I need help on a challenging restore.

Octavia Larkspur · September 29, 2013, 06:16:53 PM

This is only my second OPR photo I am working but I think I picked something very, very challenging for my skill level. What do you do when you have to create something out of nothing in a photo? I have a photo of a family on a beach and there are two things left that are vexing me! The boy's shirt is nonexistent due to damage. It's a blue shirt with yellow lettering. I can guess what the shirt could be but I can't be sure. Do you ever fill in the gaps with similar photos found on the internet? I have no idea how to replace his shirt.

Next, the woman in the photo has a sweater on. But her body is mostly obscured by the damage. Do I just guess what her shape was like? It's a patterned sweater so do I just guess what the shapes on the sweater looked like? How do I replace a whole sweater!?

What's the most important thing when restoring a photo; making it look presentable or making it look accurate? I really really need help from anyone. This photo is killing me! Thank you.

-Stephanie

Tess (Tassie D) · September 30, 2013, 01:54:17 AM

Hi Stephanie, it helps if you upload the original and a progress photo, shown here step by step. http://www.operationphotorescue.org/forum/index.php/topic,2002.0.html

Mhayes · September 30, 2013, 02:28:44 AM

Hi Stephanie,

QuoteThe boy's shirt is nonexistent due to damage. It's a blue shirt with yellow lettering. I can guess what the shirt could be but I can't be sure. Do you ever fill in the gaps with similar photos found on the internet? I have no idea how to replace his shirt.

You borrow the upper part of his shirt that is good and create the rest. I'm not sure there is yellow lettering, but rather yellow streaks of damage. No you do not fill in gaps with similar photos found on the Internet and if you do it will be rejected.

QuoteNext, the woman in the photo has a sweater on. But her body is mostly obscured by the damage. Do I just guess what her shape was like? It's a patterned sweater so do I just guess what the shapes on the sweater looked like? How do I replace a whole sweater!?

Same answer as the other and it really is not going to be easy. The woman's hair that is damaged on your right you can borrow from the left. This is where doing layer masks is going to come in handy.

QuoteWhat's the most important thing when restoring a photo; making it look presentable or making it look accurate? I really really need help from anyone. This photo is killing me! Thank you.

You want it to look as close to the original as you can. However, if too much information is missing than you do the best you can. This isn't a case of retouching to make the photo look good without keeping to what is actually there. I can't tell by the extension posted the size of this photo and downloading didn't help either. I would get back with your distributor and see if perhaps the photo could be cropped in some. If the distributor/QC agree to a crop, let them decide and download the new version to you. That way we will have the new original in the file to compare to the finished restore. What saves this photo from being a non restore is that the faces are still intact.

I admire your tackling a really hard photo, but when you are looking at one where you really don't know where to start; I would suggest giving it back and doing one not as far gone. With something closer to your skill level will help you build more confidence and work your way up to the hard ones.

Tess posted your original and should you decide to work on it, please post your progress so that we can answer your questions. Good Luck!

Margie

Octavia Larkspur · October 02, 2013, 08:35:39 PM

Thank you so much for all the help. After the previous comments I scrapped what I started originally and started over. Here is what I have done so far. I need to work on the woman's sweater obviously and the boy's shirt. There are a few other things that need sprucing like the continuity of the sand. Thought? Comments? Advice? (I hope you can view the image from my link. I was a little unsure of how to upload a photo here.) -Stephanie

Octavia Larkspur · October 02, 2013, 08:36:24 PM

Here's that link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/larktavia/10061066746/

Pat · October 02, 2013, 10:09:36 PM

It's much easier for others to help you if you can add your photo to your forum post. The following link may help:

http://www.operationphotorescue.org/forum/index.php/topic,2002.0.html

Pat

Tess (Tassie D) · October 02, 2013, 10:40:19 PM

You need to choose 'Grab the HTML/BBCode' and make sure the BBCode button is ticked to link from Flickr.
Only people with a Flickr account can see your photo from the direct link.

Octavia Larkspur · October 03, 2013, 01:54:35 PM

Hopefully everyone can see this upload:

Like I said, I need to work on the t-shirt, her sweater, and touch up the sand and some other minor things. I could use any advice right now.
Thank you so much!
-Stephanie

Octavia Larkspur · October 09, 2013, 06:27:45 PM

Thanks for your help. While I have progressed on this, if anyone wants to add to the suggestions, especially on the t-shirt, please do so. I am getting a stomach ache looking at it. :-\

-S

Chris. · October 09, 2013, 11:31:20 PM

Hi,

I might would try adding some light shadows for where the arm sleeve(s) would be, this would define his arms abit and break up the blue abit, just a thought. :)

Tori803 · October 09, 2013, 11:44:53 PM

Restoring photos with damage like this usually involves a lot of trial and error. It's not uncommon to have to back up to a previous stage. It's best to work as non-destructively as you can with layers and masks. But don't let it the damage intimidate you. If there is no detail to be found on a separate layer, you just have to create the most likely look from the good parts that are available in the photo. It's time-consuming but does work. :up:

Tori