Hi, I’m Krissy Clark, a Photo Restoration Artist.

Digital retouching tools are accessible to everyone, but detailed and accurate photo restoration is an art that relies completely on the skill of the artist. Experience, judgement and research skills are also vital, as well as the utmost care and respect.

Over the last 30 plus years, I have restored, retouched & recomposed every type of photo and document from every kind of damage and disappointment. From making digital copies to keep the images safe, to bringing back nightmare-level damaged images. I love that I can repair and preserve a precious piece of family history that someone thought was beyond saving and lost forever. I absolutely, honestly care about rescuing the photos that people love.

Here is some work I have done, click on the images for a closer look.

  • TEARS, CRACKS, SCRATCHES & CREASES

  • STICKY TAPE ON IMAGE SURFACE

  • Ahh…. sticky tape.
    Adding more damage to an
    already broken photo.
    Like having a tooth knocked out
    and putting it back in with a staple gun.

  • RECONSTRUCT FEATURES OR BODY PARTS

  • This can involve a lot of research, references,and superior artistic ability. Thank God for Google and my overblown self-confidence.

  • DAYLIGHT PROOFS, LIGHTEN DARK IMAGES

  • At one point, photographers would give out proofs for weddings and portraits that darken when exposed to light. Some photos just darken over time. Like my soul.

  • PLASTIC SURFACE DETERIORATION

  • This technique involved photos being stretched over metal bases and getting a celluloid coating. None of them end well. The plastic turns yellow, it gets scratched if you even look at it.

  • Then it dries up and cracks into pieces, taking the photo with it. And the metal rusts. It’s like a photo time bomb, but good on them for trying something different.

  • INSECT DAMAGE

  • At one stage in photography’s past, the photos emulsion was made from albumen, or egg white, creating an insect charcuterie board.

  • FADING & DISCOLOURATION, ADD DEPTH & DETAIL

  • Fading happens with prolonged light exposure, temperature changes and general atmospheric stuff. It causes deterioration of the base and chemical components of the photo over time.

  • The image becomes lighter in tone with less contrast, resulting in the loss of information and distortion. The process of saving these can involve a lot of detective work.

  • SAVE CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

  • But probably not the ones you’re discussing with your therapist.

  • SAVE A PASSPORT PHOTO

  • Whatever you’ve got…..I’ll give it a shot!

  • RECOVER ALMOST LOST FEATURES

  • SHARPEN BLURRY IMAGE

  • Will bring out more detail.There is such a thing as too blurry to save completely, but it can always be made better. And sometimes it’s just that your glasses are dirty.

  • SILVER LEECHING

  • This is a kind of shiny greyish effect over the surface of the photo caused by the oxidation of the silver in the photo’s emulsion. It can almost completely block all of the photo's details but is generally completely fixable.

  • B&W TO SEPIA TO TINTING TO COLOUR

  • The choices of the finished results are endless. Well…..not entirely endless…..there are 4.

  • CLEAN UP BUILDING, ADD DETAILS

  • STUCK TO GLASS

  • Photos in contact with glass + humidity = stuck. Don’t try to pull or soak it off. You will destroy it. It will not come off. Ever. Even if someone says they have done it… they really haven’t. It’s fixable, but not like that.

  • STAINS, MARKS & MOULD

  • ADJUST COLOUR, BRIGHTNESS, CONTRAST, WHITE BALANCE

  • STAINED, DAMAGE ARTWORK

  • The artwork itself may not be repairable, but the image could be. And generally, the image will look exactly like the original artwork. Sorry, can’t do money. Or Monet’s.

  • REJOIN BROKEN PIECES

  • Digital Sticky Tape

  • WATER DAMAGE

  • Water can cause the emulsion to lift from the base of the photo, distorting the colours and image. Then comes the mould. If you have a lot of wet photos (from flooding for example) and can’t easily separate them to dry,

  • or can’t tend to them immediately, put them all into a sealed plastic bag and freeze them. Try not to let them dry out when they are all stuck together. And don’t accidentally put them on sandwiches.

