Recently at a tag sale, I saw these two photos that were seriously damaged by age and poor storage. I had hoped with PS 2024, I could try and restore the images. My best success came by pinning the corners of the warped photos with Alien Tape to concrete. There was cloud cover and little or no wind. Using my 7D Mark II and the ED 24-105mm Canon set on timer and a tripod, I bracketed the photos. After some intense trials with various PS settings, you can see the results. I do know the couples were from Texas, but I do not know who they were or the dates. As you can tell, I did not honor the full beard of the man in the first photo and both the face of the man and woman are too dark. If any UHH sees accurate personal family identifications from the photos, please let me know. Never waste a day!
Nice work! Do you think they deserve a different background. Even a light gray might be better than a harsh white.
bsprague wrote:
Nice work! Do you think they deserve a different background. Even a light gray might be better than a harsh white.
I agree. And the first one looks too dark, especially against the stark white background.
That's a good start , but there are no white backgrounds in old photos like these
If you use a bit of sepia tone, lower global contrast and increase local contrast, and dodge the faces
you will be very close.
Now if you like the white background, ignore what I said........
terryMc
Loc: Arizona's White Mountains
Consider using a scanner for these, or re-orienting the camera to eliminate the distortion. Also, consider cleaning up the backgrounds instead of replacing them.
bsprague, Thanks for your suggestion on the background.
JohnSwanda, I appreciate your review and suggestion.
MJPerini, All your suggestions are helpful. I will spend some more time on the photos.
terryMc, The photos are too large for me to scan. I like your idea for the background.
CaltechNerd, You are in the minority in liking the edited photos. Thanks for your review.
Don, the 2nd son, Thanks for your advice. I will try and determine some way to gray the background.
Barn Owl, The Reigning expert on photo restoration is probably Ctein (he only uses one name)
Here is his book:
https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Restoration-Start-Finish-Photographs/dp/1138940259He also has a website.
If you are interested in eliminating distortion, here is a trick get a small flat (back & front) mirror perhaps 2x3" place it in the center of the picture to be copied on the floor. When you see your lens in the mirror you are centered and parallel to the plane of the picture. Remove the mirror, take the picture.
Remember, if the goal is to have the final result look like an old picture in good condition, so no masking and background removal etc.
Good luck
bdk
Loc: Sanibel Fl.
I have edited a lot of water damaged photos. I scan them or shoot them with the camera. I edit and remove the water marks, the rips etc, I do not change background etc. where I live a lot of people lost a lot of photos to flooding . I do my best to create restored photos for them.
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