Restoring Old Photos - A Satisfying Endeavor
Some months ago, I was given roughly 1000 Magic Lantern Slides dating from around 1880 to 1930. Almost all of the slides are black and white and most needed some degree of restoration.
To get a given slide ready for publication, it first has to be scanned and saved as a digital file -- that's where the resolution, restoration and sizing are done prior to submission.
Here's some information regarding the Magic Lantern. Magic Lantern slides consist of a photographic negative printed on emulsion on a piece of glass which is then covered with another piece of (clear) glass.
The magic lantern has a concave mirror in front of a light source that gathers light and projects it through a slide with an image scanned onto it. The light rays cross an aperture (which is an opening at the front of the apparatus), and hit a lens. The lens throws an enlarged picture of the original image from the slide onto a screen. Main light sources used during the time it was invented in the late 16th century were candles or oil lamps.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_lantern
Maid of the Mist Tourist Boat c. 1904
Shopping District, Nuremberg, Germany, 1903
Street Scene, Nuremberg, Germany, 1903
Passengers and Crew, U.S, Pretoria, 1903
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While the original copyrights have expired, because I own the original images, I also technically own/control the present copyrights.
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Got an old photo that needs some "fixing," post JUST ONE; if I can improve it (don't anticipate perfection), I'll see what I can do, re-post it and you can copy it.
JUST ONE!
Fascinating stuff Mac. Does the restoration process you use also work with the early photographic plates from the 1840's to the 1880's? I use the old photo button on Windows Picture It and it does an OK job. Not even close to what you can do, though.
Even aside from the method of repairing them, the content of the pictures itself is of great interest to me (as it would be to any historian).
If I can scan/digitize the image on a plate, I can possibly improve it to some extent depending on how good/bad the original is.
A lot of the old glass plate negatives have deteriorated badly over time. I remember seeing in the latter part of the documentary The Civil War how some of them were used to make greenhouses. Being very light sensitive, even after the image was fixed, that really messed them up. What a waste of pictorial history, particularly if none of the prints survived.
Ektachrome slides were processed by machine using a process known as
"E-6". Kodachrome slides were process by Kodak only as far as I know and they're more of a problem to scan for several reasons one of which is their thickness.
I've had good success with Ektachome slide "restoration" if I can call it that -- mostly I can improve color, contrast and even sharpness to a degree. Kodachromes not so much as they possess a peculiar granularity and often turn magenta with age.
The big challenges are with rips and holes and tears and missing areas.
Those photos are so clear. Great job.
What kind of software do you use for this?
Photoshop Elements 6. Very few of its components are necessary for most restorations -- brightness, contrast, Clone Stamp, Sharpness (used judiciously).
Thanks. I have a slew of old photos that belonged to my dad, back into the 1920s. I've been scanning them and wondering what to do about the imperfections.
Hopefully you'll share a couple.
EI,
I greatly appreciate the technical information you've added to the discussion; many thanks.
Thanks. I'm going looking for it right now.
These were taken at Selig Zoo. Dad had a pony track there, and his ponies were used in movies. I'm writing an ebook about his time there. The first one has so many creases I'm not sure it can be fixed, but I thought you'd enjoy it.
Wow. That's amazing. And you did it so fast. I'm impressed. Would you be interested in doing others?
If you post the one-at-a-time I'll get to them when I can and post the ones I feel are "successful." You can then copy them and they're yours. OK?
Not much to do with it, I'm afraid, but, he was so handsome in his WWI uniform!
I loved him so much... Still do!
Don't worry, I don't expect perfection at all-- but if his "wounds" could be healed at all, it would be wonderful!
Oh my gosh! It's a miracle!!!
It's hard to know how saturated the original sepia tone was, how much yellowing is aging -- I can do other variations if you like.
I can't thank you enough. These photos I found in the garage after Dad died. Fortunately, he wrote on the back of each of them so i can identify place, time and identities. Most of them are in fairly good shape, but a few are not. Here's one of him as an extra in the Fay Wray movie, The Wedding March. The pony my uncles (as boys) are with in the first post was also in that movie. Dad was her handler, hence the uniform that really is a terrible fit. He looks so unhappy. The photo has some pieces missing, so i'm not sure if those can be fixed.
