Is the enemy of good better?

[philbach]

I thought it would be a good idea to post this.   The "Original" is the photo that was posted on the OPR site.  It has fingerprints and speckles.  It is somewhat out of focus and it has a yellow cast.  So what did the original photo look like before it was damaged?  Did the undamaged photo have a yellow cast or is the yellow damage from the flooding?
ORIGINAL:


This photo is a gentle restore.  Curves, global color correction, and spot removal.
GENTLE RESTORE:


This final photo is a more aggressive restore increasing the contrast and removing background haze to show the sign. 

AGGRESSIVE RESTORE



So what is better?  A gentle restore or a more aggressive  restore which probably goes beyond the original photo?

[Mhayes]

Phil,

Thanks for posting your examples. Yes, the original has a yellowish cast and that is probably due to either age, flooding, or both. Keep in mind that all of these photos were brought in because they were flood damaged. I get a little nervous when you start doing a global color correction, because I see what happens in your aggressive restore. In the aggressive restore, you can see how the colors in the corn field towards the back are showing the green deteriorating, the sky is purple, and the brush on your right has gone from a brown to a red. What you are trying to do is get a good contrast which I understand, but in doing your aggressive restore you are skewing the colors. The contrast really sharpens things up, but some things are best not overly darken, for example the cinder blocks are getting pretty dark.

With either a Levels Adjustment (each channel), Curves, or a gray point in Curves is a good starting point. From there if you want to increase your contrast, work on specific areas on separate layers. Masking will help.

The question of whether to do a "gentle restore" or a "more aggressive restore" almost sounds like an ad for a laxative. I would say gentle is always better, rather than a blown out of the saddle approach.

Margie

[philbach]

Hey Marge a very nice and might I say entertaining post.  Thanks.  :wnw:

[Mhayes]

Phil, you are welcome.  ;)

Margie