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Old Photographs, Recognition, Handwriting Deciphering => Free Photo Restoration & Date Old Photographs => Topic started by: deejayEn on Sunday 11 November 18 19:55 GMT (UK)
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This is a old photograph of who we believe is my mother's great uncles Joseph (b 1874) and Charles (b1877) Higgins. Although they lived in London, the photo was taken in a studio in Philadelhia USA in the late 1890s, possibly later. We believe both of them were working on a ship and ended up in America, albeit for a brief time which was when the photo was taken. Sadly it has been folded at some point, oblitarating Charles' face. Is anyone able to recreate his face from what exists?
Also can anyone acurately date the photograph. We think it dates from about 1896 because after that Joseph was working as a lightermen working soley on the Thames and Charles signed up as a soldier who was posted to Malta, Celyon and the East Indies until 1908, and so neither were (in theory) able to travel to America. Charles later worked as a fireman on a ship, so its possible the photo may date from that period. Any help would be gratefully received.
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One from me...
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One from me
Pat
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That's amazing - thanks to both of you. If anyone else can offer a date for the photo by the clothes it would be useful.
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If you go back to your original post and add 'Dating' to the title, it will catch the attention of the dating specialists. ;) I am thinking your guess looks reasonable.
Wiggy
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Here's my offerings. Hope you enjoy!
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That's great, thank you. I always felt sorry for Charles having a fold through his face and wondered if the postcard was carried back across the Atlantic in that condition in one their pockets.
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Hi....The divided back was introduced on postcards in 1907 in America so after that date. The PMO stamp box dates between 1907 - 1915.
Carol
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Ah ha - someone who has more knowledge about dating of postcards! ;)
Wiggy :)
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My try.
Peter
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Treetotal - thanks for the dating info on the card. That does make sense because that would make the two men aged around 30 (charles) and 33 (Joseph). Charles was a seaman at this point in between his two stints in the army, and although Joseph was supposedly a lighterman on the Thames, he may have spent some time away at sea which is how they reached Philadelphia.
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Thanks Peter, it's much appreciated. Out of interest how long does it take to restore a photo with damage like this, and do you use Photoshop or a special software?
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Out of interest how long does it take to restore a photo with damage like this, and do you use Photoshop or a special software?
There are various software programs available and they can do a lot more than just repairs and restores. Photoshop has a few different versions, depending on what you want to do with it and how much you want to pay. It is pretty much the industry standard but being subscription based, works out a bit pricey for me. I use Gimp which is a free and open source program and the latest version is snapping at the heels of P/shop although P/shop still has a lot more bells and whistles.
I don't tend to time myself, but I guess this one took me about 30-45 minutes but I'm not particularly quick. Easy fixes can take 5-10 minutes but on some more complex ones, I have spent 5-6 hours or more! Its very addictive :)
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In my case I had an old family photo but had no idea who the people in it were. In February of last year I found out they were my great grandfather and his daughters. So I had to get the photo repaired. I then discovered my laptop had come preloaded with a dodgy years old version of Photoshop Elements (that’s the non-professional version). So I set about learning it so I could repair my photo. Then my hard drive crashed taking the dodgy PE with it. I tried Gimp but I was by then too used to PE so I bought a new version of it (Aus$120).
As Andy says there are plenty of competing programs, basically with similar tools, set up in different ways. Think of it as like being a carpenter, in the end it depends more on the skills and styles you develop than the brand of tools you use.
I think I’m slower than Andy. I took over an hour on your photo, mainly trying to get the damaged eyes right.
And, again as Andy says, it becomes very addictive. Ever since I worked on that photo of my relatives I haven’t been able to stop!
Cheers,
Peter
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Thanks for the info, I will give it a go myself one day.
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Hi deejayEn, A try from me too.
Carol
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Thanks Carol. I like the vignette effect on the edges.
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You very are welcome :)
Carol
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hope you like it
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Perhaps you missed these Looingbacktofront;
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=801778.msg6595576#msg6595576
Carol
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Lookingbacktofront - many, many thanks for the colourised version, it really brings the picture to life. We're currently finding out so many things about my mum's great-uncle Charles (we discovered he was a deserter from WWI in England but escaped to New Zealand but then joined the Expeditionary force at the age of 37). It's great to see his portrait restored and now in colour.