Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Enhancement - Looking For Lost Details - February 2013

For some, an old photograph loses its charm when "restored" to modern day clarity with all the age spots removed. Some photographs however, benefit greatly from just a nudge of enhancement. An improved contrast or the reversal of the yellowing brings out details that otherwise would have been missed and lost forever.

To please both camps of those of us who rescue old photographs, here are both the originals and the enhanced of just a few of the latest additions to Lost Gallery.


Beach Scene
Beach Scene

In the water
In the water

Girl and swim suit
Girl and swim suit

Mountain top
Mountain top
This one was enlarged slightly in relation to the mounting board.

Hotel Traymore - Atlantic City
Hotel Traymore - Atlantic City

Woman on porch
Woman on porch

What is Going On Here?
What is Going On Here?

Three and a car.
Three and a car.

Rocky Road
Rocky Road

Pausing on a bridge
Pausing on a bridge

Girl in new dress
Girl in new dress

Child and Tricycle
Child and Tricycle

Child and Tricycle
Child and Tricycle

Little girl
Little girl

Child with large drink
Child with large drink

Big sister
Big sister

Short Pants
Short Pants



The most popular photographs most popular, Family Group,
An album of the most requested photographs in the Lost Gallery.

Area 51 and a Half Area 51 and a Half
You are probably not authorized to see these.

Don't take my picture! Oh! You DID didn't you! completely unaware of the photographer
This is a collection of photographs that disappear on the way home from the photo processing shop.

And don't miss
Cabinet Card Gallery
Everyday Ago
Forgotten Faces and Long Ago Places
Forgotten Old Photos
Penny Tales
Square America
Tattered and Lost
Vernacular Photography
The best
FOUND PHOTOGRAPH
sites on the web.
And for postcards try
THE DAILY POSTCARD.

All images are the property of Lost Gallery and the author. Permission must be granted for their use. All rights reserved.

THE KIDS Lesson one.
It is always a mystery how a photograph of any of these precious children could end up lost or abandoned. Here are a few. You will probably say "Ooh..." at least once.

Dee and the Business School Dee and the Business School
The beautiful Dee. A curious story; What do you see?

WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?
Neiffel and Helvetica Typehigh

"What are they doing?"

5 comments:

  1. I LOVE seeing the images as the original owner would have seen them. Instead of just stepping back in time it makes you feel like you're behind the lens.

    Child with large drink? What the heck is going on with that kids stomach???

    And I love the third one down. "The Claw!" See it at your local drive-in theatre.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very interesting, I'm still a bit undecided as to what is best. I agree that clarity is improved but sometime charm is lost. I suppose, having both original and copies gives the best of all worlds.

    I note that my parents weren't the only ones to practice the art of tiny subjects in massive backgrounds.

    Until I enlarged the picture of the two youngsters on the mountain, I thought it was a Scotsman in a kilt with a long staff and a child to left.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks Tattered and Lost. You are exactly right: seeing the images as the original owner would have seen them. Sometimes hidden details emerge revealing the real reason for the photograph.

    I think maybe a sudden breeze might have billowed the child’s play smock. But the enhancement didn’t reveal what I really wanted to know: What is in the child’s left hand?

    “The Claw!” You’re right! I can just see the lobby cards now.

    Thanks Mike Burnett. I feel the same way. I would rather see the original, faded, yellowed, wrinkled and torn. It gives me the feel of its journey to our time. But I can’t resist looking for the details that have been lost along the way. I seldom “repair” the photograph, ironing out the wrinkles and scratches; I just remove the yellowing and sometimes bump the contrast a bit. Nothing else. I’m just looking for details I might have missed otherwise. None of the photographs on this page benefitted from that as much as some on this page: http://lostgallery.blogspot.com/2011/03/enhancement-looking-for-details.html

    Yes, standing too far from or too close to the subject was/is a common flaw of the amateur photographer.

    ReplyDelete
  4. As long as we save them. That's our greedy goal.

    ReplyDelete

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