Crop and Resize and Image
The first image I tried to work with was problematic right from the get go; it was only availible in a giff or ART format. I had to reroute it through my system to another photo program and change it to a jpg format in order to work with it. I chose horse racing and jockeys because I figured I would be working with it for many hours and therefore the image should be something I want to stare at obsessively....
Here on the right is the original 1903 photo from the Photographs from the Chicago Daily News, 1902-1933
The first thing I did was create layers and use the blending tool to adjust the background and sharpen the figures in the foreground. Then I cropped the photo to avoid the little check mark in the upper right and some of the faded stuff on the bottom.
Restore a Photograph I then used the clone stamp tool to fill the spots in the dark areas and correct the faded elements of the jockey's boot on the right (ok that didn't come out as well as I would have liked) and the official's shoe on the left. This was my first attempt at this photo retouching thing and I'm still playing with getting all the fading/flashed elements out of the bottom...
I then used the paint brush to correct the fading on the pole next to the jockey's boot, again on the right. Since this is a shadowy, complicated image, colouring it effectively didn't seem likely at my level of expertise. I chose a less complicated photo to colour and matte as seen at the final project...Next....