As a follow-up I ended up having my cousin take more pics under different lighting conditions. The insurmountable problem is that even with the glare reduced the details and color were obliterated.
But there are things about the glare pic I like better such as the color of the area under the pot and the way the texture of the paint on the flowers stands out because of the way the light catches it, but the background of the painting and green areas of the flowers are nicer under the re-do pics.
So what I'm doing is going in a different direction with efforts on this project - I'm making surgical use of the Free Select tool and cutting out various parts and layering and blending them with varying opacity and making a Frankenpicture, using the perspective tool to make tiny adjustments so the layers match up exactly.
It would have been a lot less work if I had access to the paintings and could take photos of them carefully lined up on the paintings with the right kind of diffused, even light with a proper camera on a tripod or mount but have to go with the circumstances at hand.
But there are things about the glare pic I like better such as the color of the area under the pot and the way the texture of the paint on the flowers stands out because of the way the light catches it, but the background of the painting and green areas of the flowers are nicer under the re-do pics.
So what I'm doing is going in a different direction with efforts on this project - I'm making surgical use of the Free Select tool and cutting out various parts and layering and blending them with varying opacity and making a Frankenpicture, using the perspective tool to make tiny adjustments so the layers match up exactly.
It would have been a lot less work if I had access to the paintings and could take photos of them carefully lined up on the paintings with the right kind of diffused, even light with a proper camera on a tripod or mount but have to go with the circumstances at hand.