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is it possible to save this photo?

nicnellynicnelly Registered Users Posts: 34 Big grins
edited December 4, 2009 in Finishing School
I know you have to start somewhere but this is painful...even for a newbie. Any rescue advice?

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    AllenAllen Registered Users Posts: 10,011 Major grins
    edited December 4, 2009
    nicnelly wrote:
    I know you have to start somewhere but this is painful...even for a newbie. Any rescue advice?
    How's this for a quick slam bam.:D
    Al - Just a volunteer here having fun
    My Website index | My Blog
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    nicnellynicnelly Registered Users Posts: 34 Big grins
    edited December 4, 2009
    Allen wrote:
    How's this for a quick slam bam.:D
    much better, thank you! can you tell me what you did?
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    AllenAllen Registered Users Posts: 10,011 Major grins
    edited December 4, 2009
    nicnelly wrote:
    much better, thank you! can you tell me what you did?
    This was very quick and I'm sure with more detailed work it could be vastly
    improved. I opened in PSPX2 and the main thing was reducing saturation.
    Then applied some sharpening. There is a lot of motion blur but it can maybe be cleaned up with some very fine cloning.
    Al - Just a volunteer here having fun
    My Website index | My Blog
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    bmoreshooterbmoreshooter Registered Users Posts: 210 Major grins
    edited December 4, 2009
    How about a quick b&w.731488725_nafV8-M.jpg
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    ziggy53ziggy53 Super Moderators Posts: 23,830 moderator
    edited December 4, 2009
    Here is my take.

    It involved bringing the image into PS CS4, converting to 16 bit, desaturating and lightening both red and yellow tones in Hue/Saturation, creating a new layer and assigning a Gradient Overlay to lighten the background, then creating another copy of the original background as the top layer and using the Eraser tool to create a mask for the faces in the back row, allowing the lightened faces to show through, while leaving the back wall darker.

    I flattened the image and shifted into CMYK mode and used a custom curve on the flesh tones to get them closer, then back to RGB mode where I used a rather strong sharpening action and finally Neat Image to reduce mostly color noise, which was exaggerated by the sharpening. The image was taken back to 8 bit for the save to a new JPG.

    I note that the image was apparently captured using a Canon 20D with what appears to be the "kit" lens. I suggest that in the future, ISO 800 and an external flash with an appropriate flash modifier would allow a smaller aperture and shorter shutter speed, both of which would be desirable for this situation.
    ziggy53
    Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
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