Hi all.

It may be that I've just overlooked it, but it seems that I've not seen any challenges put forth in this forum so I thought I might throw out an idea.

I was wondering if we could have a "Photo Correction Challenge" of sorts.

I dug up an old photo of myself in 1978(could be 1979 but either way...I was around 15 years old).

As you can see, the picture has aged, and has evidently found itself in a photo album or something, that left parts of it more protected than others.

I thought,"This would be a good candidate for correction", and then thought it might be a good idea for a PhotoShop Forum Challenge.

Anyway... the challenge might go something like this:

I (we) post the image in need of correction, and we all take our stab at correcting it.

After a given amount of time,all participants could post what they have done.

Then there would be a vote for a winner.

That winner, then puts up a new image to correct,and we do it all again.

Or....maybe all participants can post an image,and we all choose one (or more maybe) to work on.

I'm just kicking an idea around and wondered if anyone else might be interested.

Photo Correction are good skills to have,and perhaps this could give us a chance to develop those skills.

Here is a lo-res sample, but I'd upload the hi-res version for the challenge.

Thanks

Tom

Lovely older Les Paul...27 years ago, was it new then?, do ya still have it?...likely worth more than y'paid for it by now!....gonna have a stab at your pic man but be warned...I'm fair to middlin' colour blind...LOL...but as it is a psychedelic era pic it should be in context, heh heh heh

I like this kind of challenge. I think I could not find the time for every picture, but it is nice to see how different people interpret this. Count me in!

Attached Link: http://www.hawkfyr.com/images/tom_guitar_1978_untouched.zip

Out of the couple dozen guitars I've owned over the years,"THAT" guitar is one I will never let go of.

Unfortunately it is a LesPaul Copy, but It's my very first electric I ever had,and my Father (Now deceased) bought it for me for my 15th birthday,and it was used then.

I suspect it's well over 30 years old now.

As a forum mod, do I take your post as approval for such a challenge?

If so...would there be any rules/regulations/to hammer out?

I've uploaded the hi-res .psd to my site for download.

Have at it.

http://www.hawkfyr.com/images/tom_guitar_1978_untouched.zip

Thanks

Tom

Ooops..cross-posted with you Hoof.

By all means, go for it.

Thanks

Tom

It had to be late 1978 or early 1979 because I remember that picture being taken and I can tell by the drummers cymbal in that shot,that it was Roger Robinson's drum kit and we were learning the entire side one of Rush' Hemispheres album at that time,... and that album was released in October of 1978.

Amazing memories coming back on this one.

Look at me....I was such a goofy little boy back then. But we were pretty damn good. In this band, we played stuff, that was a bit outside the mainstream.Stuff like Kansas, Rush, E.L.O, Even some Emerson Lake and Palmer, & Jethro Tull.

The other band I was in at the time, we played more basic stuff like AC/DC, Kiss,Foreigner,n-stuff like that.

Just wondering aloud here.pay no attention...lol

Thanks

Tom

Well, I am only an Imagine3D Mod so maybe a check with retrocity is in order...don't wanna go butting in on another's forum...just impolite. But it would be a good one with a lot to be learned by any who get involved. Let's wait on the legitimacy of this 'challenge' before we make it official.

Sounds like a plan.

My bad...I forgot that you were not mod of this forum.

Even an "un-official" challenge would be fun. (And No...I'm not just trying to get someone to fix my picture...lol)

This is a tough one...I just started working on my attempt, and as I zoom in, I can see all kinds of stuff to fix.

BTW...feel free to post WIP's and tell of techniques used.....this is a "Learning" thing, and tips would be great for those participating,as well as on-lookers.

I've started out cleaning up the "Good" part of the image, with the clone stamp tool around my hair.

Thanks again

Tom

Bookmarking this thread in case I find time to actually do this. :)

No problems man, was gonna give 'er a shot anyway, miles luckier capture than mine from that era of my life, so embarassing I won't show 'em to this day ...even my ex never ever saw 'em...LOL...maybe that was the problem, heh heh heh

This is a great idea!

Already I can see your hair needs to be much much bigger:)

Another good challange would be to colour an old B&W image.

Michael.

Thanks aprilgem, No rush.

I hope you can find some time to kick it around.

Bobby, Funny thing is,I located an old friend from Classmates.com, and we started digging trough old pictures to share. It was really good for my soul to exchange old pictures and reunite with a long lost friend. This picture is just one of many I came across, but it was the one that was in the worst shape. Keep in mind also, that I'm just learning to use this scanner that has also been collecting dust, so some of the damage, could be artifacts from scanning,as well as an old grungy photo.

Either way, correction skills will be needed to clean it up.

