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#1 of 179 Posted Oct-28 8:58 AM

From Nancy Crays Posts 658 Last 6:47 AM
To All [Msg # 34892.1 ]

I found a photo of my great grandmother when she was 92 years old. I put it in the pile of photos to toss, because as a note on the back said my aunt had let light into the camera. However, the more I looked at it, the more I decided to try to salvage her head which occupies about 1.25 sq. in. of the photo.

I've been working on it off and on for about a week and believe it or not, it looks a lot better than the original. I need to work on repairing the spots and scratches, most of which are not even visible on the original, but before I do, I'd like to know if you would suggest that I make some more global changes or local changes before working on the spots and scratches. I've attached what I've done so far - downsized to a jpg.

Nancy C.
Seniors Community
Investing for Growth Forum

Attachments
	Name: Mary_Elizabeth_Herndon_1944_small.jpg	Size: 364 K

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#2 of 179 Posted Oct-28 11:31 AM

From Cristen Posts 2297 Last 9:28 AM
To Nancy Crays [Msg # 34892.2 34892.1 ]

She's in pretty good shape, actually. I'm sure everyone has their preferences in the order they work in. At this point, I'd probably do what I could to heal the bigger scratches so I'd have less distraction with further tonal corrections, recognizing that if I do more tonal corrections, I might make more of the scratches stand out.

You may be near the point where you can get away with nudging the Brightness slider on its adjustment layer to soften and lighten her up a little, use one of the blurs judiciously to smooth out some of the garbage and her skin, and then just go for the eyes. You may need to paint a catchlight in, but whatever, you want to find some light in the eyes to bring out.

You can leave a lot of damage around her without restoring it to "new-ness." People accept it -- it makes the photo authentically old. You might want to even softly vignette the photo to fade out the detail that doesn't contribute anything, and places more emphasis on her face and the detail in her gown. If you go for a somewhat low-contrast, high key look, you minimize our awareness of the damage, and it can suit the subject nicely. I'm guessing, of course. You'd have to try it to see if you liked it.

But she's highly visible, so you've already done a good job there, and I think it's a nice picture of her. Restoring it enough to see her more clearly is going to be worth it, I think.

Cristen

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#3 of 179 Posted Oct-28 2:01 PM

From Nancy Crays Posts 658 Last 6:47 AM
To Cristen [Msg # 34892.3 34892.2 ]

Thanks for all the tips. I thought I'd try the vignette first. I tried the method in Eismann's book and kept trying different amounts of Gaussian blur on the fill layer selection. This is a little over 50%.

It bothers me a bit that she is not in the center of the circle, but I rather like her being to the right and hate to crop more on the left to achieve that. (rule of thirds? <G>)

What do you think? Does it look better or worse with the vignette? Should I change the size, color or amount of blurring?

Nancy C.
Seniors Community
Investing for Growth Forum

Attachments
	Name: Mary_Elizabeth_Herndon_edited_ACR_vignette.jpg	Size: 294 K

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#4 of 179 Posted Oct-28 4:14 PM

From dorothyb222 Posts 1079 Last 8:44 PM
To Nancy Crays [Msg # 34892.4 34892.3 ]

Nancy -

Can you make the vignette border somewhat narrower? Your grandmother's hair seems to be obscured by the width of the vignette on the right side.

Dorothy

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#5 of 179 Posted Oct-28 5:23 PM

From Nancy Crays Posts 658 Last 6:47 AM
To dorothyb222 [Msg # 34892.5 34892.4 ]

As best as I can figure out, as I narrow the vignette with Gaussian blur below 50, it becomes harder and I don't like the hard look. I'm thinking it might be better not to use a vignette. However, Cristen or someone else may tell me there is a better way to do it.

I would love to have not cropped the photo so tightly, but much of it is completely white or almost so.

Nancy C.
Seniors Community
Investing for Growth Forum

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#6 of 179 Posted Oct-28 8:19 PM

From Cristen Posts 2297 Last 9:28 AM
To Nancy Crays [Msg # 34892.6 34892.3 ]

> It bothers me a bit that she is not in the center of the circle, but I rather like her being to the right and hate to crop more on the left to achieve that. (rule of thirds? <G>)

I wouldn't make it a circle, and I wouldn't get rid of any of the photo in the process. I'd make a rectangular selection, heavily feathered, and quite wide, and I'd reduce the opacity of the white fill. I'd want the picture to fade out towards the edges. To fade gently, I'd probably extend the canvas all around at first, so I'd have more control. I could crop in later, but I'd still take almost all of the photo in.

What you're aiming for, in my imagination, is a replication of the damaged lower right all around the edges, perhaps just slightly heavier fading, taking in enough of the outside edges that focus is moved inward, but without eliminating the environment altogether. You just want a general softening of the edges, which is both a sign of "old photo," and flattering to a portrait of an old person, since it softens contrast overall.

Another typical way to achieve this is to create an oval that extends beyond the edge, so the heavy feather comes partially inside the image, but more in the corners than top/bottom.

Nik is particularly good at help you create nice vignettes, but I don't think you want to rush out and spend $200 to do this<G>

Cristen

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#7 of 179 Posted Oct-29 6:51 AM

From Nancy Crays Posts 658 Last 6:47 AM
To Cristen [Msg # 34892.7 34892.6 ]

I hadn't thought of extending the canvas for this. That's a good tip.

Attached is my second attempt at a vignette. I feathered 100 pixels. Should it be more? I extended the canvas and drew the rectangular marquis to the edge of the photo.

I tried various levels of opacity. This is 90. If I went lower, it didn't seem to do much on the left.

Nik and Topaz both make good plugins and I may buy some from them, but I probably wouldn't spend $200 for one that makes vignettes. I might spend it for the one Dorothy saw at the photo show in NY.

Nancy C.
Seniors Community
Investing for Growth Forum

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#8 of 179 Posted Oct-29 7:00 AM

From Nancy Crays Posts 658 Last 6:47 AM
To Cristen [Msg # 34892.8 34892.2 ]

use one of the blurs judiciously to smooth out some of the garbage and her skin,

Do you mean using the blur tool? Or do you mean using the spot healing and healing brush tools?

Nancy C.
Seniors Community
Investing for Growth Forum

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#9 of 179 Posted Oct-29 8:19 AM

From Ron Wrucke-VA Eastern Shore Posts 770 Last 4:11 PM
To Nancy Crays [Msg # 34892.9 34892.3 ]

<<I tried the method in Eismann's book and kept trying different amounts of Gaussian blur on the fill layer selection.>>

... if there is a hard way to do things, you seem to find it ... <g>

In P'shop (don't know about PSE?),

Filter | Render | Lighting Effects
Select Style = Soft Omni
Adjust center of spot and extent of effect (experiment; you'll get a feel for it)
Click OK
Click Edit | Fade Lighting Effects
Change Mode to Darken (the center of the spot will remain "as-was" before the effect was applied, the edges will darken)
Adjust Opacity
... an easy way to apply a black vignette

For a more adaptable vignette, see the attached:

Ron Wrucke
Eastern Shore Imaging