Railfan Technology > I Can’t Make A Bad Picture Look Good

The attached photo taken on July 26, 1992 of Kentucky Railway Museum’s Monon #32 EMD BL2 at Boston KY has actually received considerable editing with Microsoft Photo Editor to improve its appearance. I cropped the photo because the subject was far away when I took it. The photo was slightly out of focus and cropping it exaggerated the effect. Then I sharpened it all that I could. Finally, I brightened the photo because I had taken it in low light following a strong thunderstorm. So, I started out with a bad photo and ended up with a bad one, maybe just not quite as bad.
ALLEN

The overwhelming majority of the time, a bad photo is just that, a bad photo, be it composition, lighting, or
whatever.  Having said that, there can be improvments made, and in this case, it's (IMHO) a noteworthy photo.
 I personally can overlook the bad because of that.  I've seen and photographed plenty of NS Dash 9's and
CSX Gevo's that, again (IMHO) simply aren't worth the time or effort to attempt to fix or share with the railfan public.  
This is just my opinion only, others may vary.

JWR

https://www.flickr.com/photos/twenty17teen/sets
 

It's unfortunate, but a pix out of focus will always be out of focus. It isn't fixable.  We all have 'em.

Maybe a bit closer to what you saw? 


Dave

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bnsftcdiv Wrote:
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> Maybe a bit closer to what you saw? 
>
>
> Dave

Like your version.  You aggressively brightened it.  I actually brightened it some.  Was really pretty dim after the storm.
ALLEN

You can often make them look better, expecially if the original was recorded in a raw format.  Focus is not very fixable but contrast, brightness, white balance and a few other thing can be adjusted.

I've done a few miles in that BL2 but it was when the museum was on Dorsey Ln.  That was a "few" years ago, maybe longer.

John

Have posted three new versions of photo.
My original posting is closest to the appearance of the actual scene.
My first version in this posting is a brightened version similar to the one that Dave posted.
My second version is a little different brightened version.
My third version is the brightened version I like best even if not as realistic.
But, at the end of the day, although the appearance may have been improved; it is still not a good picture.
ALLEN  

It's my attempt with the ACD-Browser.
Regards - Phil

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I suggest you rescan it.  I don't know what scanning software you are using but hopefully it will let you do most of the fixing during the scan.  I use VueScan and I bet it will give a much better scan.  Then fixing it up will be a lot easier.  

Marty Bernard



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/06/15 08:42 by MartyBernard.

MARTY:
Thanks for the information about VueScan.
I used a PrimeFilm1800i scanner together with CyberX software to scan the slide; then I used Microsoft Photo Editor to modify the scan.
ALLEN
 

I know nothing about CyberX software and a Google search did not help.  If it is good, it should allow tou to do a preview scan and adjust shading and colors.  It should also do some automatic adjustments if you check certain boxes like "Restore fading".

If you have a lot of scanning in your future I can recommend VueScan.  If has been reccomended by any others in this Train Orders forum in the past.  Well worth buying.  And the guy who wrote it answers questions within 24-hours, which is amazing.

Marty Bernard



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/25/15 19:32 by MartyBernard.

MARTY:
I've just done a web search and read about VueScan.  I plan to discuss installing it with my son who takes care of my computer.
Thanks again.
ALLEN

yes vuescan is awesome use to it a lot when i shot slides

Yes I agree!


MartyBernard Wrote:
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> I know nothing about CyberX software and a Google
> search did not help.  If it is good, it should
> allow tou to do a preview scan and adjust shading
> and colors.  It should also do some automatic
> adjustments if you check certain boxes like
> "Restore fading".
>
> If you have a lot of scanning in your future I
> can't reccomend VueScan.  If has been reccomended
> by any others in this TGrain Orders orum in the
> past.  Well worth buying.  And the guy who wrote
> it answers questions within 24-hours, which is
> amazing.
>
> Marty Bernard

The above quote of what I said has a couple of bad typos.  I fixed them in what I said a few comments above.

Marty