Missing Pieces of a Photograph

This photo has suffered so much damage throughout the years, and the family hoped to recover whatever they could of the darling image before it completely fell apart. Fortunately there is enough of the original to "borrow from" to fill in much of the missing areas because the family was not looking to maintain historical accuracy. Budget constraints might cause you to place limits on the extent of restoration done by a professional. Be sure to fully discuss the options of printing a smaller size, cropping to lessen the area to restore, and any other ideas a specialist might suggest. There is a positive side to this limitation of funds you might be facing. In effect, you will end up with what can be considered a "more historical image" when restoration stops short of perfecting such a photo. No matter what level of restoration you can achieve (or afford to have done), the result will always provide you with the joy of a newly-found image for your family to print and share.

1870's Photo

Taken in the 1870's, we have been told this is the only photograph of an ancestor on my mom's side. It was offered to a family newsletter, and I was asked if I could do anything with it before publication. These old images are treasures as they are, but bringing out features allows descendants the opportunity to enjoy the portraits in a "new" way. A risk is making faces something they are not, so less restoration is the best with these historical items. Closely working with existing features and filling in the blanks, as it were, gives faces more life without creating a "new" portrait. When considering the improvement of these really old images, it is up to the family to determine just how much to enhance such old photographs. Be sure to scan the original and place the digital file in a safe place to preserve this irreplaceable photo for your family. A copy of the original scan can be printed and hung in a frame, while preserving the original print by placing in a safe, if desired. This is a copy of an image, and that limited the restoration possibilities for me to begin with. If I had the original to scan myself, it might have been a different result.