Forum: Photography


Subject: what to do with a crappy image that has MUCH sentimental value?

tvernuccio opened this issue on Oct 31, 2004 ยท 14 posts


tvernuccio posted Sun, 31 October 2004 at 1:21 AM

You think my photography is bad now...uh....well, here's an image i took of my bird Happy before she died. It was a terrible pic...but really one of the best i took of her. Kemal scanned it for me and worked on it. I've tried working on it some more but i'm stuck. I'm wondering what suggestions you guys have for me to make this better? Thanks for your help!!! sheila

deemarie posted Sun, 31 October 2004 at 4:20 AM

another version??

Michelle A. posted Sun, 31 October 2004 at 6:14 AM

Ahhh there she is.... I know how much she meant to you..... Dee-Marie did a great job of cleaning up the background.

I am, therefore I create.......
--- michelleamarante.com


SNAKEY posted Sun, 31 October 2004 at 7:17 AM

Just one more step......... anyone else wana take it over from here??

TomDart posted Sun, 31 October 2004 at 10:37 AM

Here is my simple try...I selectively increased detail slightly and hand tinted the shadow to be less dark. This is not a dramatic change. Maybe a bit better than the original...

Wivelrod posted Sun, 31 October 2004 at 5:56 PM

Poor happy :(

I enjoy messing about with photoshop, so I thought I'd have a go. What I've tried to do is take the original picture and try to make the image seem less bright (was the original over exposed?). This was achieved by layering a Curves adjustment layer (a very gentle s-curve), a Monochrome channel mixer layer and a warm photo filter. The image has also been sharpened, but also a very slight gaussian blur was applied to smooth out a little bit of the noise.

I think its a bit noisy and grainy to do the subject justice though :(.


cynlee posted Sun, 31 October 2004 at 10:31 PM

oh... i think she'll be thrilled to see these when she gets home :] sweet Happy :]


tvernuccio posted Sun, 31 October 2004 at 11:17 PM

Guys these are totally awesome!!!! I didn't expect you guys would go in and work on the image, but wow!!! I love them all!!!!!! Yes, Cindy, I AM thrilled! you remembered, Michelle!!! Wivelrod: I'm sure it probably was over-exposed. I mean it was really a lousy image. The things you did...i have no idea about...don't use Photoshop. I do know gausian blur though. Can i keep these for myself? I really do love them all!!!! Let me know!!!! thanks again so much! hugz, sheila P.S. I do think i like it better with all that noise taken out and a tigher crop. and i like your all's framing better too!


Wivelrod posted Mon, 01 November 2004 at 3:32 AM

!Can i keep these for myself?" Fine by me :D


SNAKEY posted Mon, 01 November 2004 at 3:38 AM

Yes sheila...... I give my copyright to you:P:P:P:P:P


TomDart posted Mon, 01 November 2004 at 6:55 AM

Tis yours...TomDart


tvernuccio posted Mon, 01 November 2004 at 2:32 PM

THANKS SO MUCH GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and i'll work on my image some more later...see what i can do. Hugz, sheila


TomDart posted Mon, 01 November 2004 at 6:08 PM

Dear Lady, thanks for the thanks but this is YOUR image. You just gave us a chance to try. Here is one last one from me...not quite as nice as the others but here 'tis. Likely the files downloaded from post are too small to do much with. If you want a larger file, I can email that to you. Let me know with message on the site. This one is about 800kb uncompressed, a long download likely. Anyway, the pleasure was "ours" I believe I can fairly say for the folks who did wonders with your valued picture. TomDart.

tvernuccio posted Wed, 03 November 2004 at 2:23 AM

this is GREAT!!!! Thank you SO much, TomDart !!! Yes, I would love the larger uncompressed version!!!!! i'll IM you in sec with address! Thank you SO much and to everyone!!!! You guys are awesome!!!sheila