I’ve been asked to give some clues as to what I did in the last post, so I’ve included here a little of the process and the stages it went through.
First the original photo -
Original 60 year old b&w photograph
This was a small black & white photograph taken around 60 years ago and it was not the best. The faces and in fact most of the upper part of the photograph was faint, caused probably be lens flare at the time which pretty much wasted the picture. I wanted to manage a portrait of the boy on the left (guess who) and so had to try and resurrect the image as best as I could before I would be able to use it.
Original photo scanned to computer
The second image shown here is the image after scanning to my computer I then cropped it to suit. Having it closer meant I could better see what I needed to improve.
Then I’ve separated and cropped to the boy I want to use for the portrait, but the face is still faint, indistinct and flared out. Trying to use sharpening software brings up the original photo dots on the paper too strongly so that’s an option I can’t use.
The following images show the general sequence .
After using some more tinkering filters to try and assist the image I cropped in again and used a further combination of various Paintshop Pro filters to bring out the features as best I could without image degradation. Also the image is as large as I can make it without pixel problems.
Cropped to the subject - enlarged as far as possible
The first Art attempt is as below – Set about a tentative bit of art effect and managed to get this first attempted sketch. Note I’ve not included the leaves of the trees as these detracted from my portrait and I’ve concentrated on the portrait only. This is also the last time I will use the photographic data underneath and start now to add painting interpretation to the finish.
Photo enlarged head to start portrait
Well, as in the previous post here it is again – the final painted portrait emerges.
The color balanced to more natural tones, the original photographic detail such as it was, is no longer and I’ve used more of a painting technique to highlight the face in a more natural manner.
Tentative sketch stage 1
This is the final painted portrait and about as far as I can go withou
Portrait + virtual frame
t getting the easel out!
It’s very interesting work. A tip: if you scan your photo at as high a resolution as you can, while keeping it at the original dimensions, you shouldn’t have a problem with pixelation. If you’d like to see examples of what can be done with black and white photos scanned at 800 ppi and upwards, have a look at my photocolouring work page here. I work digitally, but it would be the same if you were to want to paint on or from the image.
Hi Val,
In this particular case the image was scanned co-incidentally at 800 ppi, but unfortunately the original was both overexposed and badly faded on the actual faces and it proved tricky to get any meaningful definition. (I’ve used PaintshopPro since it came out around 20 years ago for image correction, but basically if the information isn’t there – it isn’t there). However unlike coloring a black and white photo and where detail has importance, in this case I wanted to produce an “art” interpretation of the subject, so details apart I was far more concerned with the subject’s expression so I could manage likeness. Many years ago I used to color black & whites into color, which I remember was time consuming to say the least and whilst satisfying in it’s own way, I found much, much greater satisfaction in really making the picture come “alive” by painting or drawing with expression and life. Must be the artist in me rather than the photographer, both of which have given me enormous pleasure over many years.
Many thanks for your comment and I have been looking at your web sites and find them very interesting indeed – I’ll certainly be checking every so often to see what you’re doing!
I meant to say: avoid using sharpening filters at all costs! Best to do any restoration work manually in a graphics program. You can bring up the over-exposed areas of the photo using levels to bring out what little shadow there is within it.
Yes, Val, I quite agree to an extent as most sharpening tools clumsily increase Acutance as opposed to true Resolution. The edge definition as a result is grossly overdone. But as I said this is a consideration I don’t need when using the image as a basis for an Art work.
Often a modest adjustment of brightness and contrast can make all the difference and still produce a natural image.