Can you help me sharpen images? (HELP to find missing girl--pictures)

Amo864 · Jun 15, 2011

Hello,
I am posting these pictures on this site because it seems a lot of you are all good at photoshop. There is a girl missing in a small town in Indiana... police released these security camera pictures of a suspicious vehicle, but the pictures don't help much. Can anyone shapen these images enough to get a better look at them such as the writing on the side of the vehicle? They think its a company truck, but can't sharpen the image to get a better look at the words. I know it's a long shot, but I figured at this point something could help and nothing could hurt.
Thank you for your help!
Lauren

So, it won't let me paste the pictures... but they are right on the front page of this site:

Find Lauren

...they are the two pictures of the truck. If anyone else can figure out how to save them and upload them in this thread it would be appreciated... and any and all help sharpening/bettering the picture would be appreciated.

Thank you.

480sparky · Jun 15, 2011

We might be able to sharpen them a bit, but to really do any good we would need access to the original images. Those posted on that site are already post-processed and reduced in size considerably and there's very little data to work with.

Besides, the popo probably already has someone that can do this.

Big Mike · Jun 16, 2011

Yes, I'm sure the authorities already have the means to get the most out of the photos.

The one thing that really bothers me about shows like CSI, is how they are always able to conveniently pull details from photos etc. Someone just says "zoom in on that. Enhance it....ah, there is the culprit" The truth is that it doesn't work that way. Photos have a certain resolution, and if you zoom in close enough, the details eventually break down into pixels. And if there are only so many pixels for a certain section of the photo....you just won't be able to discern the detail there.
I seem to remember an episode of CSI where they had a photo of a messy room, and they were able to pull a name off of a prescription bottle that was only a tiny part of the photo. That just isn't possible.

Of course, there are different levels of cameras and lenses, the better ones being able to deliver more/better resolution. But this usually won't be the case with security cameras and such.

Hopefully they find that girl, but there isn't much that we (photographers) can do with the image.

Amo864 · Jun 16, 2011

I know that the police department usually has the means to sharpen images, but it is a small town that is not used to this kind of thing-- they've already had people volunteer to try and help clear the image up some. I just figured it can't hurt to post...