  • RECREATE MISSING PIECES

  • Research and invention.

  • REPAIR A LESS THAN PERFECT RESTORATION JOB

  • Whoopsadaisy…. Well, they gave it a shot.

  • FADED, DAMAGED PAPER ITEMS

  • Faded and worn letters, plans, posters, newspaper articles, maps. (If you can see any sort of ‘X’ on a map….PLEASE let me fix it!)

  • REMOVE TATTOOS

  • I love tattoos. But some Nannas cannot cope with pentagrams permanently engraved on their sweet little granddaughters.

  • (Yes, I know she still has the tattoo, and it’s her life and nanna should love her unconditionally, but sometimes it’s nice just to not make nannas cry).

  • REMOVE OBJECTS

  • IMPROVE SPECIAL PHOTOS

  • Make your favourite photos way cooler than they were.

  • GLASSES, CLOTHING, SLIM DOWN

  • I am all for body / age positivity, but there are a lot of reasons for people to want to see themselves differently, or adjust something. Some annoying, unflattering detail in a photo can ruin a special memory.

  • NEW BACKGROUNDS

  • Because we all have nice moments in dodgy places.

  • DOUBLE EXPOSURES

  • TRANSGENDER AFFIRMATION

  • There are a lot of human beings that this can be very important for. Imagine that every part of what you looked like was the opposing gender to who you are, and no one saw who you are, but just expected you to be what you looked like.

  • Imagine growing up and finally being able to match your outsides to your insides, and looking back at the photos of younger you in the wrong body. For some people, correcting some of those images can be incredibly affirming.

  • This is very surface scratching, I could not begin to understand the breadth or depth of this life process, I just know that maybe, in a small way, I can help someone feel a bit better. So I’m gonna.

  • MINOR ADJUSTMENT & CLEAN UP

  • Sharpness, colour, lighten, darken, contrast, fix colour, a few marks or scratches, straighten up, crop, nose pimple or one of the million other little annoying things that turn up in a photo and make you never want to look at it.

  • SCARS

  • REMOVE OR CLEAN UP FACIAL HAIR

  • LIGHTEN DARK AREAS

  • Faces in shadow, adding highlights, saving details.

  • EYE BAGS, WRINKLES, BLEMISHES, HAIR COLOUR, COLLAR

  • I love the character in more mature faces, I have plenty of it myself. This is just an example of what can be done. There are a lot of reasons this is asked for.

  • If all the photos of your younger self were lost, recreating a piece of your past may be important to you. Or needing a lovely photo for a funeral.

  • We want to celebrate the life of a loved one who has passed, with a lovely photo that is recent, but without the overwhelm of end of life or sickness.

  • ADD & REMOVE PEOPLE 

  • As in life…..so in photos. So dramatic. You might want to get rid of someone dodgy in the background, isolate a great photo of yourself or a loved one or combine the best photos of different people.

  • CHANGE ASPECTS OF PHOTO

  • MOVE PEOPLE

  • Because it’s too late to move them before the photo was taken.

  • MATCH PHOTO STYLES TO EACH OTHER

  • Transform different photos to match in styles, or to be cute and arty.

  • TOO FAR GONE TO RESTORE  

  • Some photos may not have enough detail, be too blurry or have too much damage to restore to their original state. But if the photo is something unique

  • and precious to you, there may be some scope to turn it into something ‘arty’. By cleaning up the damage and applying various filters,

  • I can create something special, so that you can keep a visual and emotional connection to the people, place or time that you love.

PRICING GUIDELINES

Restoring a photo can take between half an hour to 30 hours or more. It can require meticulous editing, extensive research, and photorealistic artwork to restore details, depth and colour.

Although all photos are individually quoted, here is a guideline of different kinds of damage, and the approximate cost.

