The first image you see, below, is the original image as it appeared when Carol received it for restoration.
Slide the arrow to the right to reveal the image after Carol's amazing restoration work.
The original photograph was a small file, shot in a poorly lit room with a cell phone so it didn't have a lot of detail.
Carol enlarged the original image. The enlarged image was not only faded-looking and lacking detail but also very grainy. Carol had to do a lot of painting to clean up the background (including uneven shadows across the back wall - which a novice wouldn't have fixed). The color had to be worked with... contrast adjusted and readjusted - emphasizing the graininess even more.
The baby is fair skinned while the man has a quite ruddy complexion. These issues also presented quite a challenge. All the this work caused dark reds, purples and greens to show up in a way that would not have been there had we begun with a good photo originally. These colors appeared as splotches, particularly in the man's ruddy complexion.
Carol did extensive painting back in to "sharpen" the image as well as smooth the graininess while retaining natural colors. The result is a thoroughly charming picture.