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12/12/2004 08:56:05 AM · #1 |
I have been doing a few restorations for people to give for christmas. Was curious if you think they will be pleased with this one or not? She wanted me to just take the face with the open eyes and put it in the one with them together. That photo was so over exposed, so I decided to instead put him in the other one. I took out the strong shadow on his side and I'm not sure if I should have?
Befores  
After 
Here's another one I did that took some time. Her face was really messed up. Comments welcome on this one too, but they were pleased.
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12/12/2004 09:12:17 AM · #2 |
WOW! I'm impressed!
I've spent some time working on some restorations, one very badly damaged one in particular that I just cannot get to work, and I know how much work this is, but my goodness, your first "after" photo is just wonderful.
The second one is good too.
Nice work all the way around, I'm sure anyone who sees these is going to be more than pleased.
Linda |
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12/12/2004 09:22:39 AM · #3 |
The photo restoration or repair business is a missed opportunity for several "hobbyist" photographers. IMO it provides access to income while demanding time spent with editing tools. Kind of a "get paid to learn".
Nice work. |
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12/12/2004 09:33:31 AM · #4 |
Photo restoration is probably where I make the most income when it comes to photography.
Here are a couple of war pics I did. My grandfather is actually in this photo. He is the one on the very bottom.
Before...
After...
Here is 2 more... My father and his siblings are in this one. He is the 2nd one down on the right.
Before...
After...
Message edited by author 2004-12-12 09:39:51. |
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12/12/2004 09:49:48 AM · #5 |
Hi Bren - first off let me just say wow! You did an awesome job! As a genealogist I can appreciate the level of difficulty in restoring old photos.
In the first set, definitely stick with your original idea of removing the shadow from the male figure. The shadow in the original doesn't do anything to improve the photo and the fact that it is missing the new version isn't noticeable unless you are looking for it. You still have the shadow of the dress on the pants leg, so it still looks very natural. It was the right choice to insert him into the second photo for the reasons you mentioned.
In the second set, again, a great job. One thing you may not have realized is that the darker background on the woman's side is likely caused by the damage to the original print. I could be wrong here, but I would guess that this photo probably was stuck in a box somewhere for several years and partially overlapped with another photo which caused the uneven fading, and the damage to the woman's face caused by someone "unsticking" them years later. When it was first shot it is almost certain that the background did not have such a tonal distinction. What you may want to consider now that you fixed it all up is selecting a midtone and evening out the background. You won't want the woman's dress to disappear into a light background, but the original probably wasn't quite as dark as the restoration. One cue that I use is to look at other (undamaged) photos from the same photography studio to see what background was commonly used. Sometimes the family has other pictures from the same period. Otherwise, if you know the studio name, there are lots of websites out there that could help identify this especially if it was taken in a larger city. They are more geared to genealogy and focus on dating old photographs (ie. this photography studio was in business from 1906 to 1911), but it still could provide you with some clues should you care to take it that far.
No matter what you do now, I just know that your family will treasure these restorations. Please be sure to write - in pencil - on the back of your new print the names of the subjects, the fact that it is a restoration, the approximate date the original was shot (if known) and the date of the restoration for any future genealogists in your family! :) |
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12/12/2004 10:06:00 AM · #6 |
Hi Bren,
Great job you did on both pictures!!
Just a few tiny things I noted (or maybe it's just my monitor?)
On the first "after" picture 2 things bothered me:
1. The man's thumb looks as if it is going through the woman's arm. If it's not just my monitor then maybe you can just try to harden a little the shadow of his fingers that fall on her arm.
2. I think you did right taking off the man's shadow, but I think you took just a little bit too much. Now it looks as if the man and the woman has different sources of light on them cause each one has a different size of shadow. Maybe you can try to lower the woman's shadow a bit.
The second picture is a whole lot more WOW!!! You actually drew almost all of the woman's face! That's amazing!!! Just a little thing, I think her left eye (my left) looks a bit smaller or higher then her right eye.
But you did an excellent job! It's really impressive!!
Edit: typos, as usual...
Message edited by author 2004-12-12 10:08:12.
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12/12/2004 02:40:22 PM · #7 |
Nice work Bren and Vince. Here's one I did for my wife's family for Christmas. The original was 2 x 3 inches approx.; I pushed the envelope a little but managed to get a half way decent 8 x 10. I gave it a touch of sepia also.
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 After
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12/12/2004 06:59:32 PM · #8 |
Thanks so much for all the comments and suggestions on these. I have done quite a bit of this type work through the last couple of years and have found if they let you also get the prints for them, there is some descent money in it.
These are not my family but ones I have done for clients. I am hoping that these will bring me some more business. I really enjoy doing it. I also enjoy colorizing old photos and have been commissioned to do some of it too.
I am going to play with the top one some more after getting some suggestions. Again thanks for looking and making suggestions. |
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