(Critical repair areas are faces, hands and areas of detail that are essential to the photo)

  • LIGHT RESTORATION

    STARTING AT $45

    Would be either:

    • Basic colour correction, white balance
    • Conversion to b&w or sepia
    • Brighten & add contrast
    • Straighten, cropping, resize
    • Improve sharpness (make image less blurry)
    • Remove minor spots, stains or marks
    • Light damage on photo with up to 3 minor repairs not over critical areas of detail (volume discounts available)

  • MEDIUM RESTORATION

    STARTING AT $100

    Would be ONE of the following:

    • Restore 1 critical area of detail
    • New background
    • Add or delete 1 person in a group photo
    • Restore colour of undamaged photo
    • Colouring simple b&w photo
    • Repair creases, tears, scratches, stains etc in non-critical areas of image

  • HEAVY RESTORATION

    STARTING AT $250

    Would be heavily damaged photos with more than 3 critical areas of repair:

    • Scratches, stains, water damage, folds, cracks, tears, discolouration, etc.
    • Add or delete more than 1 person in a group
    • Colour and restore moderately damaged photo
    • Photo colouring of complex b&w and very faded photos

  • EXTREME RESTORATION

    STARTING AT $500

    Heavily damaged group photos with more than 5 critical areas of repair:

    • Scratches, stains, water damage, folds, tears, discolouration etc.
    • Colouring of complex black & white photos or faded colour photos.
    • Add or delete more than 3 persons.
    • Changing relevant elements of the image: landscape,  accessories, clothing
    • Adding or removing people or elements
    • Reconstruction of features or body parts.
    • Combining several photos

GETTING A QUOTE

  • VISIT MY STUDIO IN WYNNUM WITH YOUR PHOTO

    We can discuss what you want to do, the options and the cost. You may even get adoring looks from my dog.

  • POST OR COURIER YOUR ORIGINAL PHOTO TO MY STUDIO

    Please use registered post and rigid, waterproof packaging. There are 1 or 2 posties that take 'do not bend' as a challenge.

  • SCAN YOUR PHOTO & UPLOAD IT HERE OR VIA EMAIL

    The scan determines the quality of your restored photo, so take care. I have included scanning directions, however, if this process causes you some anxiety, businesses such as OFFICEWORKS provide scanning services. (Ask for a scan at 600dpi to be emailed to you (or me).

GETTING A GOOD SCAN

  1. Check that the scanner glass is clean and dust-free.
  2. Position the photo face down on the scanner glass and line up your photo within the guidelines.
  3. If the photo is not completely flat, place a weight on the scanner lid (e.g., a large book or an oversized cat) to help flatten it to the screen.
  4. TURN OFF AUTOMATIC FILTERS (sharpening, scratches and dust, colour correction, etc.). The scanner picks up details that the eye can’t see, and the automatic filters make retrieving these details impossible.
  5. Set the scanner to:
    MODE: Photo Mode
    IMAGE TYPE: Colour (even for b&w photos, colour files capture so much more detail than grayscale)
    RESOLUTION: 600 dpi
    FORMAT: JPEG
    FILE NAME: 'Great Uncle Captain Fancy Pants' for example. Save to somewhere it won't take you 45 minutes to find again.
  6. Your photo can only be restored to the best possible outcome if the digital file is sharp and clear.

MY PROCESS

Your original photo (if I have it) will be delicately and respectfully handled, scanned to a high resolution, and repackaged for its protection. I will provide a quote for the work required, a detailed description of the work I will do, with a sample of the outcome where possible, and any possible alternatives (such as just cleaning up the worst damage on the image, or cropping). All artwork is done digitally to restore the image to its original state, or to your requirements. Time taken is dependent on the amount of work required and my current workload. I will do my best to work to any desired dates where required.

GET A FREE QUOTE BELOW:

Tell me what you would like for your photo and we can discuss your options. I will send you a free quote and sample of the improvements I can make to your photo…