My first restoration attempt

[CalamityJanet]

Well, I finally finished my first attempt at restoring an old photo. This is my Dad when he was 14 years old in 1936. The paper it was printed on has a lot of texture but Wendy pointed me to a tutorial that helped quite a bit.
http://retouchpro.com/tutorials/?m=show&id=58
Also, it was hand-tinted and there were a lot of areas where the ink went where it shoudn't. I know there's lots of room for improvement with this one, but for my first attempt I'm satisfied....for now. Any suggestions or critique are welcome!

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1EAlU9zmHElSWLyEGc3aG151fjuFe0_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1EAlU9zmHElSWLyEGc3aG151fjuFe0)

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1HjMGVl3UkUUXkZGJumrLeeTlzkL_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1HjMGVl3UkUUXkZGJumrLeeTlzkL)

[Wendy]

Hi Janet ...

Oh you have done really well with that ... it was never going to be be an easy one to do but you have made a remarkable improvement to it :)

Glad that the tut helped

Wendy

[msbrad]

Janet.
That looks wonderful. I have lots of those to do too.
It is so much fun, when the restoration is complete. Just
makes you smile.
m

[CalamityJanet]

Thanks, Wendy and Michelle!

When I get my eyes uncrossed and I can focus again, my next one is of my sis-in-law's parents. It's been ripped into 3 separate pieces and a big chunk is missing. And her dad is wearing an awful herringbone-plaid suit. Makes MY Dad's restoration look like a piece of cake! Nothing like learning on the hard ones!:D

[Orphanannie]

Janet,

Great Job!:) Doesn't it make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside when you can make it better than it was before? Even though you are changing it, you are still keeping the history with it. Does this make sense? For me restoration is very challenaging, but with the help from all the folks here on the forum, nothing is impossible!!!! Just take one image at a time......

[uniqcrafts]

Looks great so far. The only thing I would change are his cheeks, they look like he really loaded on the blush. Can't off any suggestions, but I'm sure someone can come along and suggest something.

[CalamityJanet]

Thanks, Michelle! I see what you mean...just not sure how to fix it. The color is the hand-tinting done by the photographer, not me and PSE. When I tried to lighten or remove it his face lost a lot of it's definition. I think I'm going to do a B&W conversion next to see how that looks.

Andrea, it IS a great feeling! And I find it's a very relaxing pastime. I like to get rid of the creases and tears and stains but keep the vintage feel of the photo. And I'd be lost without this forum...I can't believe how much I've learned since I joined in Sept. 06. Even though I haven't applied most of it yet! My DH is always asking "where did you learn that?" and my answer is almost always "on the forum!".

[Wendy]

Hi Janet ...

With hand tinted photos you really have two choices to restore it as it is or to remove all the colour and start again.

I have done both ... but unless the hand tinting is pretty bad (and one of mine was) I do tend to leave it as it is :)

Wendy

[nkeevers]

Janet, good job! I can never get my restorations right! Good looking guy, your father!:D

[John L Gray]

Janet,

Great job on the restoration... A real improvement from the original photo.
I would agree with Wendy on the tinting issue. Look forward to seeing more of your restroration efforts.

Thanks for sharing.
John