I did a photo restoration- how did I do?

[DVC Jen]

A friend of mine has an old old family photo. It is of her when she was about 5 yrs old. It has her entire family in it - with the exception of her father. She had one photo of him - and that is all. She asked me if I could possibly restore it and add the photo of her father into the family photo.

I told her I would give it my best shot - but I couldn't promise anything.

It is not perfect - but considering this is the first time I have ever tried anything like this and the HORRIBLE condition the original photo was in - I am very happy with the results.

Here is the original photo
http://jenniferd.smugmug.com/photos/333762394_6U5Hi-L.jpg


Here is the restored version
http://jenniferd.smugmug.com/photos/333762379_dmNYV-L.jpg

So - how did I do? OK? Ya think she will be happy with it?

[Amy]

Jen - I think you did a great job restoring that old photo, getting rid of the creases and making it look almost "fresh".

My only comment would be where you added in her dad - my first thought was that he looked almost ghost-like. Could you maybe darken his image a little so it matches the rest of that area of the photo? He looks natural enough to fit in at that spot, and he's sized like everyone else, but he just looks a little too "transparent" to me. If you darken him, no one will ever know that he wasn't part of the original photo.

Otherwise, I think you did a great job!:thumbsup2 I only restored a photo once when I took a Photoshop Elements class, and I remember how hard it was. Yours is excellent!

[DVC Jen]

Jen - I think you did a great job restoring that old photo, getting rid of the creases and making it look almost "fresh".

My only comment would be where you added in her dad - my first thought was that he looked almost ghost-like. Could you maybe darken his image a little so it matches the rest of that area of the photo? He looks natural enough to fit in at that spot, and he's sized like everyone else, but he just looks a little too "transparent" to me. If you darken him, no one will ever know that he wasn't part of the original photo.

Otherwise, I think you did a great job!:thumbsup2 I only restored a photo once when I took a Photoshop Elements class, and I remember how hard it was. Yours is excellent!

Yuppers I totally see what you mean. I will darken him up a bit before I give her the final file.

Thanks. :)

[Experiment_626]

What software did you use?

I think you did a fine job on a difficult photo. I see only a few little tell-tale signs of cloning -- on the ground, on the left side beside the people (if you hadn't posted the original, I wouldn't have sure about that one -- and I do somewhat similar stuff often, so I doubt most people would notice anyway). And what are the small objects on the ground in front? Unless they've been added for a specific reason, I think I'd clone out all but the original one. As far as "Dad" goes, I agree -- the shadows on him need to be a touch darker. But his positioning seems natural and he doesn't seem out of place otherwise.

One thing I cannot tell from the low-res versions, but which you might want to examine -- is the added person of approximately the same sharpness level as the others? How about graininess? It looks fine in the ones you posted, but that is something I always almost forget to check!

SSB

[DVC Eric]

Amazing job looks great.

[DVC Jen]

I used Elements 5 and yeah I can see a lil bit of it on the bottom too. I know it is not perfect at all - when I started I had NO IDEA what I was doing and was only going to "try".

So - all in all I am pretty happy with it - I sent her a copy in email and she is very happy with it. That is what matters most. :)

[fortheluvofpooh]

Jen - I think you did a great job restoring that old photo, getting rid of the creases and making it look almost "fresh".

My only comment would be where you added in her dad - my first thought was that he looked almost ghost-like. Could you maybe darken his image a little so it matches the rest of that area of the photo? He looks natural enough to fit in at that spot, and he's sized like everyone else, but he just looks a little too "transparent" to me. If you darken him, no one will ever know that he wasn't part of the original photo.

Otherwise, I think you did a great job!:thumbsup2 I only restored a photo once when I took a Photoshop Elements class, and I remember how hard it was. Yours is excellent!


yeah, what they said. I think it lookds really nice. I know I could never do that goood. But I too think he looks a little too light.
Lori
Good job though

[jfulcer]

Awesome job!

The left arm of the guy in front of him with the hat - I think it's too sharp. if you compare it to how it looks in the original, it's a lot cleaner (kinda like Experiment 626 mentioned). I'd be tempted to use the smudge tool on that line to blur it a bit.

But awesome job for a first timer!

[Lizziejane]

I think you did great!! I think everyone else has already commented - but really, if you didn't touch it again, I'm sure she'll be thrilled with the results as they are (and why wouldn't she be!)

[dr_zero]

Good Job! :thumbsup2


Its all been said before above so all I can do is agree, good job again though!

[future_imagineer819]

It looks awesome. I was really impressed and didn't notice that her dad was lighter until it was mentioned and then I couldn't not notice it. But I'm still really impressed with it!

[tripodjw]

Very impressed Jen.

Took me a little while to realise that a person had been added, and that was only on close scrutiny to look for your cloned patches. So i guess that means you did a good job.

[thomas998]

I might do a sepia filter to it. A lot of old pictures seem a little more pleasing to people when you use a sepia color in place of the more blue/gray black and white.

[bigphil]

I know who to send my stuff to. Nice work.

[Quicklabs]

I'm betting there will be tears flowing when that special gift is unwrapped. You did a great job!

[DVC Jen]

Thanks everyone. I am gonna go ahead and darken the Dad up a bit - and remove at least two of the three spots on the "grass". I didn't even notice them until they were mentioned here.

I will print out one copy for her and give her the new photo in digital form.

She wants to pay me for this - but I have no idea what to charge.

Has anyone ever had a photo restored before? What did you pay for it?

[JR6ooo4]

I like that you left the character of the original shot. The tilt, the grain etc...

Nice job. It's fun isn't it? On the added gentlemen, maybe some contrast adjustment would help match the overall image.

thanks for sharing,
Mikeeee

[jfulcer]

She wants to pay me for this - but I have no idea what to charge.

Has anyone ever had a photo restored before? What did you pay for it?

Is it a friend? If so, I'd most likely do it under the Pay It Forward (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0223897/) mentality.

You learned something new, it was mostly fun, and it's something that can be considered a skill for a good photographer. Yeah, I'd probably Pay It Forward for this one.

[DisneySuiteFreak]

WOW! :thumbsup2 I think you did an awesome job! :cheer2: