First OPR Restoration

[zapphnath]

Hey, all.  I'm happy to be a new contributor to this wonderful endeavor.
Being new, however, has left me with limited choices for projects to work on.

I did find one 4X6 photo that I thought I could do something with.  I've only
had it for a couple of days and still have much more nit-picking to do before
it's ready to be returned, but I have a few questions for those who've been
here for a while.  The top photo is the original and you can see what I've managed
to do, so far.  I think his face and her forehead could stand to be brightened
up a little more and I have to finish painting the baby's blanket.

His hand is laying on the baby (you can see the tip of the thumb and the basic
shape of his arm) but I don't think a painted one would look right and one of
the rules is to not use other people's body parts, so I chose to remove it.  I
may try a search to see if I can find a hand in the right configuration to see
if I can replace it without it being too noticeable.  I figured it's better,
though, to not have it, at all, than to have something that's glaringly out-of-place.
Which leads to question one: your opinion, should I put an arm in or leave it out?

Although, as I understand it, cropping is frowned upon, I felt that there simply
wasn't enough of interest in the removed areas to allow the chance of something
I've had to paint back in announcing to the viewer, "Hey, this is a fake!".
Would this kind of crop be acceptable?  Have I cropped it too much?

The baby's face...  One might be left with a different impression as to the baby's
expression when viewing the whole photo.  Closer inspection seems to reveal, however,
that the damage almost melds with the actual photo enough to imply features that
aren't really there.  One might see, in the original, an eye that is squinting as
though the baby was crying and a very large, protruding upper lip.  Removing the
damage to the eye reveals a baby who is at peace with his new surroundings.
The mouth, however, didn't have enough detail, even in the channels, to suggest
more than the most basic shape.  I've had to improvise, with judicious use of the
Dodge and Burn Tools, to recreate the mouth.  What would you do differently.



I love doing this kind of stuff - it's what Photoshop was made for.  It's not so easy
to find projects to work on, though.  This makes an organisation like OPR work in a
mutually beneficial way - the work gets done and I can feed my hunger for this kind
of project.  I'm looking forward to the next batch of photos being released as, I'm
sure, all of you are.  Well, 'nuf sed!

[Ausimax]

Hi Zapphnath,

You have done a good job on this one, cropping is supposed to be a last resort, however when you have recovered all of the really pertinent detail as you have in this image,it is usually OK, better to crop, than try and fake arms and hands that never look realistic.

Drop a post in Dave's office and get him to have a look and give his advice, And Welcome to OPR, it is a great place to work and converse with other dedicated people.

Max

[glennab]

Greetings zapphnath

Welcome to OPR.

What a wonderful gift you're giving to this family with your restoration!  I'd guess that the little guy has just been born.

There are a couple of things I'd address.  One is that I'd leave the puffiness on his right eye, as we look at him and leave the highlights near his nose.  That's more of the original (and newborn) look.  I suspect the baby's upper lip is probably fuller, as well, but that's a tough one to be certain about because of the damage.

I agree with Max that the crop looks fine -- and proportionate to the original photo.  But he's also right that the final okay on that would have to come from Admin.

If you run out of restorations, I'd recommend that you check out threads on the forum to see what other volunteers are doing and catch some of the great tips & tricks offered when anyone has an issue they can't resolve.  You'll be tapping into a wealth of knowledge and experience!

Again, welcome.  I look forward to seeing more of your work!

GG

[pcraft]

Zapphnath, first off, welcome to OPR..  :up:

I believe Dave will be impressed with the work and the crop you've applied to this photo..

I think the left side (our left) of the toddlers blanket could be softened slightly and there's a small circle of skin color on the blanket just below the baby's chin area towards our left side.. I feel you've done an excellent job on this... 

Robert

[Ratz]

Hi Zapphnath,
welcome to OPR! I think the crop looks great and you are doing an excellent job so far.I agree with all the comments made by the other guys, I would keep the puffiness of the eyes also as that gives that new-born look.
Great work....

Vicki.

[zapphnath]

Update:  I took your advice and gave the little bugger a fat lip and a puffy eye.  :up:
I believe I'm getting close to being ready to submit this.  I'll want to take another look at it, tomorrow, of course - "fresh eyes" and all.  Still not too sure about the hand...
Any thoughts?

[glennab]

Hi zapphnath

Awesome job! I think the partial hand looks good. The photo might be a little dark, but Admin determines that and adjusts before printing.

I'd think this family would be thrilled!

GG

[Ratz]

Great job!!! I think this is perfect, I'm sure the family will be over the moon to recieve their photo. Congratulations.

[Dave]

Zapp,

Tremendous effort. You did a great job of working with everyone's suggestion to make an exceptional restoration.
I'm really happy that you're part of the team.

Dave

[zapphnath]

Thanks, everyone, for the kind words and encouragement.  This has been submitted, now, after a little more tweaking (adding some graininess to the new areas, taking a little bit of the harsh detail out of the baby's upper lip, etc.). 
I've printed this out, on my cheapo ink-jet, and it could still handle some color/luminosity adjustments, from what I can see.  It's my understandind, thanks to Glenna, that the admins make final adjustments to prepare for printing (and, I'm sure, they're using a better photo printer), so that shouldn't be a problem.
Thanks, again, and I'm looking forward to the next project.

David