To all the photographers, I need advice and help!

[rdrr]

Preamble; So I am not by any means knowledgable at photography, and I am trying to keep the costs down. This is for a wedding gift I have in my head for my fiancee.

I have a photo that I need to upload for a customized gift. The photo is in an old frame, that seems to have been damaged from sunlight. I think it is bleached and the photograph seems to have adhered to the glass at the bottom. I was trying to gently remove the glass, and when I came to the part that was stuck together I stopped as soon as I saw it lifting the slightest from the photograph. I don't think I can remove the glass without damaging the photo which will put me in hot water. As I stated above, I am trying to keep the costs down on this secret project and I don't even know how to research photography restoration, even if there is such a service now. So that is issue number one, as I see it.

The other issue, is I cannot seem to take a photograph with my camera phone without glare. The best one (attached) is from a darken hallway and taken from an angle. I used the phone editing tools to "adjust" that angle to look straight one. I don't have any other type of camera for this endeavor.

So I am asking the experts for tips and advice, as I have seen some of you have a lot of talent in this area. Do you have any suggestions for me? Thank you in advance.

 

[Eric]

First, if it’s something you really prize I would take it to a professional framer (Michael’s, etc) and ask them to do it for you, better safe than sorry for a one of a kind print.

To get rid of glare look for an app called PhotoScan (it’s by Google) which is free and will allow you to take photos of it while removing the glare. Works really well, I used it recently when scanning (taking pics of) over 500 photos.

 

[Roller]

There are definitely photo restoration services that can do this for you, but at a cost.

I second @Eric’s suggestion to use Google PhotoScan. It does a good job with glare and it’s free. But the image will probably require further processing in Photoshop or another app to correct any bleaching or other problems, especially if not uniform. Thankfully, you can afford to experiment and see what works best. Good luck.

 

[Citysnaps]

There are definitely photo restoration services that can do this for you, but at a cost.

Spot on. Professional art/photo restorers will give you the best outcome. But will cost a lot.

If it's worth that to you (only you can decide) I'd call a local fine arts museum or auction house like Sotheby's for a local recommendation. I know there are a couple in the SF Bay Area. Probably the same in other large metropolitan areas.

 

[rdrr]

Update... I had to do some sleuthing on her side of the family. Good news, I found the original (in good condition), and some other treasures in a whole wedding album. I used google photo scan with a moderate degree of success, but overall it they will be good enough for the clandestine project I got going.

Thank you @Eric for pointing me to PhotoScan, sometimes the easiest answer is just overlooked.

Sample of a couple treasures I got with google PhotoScan.

 

[Roller]

Update... I had to do some sleuthing on her side of the family. Good news, I found the original (in good condition), and some other treasures in a whole wedding album. I used google photo scan with a moderate degree of success, but overall it they will be good enough for the clandestine project I got going.

Thank you @Eric for pointing me to PhotoScan, sometimes the easiest answer is just overlooked.

Sample of a couple treasures I got with google PhotoScan.
View attachment 21585View attachment 21586

Glad you found them. Playing around in Photoshop or an equivalent app may let you bring out even more details, especially since there's so much white in these images.