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This lady

Eric Gibson

master brummie
is going to be 100 years old shortly.

I've been invited to a tea party to celebrate the event, the photo was attached to the invite, it's only 3"x2" and quite dark, I thought it would be nice to fix it up and colour it if possible and hand it to her, any volunteers?

The uniform is RAF I think.

She's wrinkled and stooped now but looks to have been a fine lady in her younger days.
Lena (2).jpg
 
Its always hard to do much with a small low res image. I have enlarged it and gave it a bit of a life contract wise. Some of the other members are much better at colourizing images than me, my colour vison is quite poor, but at least they have a better base to work from.
 

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I am looking forward to a party for an Italian lady, a proud Roman, who I visit with communion every week. She will be 100 in February next year. I have known her for at least fifty years. Her mind is very active and she keeps herself very smartly dressed even though she is in a nursing home. He late husband, a radio Ham I knew, was a British Army officer. They met in Sicily during WW2. They were posted to Germany and also Norway when she was invited and complimented over her lovely jet black hair by King Haakon 7 when they attended a banquet. She has great memories.
 
I had a go on the original but not entirely satisfactory because the resolution was a bit low. It might print ok at the original 3"x 2" size.
ZLena (2).jpg
ps edit. I scaled up to A4 print size in my photo editor and it produced a very acceptable print.
 
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Thanks for your efforts chaps, much better than I could have done.
I have a programme on my computer that's supposed to be capable of enlarging photos up to poster size without soiling the content, I'll give it a try later, not used it before though.
 
Once again thanks for your efforts, I enlarged the photo to A4 size, printed it, got a nice frame from a charity shop and it came out very nice.
Passed it to the lady today and her son came round within ten minutes to say how thrilled she was to get it.
 
Hi Eric,
I think I saw in another thread that this lady might have passed. Sorry to hear that.
Hopefully this restored picture at least makes a nice memorial in that case.
Cheers

EGibson.jpg
 
This technique you are using certainly takes restoration to a whole new level.

Cheers. I do like to restore veteran photos, especially if they're from Birmingham. I've been perfecting skin tone for a while now.
 
We have 2 old photos I tried to restore but made them worse. But I have the originals. One is a family group with a child on her mother's lap whose lower face is obliterated. The other has huge cracks right through the woman's face. Is there a way of restoring what is no longer there?
 
We have 2 old photos I tried to restore but made them worse. But I have the originals. One is a family group with a child on her mother's lap whose lower face is obliterated. The other has huge cracks right through the woman's face. Is there a way of restoring what is no longer there?
nico if you can post the originals i am sure some of our members will try to help

lyn
 
Hi Eric,
I think I saw in another thread that this lady might have passed. Sorry to hear that.
Hopefully this restored picture at least makes a nice memorial in that case.
Cheers

EGibson.jpg
This is a stunning result, what program are you using? AC.
 
This is a stunning result, what program are you using? AC.

Thanks.
90% Lightroom, (hand tinting colour takes the most time) but also Paint Shop Pro 17, remini in a bluestacks instance, Runway machine learning online, K-lite media pack (to drop a frame from an AI animated likeness) - sometimes I use faceapp for background swaps when they're requested, e.g. lost loved ones where they like the picture but not the scene.

Edit: I had a similar restore in local news in Wales recently and was thankfully able to give the restore direct to the 100 year old recipient, though it did require ten edits to the hair colour (she was very particular!) - not my best work as the hair is now bright enough to be its own light source, but she was happy to have the lighter tone: https://www.tivysideadvertiser.co.uk/news/19623847.paulines-wartime-pic-hair-restored-colour/
 
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Thanks.
90% Lightroom, (hand tinting colour takes the most time) but also Paint Shop Pro 17, remini in a bluestacks instance, Runway machine learning online, K-lite media pack (to drop a frame from an AI animated likeness) - sometimes I use faceapp for background swaps when they're requested, e.g. lost loved ones where they like the picture but not the scene.

Edit: I had a similar restore in local news in Wales recently and was thankfully able to give the restore direct to the 100 year old recipient, though it did require ten edits to the hair colour (she was very particular!) - not my best work as the hair is now bright enough to be its own light source, but she was happy to have the lighter tone: https://www.tivysideadvertiser.co.uk/news/19623847.paulines-wartime-pic-hair-restored-colour/
I love the story of Pauline's wartime pic, amazing. Like you I am very much a fan of the everyday unsung heroes who just went about their work without the need for self-adulation.
 
Back again with another request, not a person this time a cottage, my old friend took the photo from the hill behind her house of the cottage opposite, the cottage has since been demolished and replaced wit a modern house.
I've done as much as I can with it but when I print it it comes out with the cottage lost in a sea of green and it's beyond my ability to make it better.Clearwell cottage.jpg
 
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