photo retouching
Examples of my photo retouching work...
1. Colorizing a black and white photo in a convincing and realistic way...
Colorizing an image can be tricky. Some will say that if you have a photo editing program, anyone can repair or color correct photographs. The truth is, it is only a tool. Unless you understand the probable intent of the original creator, have an artistic sense and have highly developed skills, simply having a program will do you little good. It's sort of like thinking that if you have a hammer and a screwdriver, you can easily remodel your kitchen. It takes an understanding of the natural coloring of various skin tones, makeup and hair. in the hands of a professional, the result can be so convincing, those who remember someone long passed will be taken aback. Almost as if that person in that old tiny black and white snapshot has come back to life. The above sailor is my late uncle Dale. The faded image was an old dime machine photo taken in 1941. Below, the city of Long Beach in 1940 is brought back to life in this colorized version I executed.
2. Restoration of an older faded photograph ...
Countless photographs in hard bound books, in magazine articles, and in documentary TV productions can be found which are faded, spotted, torn and even watermarked. The above photo of the beautiful movie star Greer Garson suffered from hue loss from a half century of age and exposure to the sun. About an hour of work and I was able to make this photograph look like it could have been taken yesterday.
There is no reason why images should be printed in final publications and look faded, pale, and lacking color correction as the image on the left did. Nearly every museum around the world repair, repaint and touch up artwork that has been damaged over the years, and older color photographs are no exception. If you are printing a book using old or color faded images, allow me to bring them all to life.
3. Photographic flaws repaired ...
A client wanted to use the old 1930s Austrian postcard of the composer "Gluck" for a CD cover design. I had to pull out the yellow out after scanning the image, then setting the colors to hues closer to what I imagined the original portrait artist might have intended. The tears, spotting and printing ink blotches were also removed.
Sometimes the repair is simply to save a poorly taken photograph. The department store photo above had the political candidate sitting in front of a purple and orange flag with oddly placed stars. The tie was distracting and his face was slightly out of focus and jaundiced. The photo was already established as his iconic image so it was important he keep the image, however, it was important the flaws be corrected for his new advertising campaign.
Sometimes a client may need an editorial photo quickly to meet a deadline. Stock photos should rarely be used "as is", but tailored to a specific need. Below is a stock photo used to make a statement about tennis racquet stringing techniques. Imagination is a powerful tool.
