... ma's dear friend, barbara, asked me if i could "fix up" this photograph of her parents ... i actually enjoy doing this sort of work, so i gladly accepted her request ...
... about three hours my nose to the computer screen, of which over half the effort was dust spotting ... for this project i decided to keep track of the number of steps in photoshop's "history" ... 1,114 different filterings, including tone and contrast curve alterations, clone brush corrections, and spot "healings" ... i also tightened the composition a bit without losing any of the image or altering its 8x10 proportions ...
CLICK ON THE PICTURE AND IT WILL OPEN FULL-SIZE, THEN USE THE LEFT-RIGHT ARROWS TO SWITCH BETWEEN THE ORIGINAL AND THE RESTORATION
... i'm always amazed when after an hour or so of working on images like this, often zoomed in to the point that i'm correcting image imperfections the size of a human hair, i begin to feel as if i know the people in the picture ... in my mind i start to write little stories about them ... i know absolutely nothing about this couple, of course, but after connecting with them through the transcendental magic of a photographic time warp this lack of knowledge does nothing to prevent me from wishing that they were as happy as they appear, that her future turned out as bright as the look in her eyes, that he was as warm and gentle as his smile ...
... i know, pure foolishness on my part, but, i suppose, that's the whole point of being hopeful ... after all, how sad would be our lives if we couldn't every once in awhile give the world a most foolish embrace ...