Restoring Old Photos

I love old photographs and I love restoring them when I can.  And digital imaging has made the process of restoring damaged photos much easier than it was in the old days. It's still a time-consuming process and requires a fair amount of skill, though.  Recently one of my wedding professional colleagues, MaryLou at Bama Balloons, brought in a 100 year old family photo that had been broken into three pieces.  Her mother had recently re-discovered it and wanted to have it restored and copies made for the family.

When I work on any photo, I zoom in very close and really get to know the people in the picture.  Especially with old photos I find myself studying the faces and wondering who they were and what their lives were like.  As you can see by these faces this is a very good looking and interesting family.  I'm sure they are all passed on now which adds even more mystery to the image.

Below is the finished image I printed for the family.

Although the family only wanted a monochrome reproduction, I want to see what they would look like in color.  I didn't spend much time in hand tinting this, meaning I didn't stay within the lines very well.  Even though, the color seems to add a bit of life to the people.

 

Hand Tinting - my way:

I am a big fan of layer masks in Photoshop.  ( I don't believe this option is available in Elements).  I add a solid color layer mask for each color in the photo (skin, hair, shoes, etc.)  With each layer, I use the "color" blend mode.  Then I reverse the mask using control-I.  Then, using a white paint brush applied to the black mask, I can apply the color just where I want it.  

This method of using layer masks allows me to fine tune each color even after they have all been applied.  I can even change a color completely just by clicking on the mask and re-assigning a new color.  For example, I could click on the layer for the green blouse and change it to blue, or yellow, or whatever.  I could even vary the intensity of the color if needed.  Layer masks also allow me to go to each layer a refine the edges if a color spills over where it's not wanted.