This portrait was in seriously bad condition. In addition to the usual suspects—cracks, fading, missing emulsion—the actual photography itself was less than appealing. The dark wall paneling made for a very ugly background and there were blown highlights in the hair and on the sweater.
So, after repairing the cracks and balancing the highlights and shadows in the sweater I used the frequency separation technique to soften her skin. I then darkened the background to black, which eliminated the paneling completely. Much better!
Finally, I increased the color range and added a black vignette to complete the make-over.
