01
THE PROJECT
Since June 2013, DiCaterino has
volunteered for CARE for Sandy, which offers free
digital restoration services for individuals and
families with photos damaged by Hurricane Sandy.
CARE stands for Cherished Albums Restoration
Effort and is made possible by the efforts of
generous retouchers worldwide. This is one image
he received from a family in Long Beach, NY, who
wish to remain anonymous. You can volunteer
yourself at http://www.careforsandy.org.02
THE METHOD
The damage was severe, and in this case
DiCaterino’s main technique was Split Frequency,
but sometimes he has to be more creative: “Good,
successful retouchers are artists, craftspeople, and
technicians. They are analytical. They mentally
deconstruct each image, envision the end result,
and quickly formulate the steps to achieve it. They
show restraint, know when to apply a specific filter,
and invent unconventional uses for them to speed
up the workflow.”03
THE RESULT
After colour correction, this is the final
image that the family got back. As DiCaterino notes,
Photoshop is “an incredibly powerful tool that helps
produce amazing results in the right hands – in my
case, restoring priceless memories and preserving
history. Photo restoration is its own form of time
travel and I find it fascinating and gratifying.”...to the bottom: tarmac. I just cloned good parts over the bad parts and “There were all kinds of ugly stuff on the
extended the image to the bottom of the scan by continuing to clone.”“The main problems are usually rips, creases, stains, and fading,” says
DiCaterino. “The trickiest is repairing damage to a photo printed on
paper that features a textured pattern, which was popular several
decades ago. Many retouchers blur the texture out or apply FFT, but to
me, restoring a photo means returning it to its original state, texture and
all. To retain that detail, I use the Healing Brush, Frequency Separations,
Channels, and so on. It can be a painstaking process depending on the
severity and location of the damage, but the results are true to the
original and more representative of the photo’s era. For lightly damaged
or faded photos, it’s easy to know when I’m finished. For badly damaged
photos or ones with major colour shifts, it can be more difficult. In those
cases, when I think I’m done I’ll revisit the photo the next day with fresh
eyes and make any necessary adjustments. Sometimes, I even ask a
colleague to quickly evaluate my work and see if anything looks off.
“Retouching and restoration is best when it looks natural, as if
nothing had been done to the image. It becomes too much when it
looks obviously phony, plastic, processed, or otherwise manipulated.
I’ve seen a lot of restorations that look soft, airbrushed, cut out, and/or
borderline-cartoonish. If the background is in bad shape, fix it, don’t just
cover it up with a gradient. If the original photo contains film grain, keep
it, don’t surface blur it to death. Like recorded music, when too much
noise reduction is applied, the fine details are lost. By retaining fine
detail, I succeed in preserving history. Yes, doing it that way is more
challenging, but the results are better.”2/"ď$)#!4%2)./ď˴7772/"$)#!4%2)./#/-˵ď
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- BRING THE PAST TO LIFE 29. HOW TO HEAL
qď#!2%ďFORď3ANDYď0OLAROIDď4HEďFAMILYďFROMď7ESTď.YACK ď.9 ďWISHďTOďREMAINďANONYMOUS'2/50ď0(/4/3ď#!.ď"%ď4(%ď42)#+)%34 ď!.$ď4(%ď-/34ď
)-0/24!.4 ď4/ď2%34/2% ď!3ď-!2+ď'),6%9ď%80,!).3Plane sailing: including dust and other types of crud that were probably “The jet had some flaws covering it
ONďTHEďFILMďEMULSIONď4OďREMOVEďDUST ď)ďWOULDďUSEďAďcombination of making a selection with the Lasso tool
and running Dust & Scratches on it where there are large AREAS ďORď)
DďJUSTďSPOTďITďOUTďWITHďTHEďRUBBERďSTAMPďTOOLď
4ODAY ďHOWEVER ď)ďMIGHTďDUPLICATEďTHEďLAYERďANDďOFFSETďITďby one or two pixels and set the top layer to Darken and
then use a layer mask to apply the fix in specific areas. The Healing Brush and Patch tools would just grab crud
from other areas.”Duplicate the issue:ď!NOTHERďTECHNIQUEď)ďUSEďISďTOďDUPLICATEďAďLAYER ďRUNďTHEď'AUSSIANď"LURď
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SďAďGOODďWAYďTOďSMOOTHďOUTďSUBTLEďBLOTCHYďFLAďTOď$ARKENďORď,IGHTENďDEPENDINGďWSďLIKEďONďTHEďFUSELAGE
Everyone at their best 1:part and had to really stand out so each person could be “This was the most important
identified. The mid tone was completely mud and the IMAGEďOVERALLďWASďSOFTďNOTďSHARP ď4OďFIXďTHIS ď)ďSTARTEDďBYď
duplicating the background layer and sharpened the life OUTďOFďITďUSINGď53-ďEveryone at their best 2: “There were still some light
specs in the dark areas that revealed themselves. Next I added a Curves adjustment layer and increased the
contrast by a lot. Then I added a layer mask for each of these two layers and painted the lightened/sharpened
people back into view.”From the top...: HADďTOďBEďTAKENďOUTď-YďSOLUTIONďWASďTOďREPLACEďITď4HEREďWASďAďLOTďOFďSTUFF
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the top. I made it just dark enough to give the canopy separation but look like it was in front of the same sky. I
also extended the image off the top just so there was extra. This was done by tracing the sky with the Pen tool
and filling it with a gentle gradient.”RETOUCHING TIPS