Believe me, there are pictures I uncovered that I wouldn't dare post here as well amigo.

Glad you like the idea too Michael. I think it could be a fun way to sharpen(no pun intended) our skills. 8 )

Yeah...my hair was a bit off the hook there ,but then again, so were the 70's.
We didn't care what we looked like back then,so long as the music was loud.

I just scrolled up to look at the image again and compared it with my avatar picture next to it.
Sometimes I'm amazed that I actually lived this long...lol

Colorizing a B&W is another great idea for a challenge. I cant say I've ever attempted that before.

Sounds like fun.

And this is what it's all about. Having fun,and learning cool new stuff.

Thanks again for the interest in this y'all.

Tom

This sounds like fun. If I have some time this weekend, I might fiddle with it (even if it's not an official challenge). I like messing with photo correction =) Lovely guitar, even if it is a copy! I just have a Fender Mexi-strat and a Yamaha Pacifica. And my grandfather's very old accoustic which I never play because I need to work on it.

I spent half an hour on it at work today (don’t let my boss know;).

It’s easy enough to clean up; the hard part is re-introducing colour back into the right side of the image. Especially your arm and hand. I'll keep at it. I could do with some practice for sure.

Quick and nasty  tip: I started out with Noise/Dust and Scratches filter with very low settings. Then unsharp mask filter; it loses a bit of sharpness when you use dust and scratches. This got rid of a lot of the hard work quite easily.

Cheers hawfyr!

Michael.

Tom, this is excellent idea :)
Photo correction challenges can be a REAL challenge. The photo you uploaded is real mess lol.. First I was use variations to remove the yellow look and restore real colors, then curves (just a slight tweak) to restore contrast, then dust &scratches (2%) that was enough to remove good part of scratches without loosing too much details. Now I can start correcting lol. :)

Tihomir

Great Idea with a really good example.

Tom, i think it's a great idea. never been one to be afraid of a little challenge. since we are all at different skill levels and use PS for different reasons, i think something like this would benefit everyone.

as for guidelines,
1.) i think a two week period to work on the challenge should give everyone (especially those of us that are swamped and have a tough time squeezing everything we need to do in) enough time. i'm worried if it's any less, most will not be able to devote enough time to really do it justice.
2.) for the winner (or anyone willing to impart) it would be great if they would share the secret (how they did it...) this way we all learn something.
3.) all source material MUST be the original works of the challenge host (i mean no posting "royalty-free" photos off some disc, or something downloaded off the web...)
4.) source files must be of sufficient resolution to complete the challenge and need to be hosted in a locale accessible to all members wishing to participate in the challenges.
5.) i reserve the right to adjust the "guidelines" as needed (cause i ALWAYS forget something critical ;))

i'll make this post "sticky" so you don't have to hunt around for it as time passes.

P.S. sorry for the lag in repling, my system (hard drive) went up in smoke, taking three years worth of artwork with it... still "kludgeing" together a method to connecting online... should be squared away soon.

scott - retrocity (Photoshop Forum Moderator)

Hoofdcommissaris, nice job on the retouching. As for the right arm, did you use the clone tool?

Attached Link: http://www.hawkfyr.com/images/tom_guitar_1978_untouched.zip

Retrosity, those guideline sound good to me,and thank for the sticky.

Keep in mind folks. don't use the image posted in Post #1 of this thread.

Use this link to the Hi-res version instead

http://www.hawkfyr.com/images/tom_guitar_1978_untouched.zip

Hoof, that looks awesome Amigo.

Fine work man

Thanks again all.

Tom

Large version. Actually it makes clear it is not that good. It needs way more time.

(oops. the large version did not show up....)

Show Up?

Do you mean it would'nt Download for you?

Tom

No, I uploaded a larger version (I did use your hi-res file but showed a half-size version), twice. But It did not show up here...

There's a size limit for images on the forum.

Aha...

Great idea - if I have some time I'll give it a stab.
Awesome work Hoofdcommissaris!
-Lew ;-)

Attached Link: Color Cast Correction Tutorial

Also found a pretty good tutorial about how to fix color casts to photos.

Wow...You all are doing some great work on this project.

I'm still working on mine and hope to find some time this weekend to work on it.

Hoof...Thanks for posting a screen capture of your layer pallet and brief description of your approach. It's always interesting to see how other folks work.

Cookienose....Thanks for the link to the tutorial.I'll be bookmarking that one for sure. Great work on this. I have no doubt that parts of it nearly made you tear out your hair. The arm and sleeve are definitely challenging on this one, but you seem to have pulled it off quite well.

Thanks again to all for the participation in this.

Tom