Freshen Your Photo's "Restoration Gallery"

Client request:  "Do whatever you can to salvage this one!"

Ken's great-great-grandparents, great-great-uncle, and old home in Nebraska were practically
lost to time in this shot.  I'm very pleased with the results. 

I attempted a closer version and got facial features that are actually pretty clear

so that he could pretty much see their faces for the first time.. 
I can actually see Great-Grandpa's resemblance to Ken!

Client request:  "Can you heal my only 1959 baby picture?  It's torn, faded, and wrinkled!"

This one was challenging!  But the results were great -- even colorized!

Client request:  "Bring back to life this lovely, damaged shot of my Mom in the 1940s!"

So much damage here!  But here's both a zoom so you can see what I was working with up close and the full shot.
And while I was at it, let's get rid of the power lines so she has a nicer yard!

Client request:  "Can you bring back this sun-damaged family picture from 1973?"

There wasn't much left of the girl in the middle, so I had my doubts, but check out the results!

And mouse-over it to see how we've just started to look at colorizing on this one...

Client request:  "This 1930s picture is stuck to the glass, which is cracked and then got wet!"

Sure.  In four steps:

Client request:  "Dad loves this little shot of Mom in 1955, but it's SO worn out!"

I recommended a zoom-in to maximize her face and minimize the damaged part.

Note that we chose to add barely a HINT of color to the eyes and lips to make them pop...without fully colorizing.
 

Client request:  "What can you do with Grandma and my mom as a little girl?"

Without changing on him, removing haze, a strange clothes line, and a few damage spots yielded a great sepia tone print.  But then we decided to try for a light colorization so it`d feel like faded color instead of b/w.

Just a matter of personal taste which you prefer, but the third one sure feels more real with color!

Mouse over the middle one to see the color pop!

Client request:  "Can you make Dad`s favorite shot of him in 1975 look even better?"

Without changing on him, removing haze, a strange clothes line, and a few damage spots yielded a great sepia tone print.  But then we decided to try for a light colorization so it`d feel like faded color instead of b/w.

Just a matter of personal taste which you prefer, but the third one sure feels more real with color!

Mouse over all three to see it in stages of development.

Client request:  "I found this 20 year old negative and want the digital positive."

Actually, I'm the client in this case, cleaning out an old cabinet. 

The results aren't amazing, but considering I was starting with an old scratchy negative less than 1" x 1",

the outcome isn't too shabby and I didn't have to have it printed first.

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