is more like it!) and need some input from the eagle-eye crew.



Here's the blue channel for this one:



And here's the 'luminance' copy I've been working on:



My questions: 1) What's that trapezoidal thingy? A miniature piano, maybe? 2) Looks like straps, maybe for a backpack, but I can't find anything they might be attached to. Just damage, inconveniently shaped? 3) I'm tempted to ignore this blob of schmutz. Thoughts?

The photo has already been cropped. I'm proposing to take more off the bottom. One more hand, even just the wrist end, would be too much. :crazy: Gotta say this one has been an enjoyable challenge, though.

[Mhayes]

Lurch, I think you have done a great job! I wouldn't worry what the one present is under the tree as you have enough of an outline that the people will know--maybe. I agree about maybe cropping a little more off the bottom.

Margie

[Tess (Tassie D)]

I'm with Margie on this. Its impossible to tell what it is so just leave it there. I don't think its anything important.
It's looking really good. :up:

[lurch]

So the verdict on the straps is they stay, sort of disembodied. Now about the trapezoid and the blob . . .

[Hannie]

Lurch, I would ignore the blob and leave the trapezoid as it is.
I have a question, when you say "luminance copy" is that the levels/curves adjusted version of the blue channel in luminance mode?
It looks really good!

Hannie

[lurch]

Thanks, Hannie.

The short answer to your question is yes, sort of. Here's what I actually did:

IGNORE THIS UNTIL I GET IT FIXED . . .

1) Starting with the original, run a color correction curve. I find curves easier and more flexible than levels, though others may prefer the latter. The key is to get black, white, and one or more gray points set right.
2) On the color-corrected image, add a black/white adjustment layer at default settings.
3) Making sure the color corrected layer is selected and the visibility icon on the BW adjustment layer is on (so what you see is a gray-scale image), duplicate the blue channel to a new document. That's the beginning of my 'luminance copy'. Keep the color-corrected document open and leave the image mode of the gray-scale one at rgb..
4) Switch to the new document and add a curves adjustment layer. Adjust the curve, in key places like dark point, light point, and skin tones, to match this luminance copy to the gray-scale image made from the color-corrected original. Since the blue channel is usually pretty noisy you could run a touch of noise removal here. I didn't - just copied the faces from the green channel, which was nice and clean except where it was cruddy (and the green channel's tonality is very close to what skin should be). You also want to match the luminosity of strong colors, like Mom's bathrobe. Couldn't do that with the curve, had to clone that.

Those steps done, I had my main working document set up. Lots of words to describe a process that really didn't take that long.

5) Switch back to the color-corrected original. Turn off visibility on the BW adjustment layer (you could just throw it away, but I kept it around for reference). Keep the gray-scale document open.
6) Add a new layer, set to luminosity mode. With that layer selected, go to image>apply image and apply the merged rgb channel from the luminance document in normal mode.
7) Add another new layer, set to color mode. Here's where I paint over stains with a brush set to color using colors sampled from good spots nearby.

Now I can go to work, restoring and rebuilding the luminance copy. For me, working on a gray-scale image is much easier than trying to correct tone and color at the same time. Periodically, I switch to the color image and, using apply image, transfer my progress to its luminosity layer. Then I paint over stains on the color layer. I always keep both documents open and refer frequently to various original bits.

So that's your long answer. Heavens, this turned into an all-out tutorial. Oh well - if it helps you or anyone else, it was worth it. Hope I didn't muddy the water too much.

[Hannie]

Hi Lurch,

Thanks so much for the tutorial, it isn't muddy at all!
I can't wait to try all your suggestions out on one of my restores that I have been postponing for a while now.
(If I run into any obstacles I will post and ask for help)

:hug:

Hannie

[glennab]

Hi Lurch,

Your explanation of working with luminosity is a wealth of information.  I think it should be copied into our tutorial section.  Thanks for taking the time to lay it all out for us.  It's going into my files!

Cheers,

GK

[lurch]

Here's the maybe-final color version. Thanks to all for input. Fixed what I could make out; finessed on what I couldn't. Any further observations welcome.

[Hannie]

Lurch it looks amazing!

:up2:

Hannie

[Tori803]

Wow! :wow:

[lurch]

The final has gone home. Thanks to all for your comments.

Hannie and Glenna (and anyone else who was interested) - I've discovered some serious mistakes in the tutorial description of doing a 'luminosity restoration'. Tried to follow it in my own workflow and found that wasn't the way I'd done it. Please ignore that version. I'll get it corrected and post it in the tutorial section.

[Hannie]

Lurch, I bookmarked your tutorial but will wait a while before I have a go at it!

Thanks,

Hannie