Here I leave you all these photos, very different between them and I'm sure you will know how to transform them and enjoy doing it.

Issabella,

Two more beautiful photographs.
You posted these as I was just about to put a new photograph for everyone to play with.
Something totally different - a scan of an old photograph, probably from the 1950's, of Conway Castle in North Wales with the road bridge built by Thomas Telford in 1826. This view can no longer be seen, because in the 1960's they built a new road bridge alongside.

The picture comes complete with scratches and various marks!

david.

David, What a great challenge on the pick of this beautiful bridge. I did my best, I hope you like it, but sure that experts will get much better results.

You did a beautiful job on that bridge, Issabella. I was just going through all the things I do to get scratches out of photos. Looks like you did it very well.

Issabella,

You've done a great job mending the bridge! To repair small scratches and marks I use the G'MIC Inpaint (patch-based), it is easy and does a great job. To remove anything bigger, as I have done with the posts in your tree photograph, I use the Heal Selection filter. (I thought these posts were a distraction in the picture.)
The frost on the bracken is a wonderful photograph - I may have several more tries at that!

david.

Now something very different for anyone to try.
A scan of a studio portrait of an aunt of mine. I guess she was about 16 years old, so that would make the photograph from about 1904.

david.

David, you applied colour and you got the right tones on it. I have never done that and it's something I'll try it. I did my try on the two before pics. I'll try this new photo yours. It reminds me a photo of my grandmother when she was 16 too.

Probably not what you were looking for Issabella, however I couldn't resist....

RJKD, You have been very innovative really. Please, how did you do it? This thread is for you all and all your results are welcome.

David, before I start to try to apply colour on a pic. Please, Could you give me advice and some of guide to get an acceptable result? Thanks in advance.

Could not resist. A little bit curves, almost everything done with G'MIC filters.

@Iarga,
Fantastic colours!!!

@Issabella,
For painting colours on a picture I make a new, transparent layer, very often one for each colour I am going to add. I change the blending mode to Overlay and then paint on the layer.
If you are not sure about the colour you require, you can open an image with the colour you want, select the colour and then change back to your original image and the colour will remain selected. For instance, to colour the walls of the castle, I opened the picture of the church, Ayia Paraskevi, and clicked on a suitable part of the wall.
Also, by having each colour on a separate layer you can always adjust that one colour with brightness and saturation, as well as changing its opacity.

My version of Aunt Alice - I hope she would approve of it were she alive today!

david.

Iarga, What colour you got! Really surprising! Thanks for your contribution at this thread.
David, thank so much for your help. It seems to be a patient work but I'll try it as your result is very good and I like it a lot. Your result on Aunty Alice I'm sure she would approve it. I did my tries, too. One of them in B&W and other in Vintage Effect. By the way, She was a very pretty lady.

In my GIMP, it's; Map-Fractal Trace, it's an amazing filter, but I reckon an untameable beast - in Peace.

Well this thread moves on so quickly!

My attempt with the tree just shows there is so much still to learn in GIMP/GMIC, as my available repertoire fell short of what I needed for this manipulation of adding an embankment and lake edge. Still onwards and upwards!

@OMG,
I wish my repertoire was as great as yours! I have tried to create water with reflections where the borderline is not horizontal and failed miserably.

@Issabella,
I like both your versions of aunt Alice.
On my try, I used the healing tool on all the little spots, then I applied anisotropic smoothing. This is something I have only used for the first time in the last week. It seems to produce very good results. I haven't dared alter any of its settings yet!
Next I increased the brightness and contrast on the iris of the eyes. This always seems to add life to the picture. If it was in colour, I would probably increase the saturation a little.
I did the same, very slightly, on the mouth. I have also widened the mouth a small amount. I added the vignette because there was deterioration at the bottom of the picture.
Finally, wavelet sharpening.

I will try to find a similar portrait I have of another aunt. It has proved a useful learning exercise for me and I hope for others.

david.

RJKD, Thank you very much. I have to try that too.
OMG, your outcome seems so real with water. As David says it isn't easy to get that on an not even level. Well done!
David, Thank you so much for all your great help for me to understand more about photography technics. I have to practise your advice and I'll repeat my try on the pic applying what you say. I think that this thread is a wonderful resource to learn more about this photography world.

Late entry

Not much different from the original. Didn't need to be.
I just added a little contrast, added a little saturation. Equalized shadow, unsharp mask.

Sallyanne, thanks for your contributions in this thread. You are an expert in this filed, too.