Replacing the Background on a Family Portrait
Not every job is damage repair. Sometimes the photograph is sound and the setting is the problem.
Drag the handle to compare the original with the restored version.
The photograph
A 1980s colour snapshot of a family photographed outdoors in a garden, with a house and shrubs behind them.
The damage
No damage as such. The original was a casual outdoor snapshot with a cluttered background, flat midday light and a washed-out sky — the setting worked against a picture the family wanted to frame and hang.
The work
The subjects were cut out by hand rather than by an automatic selection, which matters most at the edges of hair, where automatic tools leave a halo. They were then placed onto a formal interior backdrop with a staircase and warm lighting. The critical part is matching the light: the new background was adjusted to fall in the same direction as the original sunlight, and a subtle warmth was added to the skin tones so the family sit in the scene rather than on top of it.
| Service level | Special editing |
| Price band | £15–£25 |
| Turnaround | 1–2 days |
Other Restorations
Torn Baby Portrait Rebuilt from Fragments
One of the most damaged photographs I have worked on, and proof that a print in this condition is not beyond saving.
A Colour Print Lost Under a Yellow Cast
Colour prints from the 1970s and 1980s fail in a very particular way, and it looks far worse than it actually is.
An Edwardian Child Portrait in Colour
Seeing a child from a hundred years ago in colour is the moment most clients tell me they had not expected.
Have a photograph like this?
Send me a scan or a clear phone photo. I will tell you honestly what can be recovered, and what it will cost, within three hours.
