Another first photo restoration

[G3User]

The original


My repair so far


This is my second attempt. I am struggling with colour and texture, particularly on the stairs, any suggestions please
After reading the recommendations for repairs, I have decided to leave some of the damage on the opposite corners. On the bottom right, there is no information about the wall or the ground and the recreated wall and bricks look rather unreal in that area.
The top left is difficult as I am not familiar with the tree, if it was a gum tree it would be easy!

Sure improving my PS skill

Athol

[Hannie]

Hi Athol,

Welcome to the forum, you did a great job on this photo.   :up2:
I like how you got the color right again.  what you did with the bricks looks fine to me, I would repair the wall if I was you, just use the upper part for cloning etc.  I also don't think fixing the tree would interfere too much with the memory of the owner of the picture.

Hannie

[Ratz]

Hi Athol and welcome.
I agree with Hannie that you should repair the wall, I don't think you can go too far wrong by using the upper wall for the repair.
There is very little ground showing in that area, so I would just make it look like concrete or grass, it's a fairly unimportant part of the pic.
As for the tree, I would just draw in some new limbs, it doesn't really matter about the type of tree, that's the beauty of trees, one tangle of limbs pretty much looks like another.
Your bricks look pretty good to me, and the stairs look fine.
You are doing a really nice job on this.

Regards Vicki.

[Mhayes]

Hi Athol,

Welcome to the Forum. I agree with what Vicki said about making it look like either concrete or grass. There will be only a very small part in that lower right hand corner, plus you can also darkened it as shadow.

Margie

[Hannie]

If you look at the lower part of stairs real carefully and then use the lining up of the bricks as a guide, you will see that there is only (if any!) the smallest area of ground visible. 

Hannie

[glennab]

Hi Athol

I can't add anything to what the rest of the crew has advised -- I think they're spot on.  But I want to welcome you to the forum.  It's wonderful to have newbies jumping in.  I guarantee that no matter how savvy you are, you'll learn even more from this fantastic group, and I'm sure we'll learn from you.  Works quite well, I think.

Cheers!

Glenna

[Charlene5]

It was either mess with someone else's photo or go do the laundry and guess which choice won?  I added some brick to your wall.  It's not perfect, but it suggests.  The human eye wants things to be "right" and unless something is obviously wrong it skips over the details.  The funny stuff - the canted perspective, the different brick - doesn't register unless you're looking for it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/13708681@N07/

MJ, another newbie.

[Hannie]

Hi MJ,

A big welcome to you as well!
I like the little shadow where the bricks meet the wall, makes the brick wall less "detached" from the white wall.
Great tip!

Hannie

[glennab]

Welcome, MJ

Your repair of the wall and bricks looks great.

I hope your post and Athol's means that we're about to be inundated with feedback from more newbies!  Our last large group of "new" volunteers is now among OPR's veterans. 

Good to have you with us.

Glenna

[Charlene5]

I've been quietly lurking for about two weeks.  Did a couple of photos, read a lot in the forums, and tried out some new techniques. Thanks for the nice welcome :)

[Tess (Tassie D)]

Welcome Athol & MJ.
You've done really well with your repair Athol. :up:  I think the bricks look pretty good. I had a go at the tree just using the smudge brush and clone for the spaces between the branches. It's almost out of the picture so its not really important whether it's absolutely correct.

[G3User]

Thanks everyone for the comments.
Tassie D, I will repair the tree as you  suggested.
MJ, like your shaddowing and will go for something like it.

Who said that the "medium" damage images should only take 2 hours?

Athol

[rockthumper]

Glad to see fellow newbies posting. Welcome MJ and Athol. :)

Athol - I think your photo will look much better with the surroundings repaired, I'm sure the restriction on not inserting things you can't see was meant for more prominent items. That damage over the cable drum is annoying for one thing - it makes it look like there's a glass dome over it or something.

2 Hour repairs - yeah, in my dreams! 

[G3User]

Excellent call Rockthumper,

When I first looked at the photo I thought it looked like a glazed pot on its side, hence the flare. Recall someone else mentioning that a second opinion with fresh eyes is a help.
Ah well, anothe 15 min on the job.

Athol

[Johnboy]

Welcome Athol and MJ. It is great to have some new folks.

Tassie, I am not sure what all you did besides sketch in some trees because I like your overall color. When I looked at the repaired version my first thought was that it is too blue. Athol you may want to play with the color a little more, and maybe Tassie will share what she tweaked. The skin tones are almost there but everything else seems to have a blue cast to it like it needs some yellow added or the blue reduced.

Johnboy