I bought the book from Amazon. Can't wait to receive it.
I too am glad you're generously sharing your knowledge here. I'm a novice when it comes to working with old photos, but I love them, so it's exciting to be able to learn a bit about how to do these things.
It's BEAUTIFUL!!! Thank you!
I will copy it, and put it in my files! Thank you so much-- Dear Uncle Louie, he was off to war and still looked so innocent. He came back, and his eyes were haunted...
Thank you!!! Thank you, very much!!!
LOL!
He certainly admired Louie Armstrong-- I have a lot of old 78s that were Uncle Louie's, featuring Satchmo!
Loretta,
Wow. What a difference. i can't tell your edits are even though I know where the flaws were. What great skill you have.
So far, only two others that I've scanned need similar work. One isn't a spectacular photo even if it was cleaned up, but Dad wrote on the back it was the first photo he ever took, so he gave it that importance. It has light streaks across it. BTW, Dad was only 19 in the photos I've posted.
The other has a piece missing. It's of a pony rearing with Dad posing as if he's a strongman lifting her front end. The missing piece is right where her front legs should be. The rest of the photo is in pretty good shape. I have other photos of the same pony but not rearing and not with Dad. i also have other ponies with white legs, also not rearing. They're all standing still. i don't know how hard it would be to fix the hole, but if it could be done, perhaps parts of the legs of the ponies in the other photos could be used to duplicate those that are missing.
If you're interested in trying either of those, i'd be thrilled, but i don't want to impose. Those are the two worst of the lot as far as condition. The rest have creases (not as many as the elephant photos) or minor flecks.
I'm already thrilled with those you've already done Tell me what I can do for you in return.
Post one-at-a-time and we'll see what can be done.
No need to concern yourself with reciprocation; it's satisfying to be helpful.
Thanks. If there ever is a time I can help you, just let me know. This is such a great favor, I'd like to reciprocate.
This is the one with the piece missing. When I looked at it again, I realized I had not described it well. I forgot about the missing piece and the holes (too many of them have those holes. I suspect they were for a holder of some type). Sorry.
The second photo I found on the Internet. His front legs are in a similar position. Thought you might be able to use it for reference. The third photo is of a different pony in case you can use the legs for repair.
It's wonderfully better. I was afraid it couldn't be done at all. Dad had a trick pony act at the zoo. I've wondered if this was one of the tricks in the act, if it was for a movie, or if he was just messing around. I'm still going through his life story that he wrote to see if he mentioned it. Hopefully he did.
Thanks ever so much. I'm going to visit my oldest sister this summer. She's in her 80s and not in the best of health, so I'm trying to put this all together for her. She was the only sibling alive during his time at the zoo, and she was very young, just a couple of years old when this photo was taken and about ten when he left there.
She told me about listening to the lions roar in the evenings as she was going to sleep. The elephant in the first photo was a famous movie star in those days. She liked attention and babies. Once when Dad was walking through the zoo, she came up behind him and took hold of the baby carriage handle, lifting my sister high up off the ground. It took awhile to convince her to set her down. When she did, she did it very gently.
Thank you so much. These edits really help me in getting things ready for her.
This is the one with the white streaks. I don't think there is anything beneath the white to raise, but I thought I'd show it to you to see what you think.
Each pony is standing with their front feet on a wooden box like circus ponies do.
I'll be gone tomorrow and not back until evening, so I won't be on the Internet until then. Thanks ahead of time for your effort.
That's what I thought. At least I was right about one of them. LOL.
Thanks for trying. It is better than it was.
Those are the worst of the photos I've scanned. I think i have most of them from the Selig Zoo era, but of course, there's a lot more from later in his life. I'm not going to work on them right now. I'm trying to stay focused and get this project done. i'm going to go through them again to be sure i haven't missed one that should be in this collection, but that won't be for a week or two.
Thanks again. This means a lot to me.