Scanning / post processing help

[(Ghastly) Krueger]

I hope it's ok to ask about scanning in the critique forum. If not, please let me know. (I have some old pics on film I'd like to post but I've not been too succesful on the scanning)

The original photo shows more detail on the foreground: the different cliffs at varying distances with different tones, the rocky terrain leading to this point, etc.
This gives a much better sense of where the pic was taken, gives an idea of the altitude at which it was taken (about 5000 m) and tells a better story overall than the scanned result.

The original was taken with a P+S APS camera (ISO 400, IIRC) in panorama mode. No recollection of aperture and exposure, sorry.

The scanning was done at a resolution of 300 with a multifunction HP flatbed scanner.
Since it is an old pic, I washed it with warm water, dried it with a soft towel and even gave it some hot soup... I tweaked levels, saturation, contrast, everything... but I could not get a faithful copy.

Any suggestions? (besides changing my scanner )

 

[Digital Matt]

You are going to need to get a better scan. There is no shadow detail in this, even if you crank the levels in photoshop. I would turn down the contrast on your scanner. Ideally you'll want to get a pretty flat scan.

 

[Flash Harry]

Get scans done at a pro lab, your home scanner is not up to the job.

 

[(Ghastly) Krueger]

Thanks for the answers.

So basically what I feared. My scanner is ****.
I'll look for a lab with a decent one.

Cheers