Need Post Procesing Help?
- This topic has 12 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated Jan 27, 2009 at 4:49 pm by
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Posts
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Original photos are in .jpg which may present problems. Anyhow here goes:
Reader’s Digest version
Someone has been vandalizing my mailbox….nine times to be exact since Thanksgiving. I am in law enforcement so I’m a little concerned that some one may have an axe to grind.
So being the ace detective that I am….and really pissed at this point……I established a pattern of their crimes and predicted they would strike again Friday night. So….. I conducted a little surveillance. I’ve been surveiling off and on for a few weeks with no luck. (Think deer hunting and setting in a treestand for hours on end.) Anyhow….about 10:30 p.m. a Jeep load of rednecks pull up to the mailbox and one of the brain surgeons gets out and commences to violently bash my mailbox with a crowbar. About that time I emerged from my place of concealment, wearing my oldest son’s new Max 4 3-D camo patterned coveralls and jacket (great stuff by the way but no time for a Product Review)….brandishing my Nikon D70s with SB600 flash and 18-70mm telephoto zoom lens. I took careful aim and fired four shots in rapid succession, capturing various poses of all three perpetrators. After about 8 to 10 seconds…they realized the gig was up…..and quickly sped away without as much as a “thank you”. (Investigators note – The photographer was armed with a handgun of substantial caliber so his safety and well-being was never in question. It should also be noted that the photographer is right-handed and found it extremely difficult to hold a gun in one hand and a DSLR in the other. Don’t want to press the wrong button you know ).
Anyhow….authorities were contacted and promptly arrived on the scene. I provided them with 8 1/2 by 11 glossies of these three hammerheads. The “crop” feature in Adobe Photoshop is an amazing thing (I have the trial version so post processing options are limited). Tag number of vehicle was obtained and the investigation is now in the very capable hands of the Sheriff’s Department.
You might say I served this one up to them on the proverbial silver platter…now it’s up to them to hit the home run.
So…..back to my question. Would anyone with sophisticated software like to attempt to clean up .jpg photos of said perpetrators?
Here is the best I could do so far:
Photo#1 I approached the vehicle and snapped the 1st in a series. Note that these hammerheads are totaly unaware of my presence as they are fixated on Crowbar Boy at work.
Photo #2 with substantial croppage. This is the guy that actually exited the vehicle and began smashing the mailbox. He has just got back in the vehicle and is looking around for the source of the bright lights ;D Notice his trusty crowbar lying in the back of the Jeep.
Original photos are in .jpg which may present problems. Anyhow here goes:
Reader’s Digest version
Someone has been vandalizing my mailbox….nine times to be exact since Thanksgiving. I am in law enforcement so I’m a little concerned that some one may have an axe to grind.
So being the ace detective that I am….and really pissed at this point……I established a pattern of their crimes and predicted they would strike again Friday night. So….. I conducted a little surveillance. I’ve been surveiling off and on for a few weeks with no luck. (Think deer hunting and setting in a treestand for hours on end.) Anyhow….about 10:30 p.m. a Jeep load of rednecks pull up to the mailbox and one of the brain surgeons gets out and commences to violently bash my mailbox with a crowbar. About that time I emerged from my place of concealment, wearing my oldest son’s new Max 4 3-D camo patterned coveralls and jacket (great stuff by the way but no time for a Product Review)….brandishing my Nikon D70s with SB600 flash and 18-70mm telephoto zoom lens. I took careful aim and fired four shots in rapid succession, capturing various poses of all three perpetrators. After about 8 to 10 seconds…they realized the gig was up…..and quickly sped away without as much as a “thank you”. (Investigators note – The photographer was armed with a handgun of substantial caliber so his safety and well-being was never in question. It should also be noted that the photographer is right-handed and found it extremely difficult to hold a gun in one hand and a DSLR in the other. Don’t want to press the wrong button you know ).
Anyhow….authorities were contacted and promptly arrived on the scene. I provided them with 8 1/2 by 11 glossies of these three hammerheads. The “crop” feature in Adobe Photoshop is an amazing thing (I have the trial version so post processing options are limited). Tag number of vehicle was obtained and the investigation is now in the very capable hands of the Sheriff’s Department.
You might say I served this one up to them on the proverbial silver platter…now it’s up to them to hit the home run.
So…..back to my question. Would anyone with sophisticated software like to attempt to clean up .jpg photos of said perpetrators?
Here is the best I could do so far:
Photo#1 I approached the vehicle and snapped the 1st in a series. Note that these hammerheads are totaly unaware of my presence as they are fixated on Crowbar Boy at work.
Photo
Email me the second one at the email in my profile and I will be happy to process it. I did some Federal law enforcement and the first shot will serve no purpose at all. Did you happen to shoot the license plat… guess not 🙂 I can process the first one good enough for you to hit some year books but it will probably not stand up in court so, go for the confession…
(Deleted by poster, no need to have the repaired image posted while current legal proceedings are underway)
Steve, glad they caught the culprits. Also, I used CS3 for the repair through a sampling approach, it is the most common method.
Thanks for the advice. I think an enhancement of the photograph would be acceptable just to get the identity of the offender….similar to the FBI enhancing bank robbery video. I could be wrong on this. The enhanced version might not be admissable in court though.
I did get the tag number although not a photo. They didn’t hang around long enough for me to compose a shot.
Mr. Matthews probably knows a bit about this, but there may be some thin ice you are treading on if this guy is a minor. More power to you though! Is this what Obama meant by a “Citizen Force”? shannon
Shannon you may have a point although there’s no way of knowing right now. I did get a phone call with a potential ID of Crowbar Boy. If the information is correct…..he is borderline juvenile/adult……we’ll see.
Thanks for all the assistance.
Hey guys…thanks for all the emails and words of encouragement. The photos were their undoing.
Turns out this ain’t their first rodeo.
Getaway driver (18 years old) in jail with $550 bond. Lives with grandparants and they won’t bond him out. It was their Jeep he was driving. Grandma and Grandpa seem to be good people. I feel for them. Getaway Driver is a documented gang member. Confessed to the crime but won’t give up his two buddies.
Crowbar Boy also an adult….was kicked out of school last year for a violent attack on another student during school hours. He was supposed to turn himself in last night but didn’t show.
3rd passenger…juvenile. Authorities didn’t give me his name and I didn’t ask. Interviewed yesterday.
Mailbox is still standing….3 days in a row…that’s some kind of record I believe.
This thread will go down in the annals of Itinerant Angler history.
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