How It All Began, New Orleans, LA - 1957
(Click on photo to enlarge.)
I spent some time cleaning up this photo from my parents' wedding in April of 1957. The photo is from their wedding album and was in really good shape. Except for the dust spots!
One big disadvantage of film (in my opinion) is that it's almost impossible to keep the negatives clean. The most minute bits of dust on the negative show up as tiny white or black spots in the print. They have to be painstakingly spotted by the printmaker, a process that is tedious and takes much skill. Done poorly, the print can look even worse than it did with just the dust spots. Doing spotting on a print restoration with the computer is just as tedious, but mistakes can be quickly corrected. With digital photos, I never have to worry about this problem.
After spotting, I increased the contrast that had been somewhat washed out from the 1950s era flashbulb that I'm sure had my Mom and Dad seeing a different kind of spot. I think next I'll have a print made to display in our home. I wish I knew which photographer to credit, but I don't know who he was.
You look A LOT like your dad.
ReplyDeleteIt always amazes me what you can do to a photo to clean it up and make it look like new.