An Inside Look

Inner Crocus, Canton, NC  -  2013

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Macro photography seems easy if you have the right equipment. I have a very fine Zuiko macro lens, but believe me, it's anything but a slam dunk. Especially outdoors. Depth of field is so slight. The least little puff of breeze can move your subject out of focus. It's so frustrating because I get so many misses. But it's so satisfying when I get one right!

A Sign Of Hope

Crocus, Canton, NC  -  2013

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On Saturday, our front yard was nothing but brown grass. By Sunday morning, Crocuses had sprouted up in various places across the yard. My wife planted Crocus bulbs randomly across the front yard a few years ago. These flowers, along  with daffodils, give us some hope that winter will end soon, and spring is on the way!

Yeah, I know that this weekend's mild weather was only a tease, and we'll get some more cold weather before spring is here for good, but those little purple flowers always give me some hope!

A Little Too Big For Me

Mansions At Sunset, Chareleston, SC  -  2012

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There are many large old homes to see in Charleston, especially in the Battery area. They are beautiful to look at, and their history is fascinating to me. Most pre-date the Civil War, and some go back as far as colonial days. We got to tour a couple of these old homes, and the interiors are as amazing as the exterior architecture.

I guess we've all thought about what it would be like to live in a mansion like these. Having lived in smaller homes all my life, I wonder if I could really get used to living in a house that large and opulent. Would it really feel like home? Given the choice, I think I would prefer something somewhat smaller and cozier. The large porches can stay, however, so I can enjoy those ocean breezes!

A Never Ending Supply

West Asheville Mural, Asheville, NC  -  2013

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Every time I go looking for new murals or interesting graffiti in Asheville, I find some. There seems to be a never ending supply of new artists and new works. Sometimes an old work get painted over with a new mural before I get a chance to photograph it. You have to keep your camera ready or you may miss something. Street art is Asheville's renewable resource!

Mountain Craftsmanship

Mountain Dulcimer, Waynesville, NC  -  2011

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I regret not learning to play some kind of musical instrument when I was a youngster. I've heard that the mountain dulcimer is one of the easier stringed instruments to learn how to play. This sample that I photographed at a craft show is almost too pretty to play. I'd hate to risk scratching that beautiful workmanship! Maybe one day I'll get a good used one to learn on.

Welcome To My Nightmare

Of the five Polaroids I was given to restore, I saved the worst for last. I was dreading getting started on this one because this photo looked like it had been run over by a truck. All the white flecks across the photo are where the dried emulsion has chipped away, exposing the white backing paper underneath. All that missing information would have to be reconstructed.

Original Photo

Fortunately, most of the damage was showing in the grassy area of the photo. That made it a little easier to clone in pixels from similar areas. There was relatively little damage to the little boy's face and clothing, which is always harder to repair. I overlaid a grid on the photo dividing it into 16 sections, and at high magnification, repaired one grid section at a time.

Restored Photo

After the repair work to the damaged emulsion was done, I fiddled with the contrast to counteract the fading. All the tedious work is rewarded by the satisfaction of seeing the finished restoration, and another memory preserved.

Restore This

A friend from church occasionally brings me old pictures to restore. I enjoy the challenge and the process of restoring the clarity to old memories. This week she brought me some old Polaroids, probably dating from the mid 1960s. Polaroid photos were an amazing product in their day, but they are not exactly archival. They fade, have color shifts, and fingerprints don't stay just on the surface, but actually get into the photo.

Here is one I was given to work on. It's not the worst of the group (I'm saving the real nightmare for a future post), but it's in rough shape. As you can see, part of the emulsion has actually stripped away on parts of the photo.

Original photo

Here is the restored version, all cleaned up and ready to be put back into the family album. (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Restored photo