• HOME
• Who We Are
  • Falcon Aviation Photography
  • Behind the Scenes
• Images
  • Images
  • A-4 Skyhawk
  • A-7E Corsair
  • F-14A Tomcat
    • F-14B,D
  • F/A-18A,C Hornet
    • F/A-18B,D Hornet
    • F/A-18E, F Super Hornet
    • F/A-18 Hornet Aggressors
  • AV-8B Harrier
  • U.S. Navy Blue Angels
  • E-2C Hawkeye
  • Sea Control Squadron
  • S-3 Viking
  • Misc. U.S. Navy-Marines
  • F-16 Viper
    • U.S. Navy F-16N, F-16C
  • F-15 Eagle
  • F-22 Raptor
  • USAF Thunderbirds
  • Misc. U.S. Air Force
  • Helos
• Scale Modeling
  • In The Hangar
    • Two-Bob's T-2C Buckeye 1/48
  • Finished Models
• Pro-Fotos
  • Falcon Images
• Photo Services
  • Services
  • Custom Editing and File Preparation
  • Image Restoration
  • Common Aviation and Military Acronyms
• Contact Us
  • Drop Us A Line
  • FAQs

Image Restoration

Here are some examples of worst case scenarios of badly damaged photos with negative scratching and extreme color shift. After scanning in the image at the highest resolution, the now digital image is taken through an optimization process.

The first sequence is to bring the scan into image editing software and remove scratches and other imperfections from the original image. Depending on the amount of work necessary, it can take as long as an hour to just correct damage.

Next we begin by taking a look at the image and determine what action needs to be taken. In the example of the F-16N, the color slide has color shifted badly over the years. This does not usually happen to high quality slide films if stored under proper conditions.

However, the slide in question was taken with an “experimental” slide/film negative option that was introduced in the mid 1980’s.

This color shift is brought back into the range of color that the computer “sees” and we start to make incremental shifts in the RGB or red, green and blue range, which is what most of the total color range is under. While modern image editing software can perform miraculous results, it still cannot make a bad image good. It does have limitations on what kind of fixes it can accomplish. You can make a good image better, even great but simply cannot change an already poor image into a good one. For instance if the original image was slightly out of focus, then you can’t put focus back in. You might be able to sharpen as much as 1 or 2% before the image starts to get halos around the pixels, and it starts to look artificial or “over sharpened”.

In the case of the F-16N shot in 1988, the shortcomings of the image is that it was shot in bright sunlight on poor film and I   wasn’t able to use the best camera lens system (along with my learning curve of shooting moving objects) and therefore the image has a slight motion blur. I determined that with the relative rarity of a color image of this type of aircraft in this time frame and the fact that this jet was relatively new to Top Gun at the time, with it’s original camoflage scheme that this image was worthy of trying to correct. The image itself is “on the fence” so to speak, of having the quality to be able to be posted on my site, but due to its historical relevance especially to modelers and enthusiasts, I chose to include it.
Overall I spent about an hour and a half on the restoration of F-16N ‘88, and was pleased that I was able to save an otherwise unremarkable photo.