Photo Restoration Blog

Archive for the ‘photo repair’ Category

Photo restoration or old enhancing methods

Back in the days of early photography when shutter speeds were slow and lens quality was being improved all the time, photographers strove to get the best results possible, even if it meant applying a few photo enhancing tricks of their own.

Lenses in the infancy of photography weren’t as optically perfect as they are today and the scene needed plenty of light and a long exposure time. The sensitivity of the “negative” was also a contributing factor. The less sensitive the light capturing medium the more light or exposure was needed. This type of camera would have been the very early Daguerreotypes around 1830 to 1860

As a result of these long shutter speeds subjects had to sit for several minutes. They often took a posture and facial expression which was comfortable. Smiling was not an optional as it couldn’t be held forgot long enough and lead to blurred features in the resulting photographs. This is why in most early photos people are not smiling and looking fairly sombre.

In this image you can clearly see brush strokes enhancing furniture and clothing.

To correct the shortcomings of the early photographic process, photographers deployed a variety of techniques to enhance their photos. Ill defined areas of detail especially in the shadows were enhanced with brush strokes of black ink, often painting in shadow lines around clothes or furniture. Eyes could be redrawn or lined in with pencil or even whitened with pigments similar to watercolours. Hair styles could also traced out with a careful brush stroke. I’ve seen images with a great deal of this enhancing and when restoring them there is no option but to leave it in. It not only adds to authenticity but if as it hides the true outlines, removing it would be detrimental to the image.

Hi all

I will be holding a stand at the Woking Family History Fair on November the Saturday November the 5th  10 am to 4.30pm at Kind Field Road,  Woking Park, Woking Leisure Centre in Surrey and entrance is free and so is parking, nothing to lose!

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WSFHS OPEN DAY AND FAMILY HISTORY FAIR

Do YOU have an ancestor in Italy, Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Dorset, Glamorgan,

Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Kent, London, Manchester, Middlesex,

Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex or Wiltshire?

If so, visit the Society’s

OPEN DAY

The following organisations have reserved tables:

Anglo-Italian FHS • *Bedfordshire FHS • Berkshire FHS • Buckinghamshire FHS • Buckinghamshire GS

*Dorset FHS • *East Surrey FHS • *Glamorgan FHS • *Guild of One Name Studies

*Hampshire GS • *Hertfordshire FHS • Hillingdon FHS •*Huntingdonshire FHS • Kent FHS • London Westminster & Middlesex FHS

Manchester & Lancashire FHS • *Nottinghamshire FHS • *Oxfordshire FHS

Romany & Traveller FHS • Somerset & Dorset FHS • *Suffolk FHS • Sussex FH Group

*West Middlesex FHS • *Wiltshire FHS

The Society of Genealogists

 

• • • • • •

British Association for Local History • Brookwood Cemetery Society

*Family & Community Historical Research Society • Friends of Woking Palace •London Family History Centre

*Send & Ripley History Society

*Southwark Family History • *Sunbury & Shepperton Local History Society

*Surrey Heath Local History Club, Surrey Heath Museum, Archaeological & Heritage Trust

Surrey Heritage • Surrey History Trust • Surrey Record Society • The Lightbox, Woking

Woking & District Philatelic Society • Woking History Society

• • • • • •

AMP Family History Services • Bookzone • Brian Brinkley – Postcards • C E Jones (Postcards and Books)

CAB Search • Family History Shopy • Footsteps

Genealogy Printers • Genes Reunited • Image- Restore.co.uk Photo Restorations • John Owen Smith • John Townsend Books • Life Histories

M M Publications • Michael Goldsmith – Postcards • My History • Parchment (Oxford) Ltd

Priceless Treasures • R A Longley Publications • S&N Genealogical Supplies

*Staunton Park Genealogy Centre • The Genealogist • This Way Books & Cassini Maps

• • • • • •

RESEARCH! Research material available for use on the day in the adjacent Research Room will include the Computerised Surrey Marriage Index, indexed transcriptions of many Surrey Parish Registers (baptisms, marriages and burials), the Index and Calendar of Surrey Poor Law Records, the Index of Surrey Monumental Inscriptions, the IGI and other materials from the Society’s Reference Library on a wide range of genealogical related subjects.

HELP DESKS! Help desks for beginners and more experienced researchers.

FREE TALKS! A series of short talks on a range of subjects. See website for details. Book on the day.

Computer look-ups will also be available on Ancestry and Findmypast .

FREE Parking • Refreshments available • FREE Admission

 

5 popular and useful posts.

My photo restoration blog is growing all the time and sometimes too much to read all at once, for convenience I have collated 5 popular and useful posts.

 

1: In digital photo restoration there are many tools an artist can use to help with their craft. Restoring a digital photo is sometimes very challenging but restoring an original is something else altogether, read here Can you restore an original?

 

2: One of the most exciting aspects of photo restoration is surprise. You are never sure what you are going to restore next and this photo of a  1900,s Unicycle record is one which ill never forget and had a great story to go with it too!

 

3: Sometimes images come nearly as long as i am tall! These are normally panorama images, for some examples check out the post Can panorama images be restored?

 

4: Everyone likes to wake up bright eyed and bushy tailed but what if your eye photos did not turn out as you wanted them, you could try the retouching eyes post.

 

5: If all of this sounds like something you could do, you could find out how to get started in photo restoration by reading how to start in photo restoration