A bit stuck with B/W recovery

[ph0t0sh0pp3r]

My third Photo-project is a black and white one:



So far I came to this point:



I now start to realize that b/w is harder then I thought.
Maybe someone can help me with some hints, tips or techniques?

[Closecrop]

The good news is most of the problem is with reconstructing architecture and foliage. My suggestion would be move in close with the rubber stamp tool and start borrowing detail from the surrounding area. There is plenty of detail for the building, grass and the trees.
You can even rebuild the couple of faces this way.
The man with the missing shirt could be filled in borrowing from another man.
Looks like you'll have to work with a small brush size (4-5 pix) until you grow the area.
Good luck

[Tori803]

There's a lot of work to be done on this one, so I would recommend not trying to do it all in one sitting. Start with something you already have a technique in mind to use. For instance, I'd do the man with the missing shirt first, as suggested, by borrowing the shirt from the guy in the center back. Once he's right, you'll see what needs to be healed, cloned, or borrowed to fix the trim on the car behind him. When it comes to the building I'd start on the bottom and work up. You've probably noticed that siding on the window side doesn't line up exactly with the siding on the other side, so watch out that you don't change that because it would probably look artificial (not original, or 'photoshopped' in the bad sense). Mostly it will be doing a bit at a time, then taking a break before you go cross-eyed. But at least the essential information is still there.

[ph0t0sh0pp3r]

Just took the image piece by pice, all went well (especially the forrest/grass) except the house itself was a bit hard to recover. But I'm happy with the end-result:

[Hannie]

Great restore ph0t0sh0pp3r!  :up2:
Sometimes when I print B/W photos I notice that while they look good in Photoshop, the print seems a little dark and lacking detail.  I up the brightness some (taking goodcare not to blow out any whites).  The image looks a little crisper but now I had to smooth out the boards of the house some.

Hannie

[Pat]

Nice tip Hannie.

Great job ph0t0sh0pp3r.  I'm sure the family will treasure this photo through many more generations.

Pat

[jesterjeni]

well done! the family will be very happy !

[Closecrop]

Great job.