PHOTO RESTORATION
Restoration of old photographs, particularly those of loved ones who are no longer with us, can be an extremely personal and moving experience for many people. Sebastian appreciates, carefully listens to, and follows suggestions and wishes expressed by his clients and strives to fulfill all of their expectations and instructions.
Every restoration project begins with a consultation with a client to assess the damage to a photograph, discuss the requirements, and advise the client on the techniques, methods, and materials required to restore a photograph and bring it back to its original appearance.
Factors taken into consideration include photographs physical condition and shape (rolled-up photos will have to be flattened, stains cleaned, and creases and tears repaired and reinforced), and requirements for a final print of a restored photograph. Based on all those factors and an expected time frame, an estimate is presented to the client, and the restoration process begins.
PHOTO PRESERVATION & CONSERVATION
Many of the photographs brought to Sebastian Wintermute Studio for restoration sustained extensive damages caused by improper display, mishandling, or accidents, such as basement flooding or house fires. For such photographs, an initial preservation and conservation treatment is required to protect them from future damage and deterioration.
Panoramic photographs that were rolled up and stored in that condition for many years, or photographs that sustained water damage from high humidity or an unfortunate basement flood, may require humidification and flattening. To prevent cracking of the photo emulsion and the development of additional tears, such photographs have to be placed in a humidification chamber that will slowly re-introduce moisture into the layers of the photographs and make them pliable enough for flattening and drying.
Old photographs for years kept on display became covered with a thick layer of dust, soot, and cigarette smoke residue, making them lose their original colors and vibrancy. The surfaces of such photographs need to be carefully cleaned with special solutions, making sure that the photo-emulation layer remains intact and undamaged.
Other photographs may have fallen victim to children’s mischievous hands and were torn to pieces or were painted over with crayons and magic markers. Torn photographs and photographs with missing areas, in addition to cleaning, will require careful mending, piecing together, and filling in of the missing areas before they can be scanned and digitally retouched to restore an image to its original appearance.
PHOTO SCANNING & DIGITAL ARCHIVING
Producing a high-quality scan is an extremely important step in photo restoration. The quality of the scan determines the quality of the result. While discount photo restoration services use low-quality scanners or require the clients to scan photographs themselves in the hope that later, whatever imperfections or problems may cause could be fixed by photo imaging editors, Sebastian Wintermute utilizes professional equipment and specialized software to ensure that the scans made by him capture even the smallest details or minute color variations needed for high-quality photo restoration and art reproduction.
Prior to scanning, the original was cleaned of surface dust and residue. Scans are done at a resolution of at least 600 dpi if the image is to be reproduced at its original size. Higher resolution is used if an image is to be enlarged or if capture of small details is required, as it is for fine art reproduction, publication, or digital archiving.
Sebastian Wintermute feels there are no substitutes for an artist's keen eye and attention to the smallest details in restoration. Avoiding the use of “dust and scratch filters” that often remove small but exceptionally important details and contribute to an overall loss of image quality, Sebastian manually retouches every image, preventing loss of quality and clarity caused by the use of shortcuts and reliance on automated image processing and editing.
Scan images intended for digital archives are subjected to extra scrutiny to assure that during restoration and retouching, no details were lost, damaged, or misinterpreted. Following examination and acceptance by a client, archival images are saved at a maximum allowed resolution in lossless digital formats. Special digital storage media, such as archival-grade DVDs, are designed to last for over 100 years if properly stored, are used to record and deliver the images to clients.
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