Other Projects - Photo Restoration

In addition to scanning the negatives and pictures that Ellen sent, I have been working on some other projects unrelated to family history. One of the more interesting ones is a photo of President and Mrs. Johnson that I restored for a friend at work.


In these before and after pictures, you can see (click for a larger image) that the original was very faded and retained very little color information. After scanning, and using only Photoshop Elements 5 (I still have not invested in a newer program!), I was able to tease some color and detail out of the picture. The steps I took were:

1. Straighten and crop the picture;
2. Fix and saturate color;
3. Improve the contrast and highlight/shadow detail;
4. Sharpen image;
5. Remove dust, scratches, and other blemishes; and
6. Reduce grain and other noise in the image.

The results are not perfect -- certainly not as as nice as a new picture -- but they are not too bad, especially considering the original image. It took a lot of trial and error, but short of painting on color (which I did not do) the picture is quite usable. I even received a box of cookies and brownies out of it!

I am not trained in photo restoration, and undoubtedly a professional could do more. But, if you poke around at a hobby long enough -- and I've been poking around a digital archiving for a little while -- you can get pretty good results.

UPDATE

Ellen writes in the comments, "Way to go, Rob. That's pretty cool how you can do that." Thanks, Ellen. I enjoy doing it!

Craig then adds, "Now see if you can photoshop grandma next to LBJ."


I'm not great at photo manipulation but, what the heck, here by request is Ladybird Stutz. Now, if you can identify which image Grandma's face is from -- it is from one of Grandpa's slides -- I will be really impressed.

Mystery Picture 100330

Well, we didn't have any luck identifying the kids in the previous mystery picture. Today, though, we have something a little more unusual.


This picture was from today's proofsheet post. I would assume they are atriplex seeds, but, well, I know what some of you might say if I did that. So, let's put the question out there. Does anyone know what these are and why there is a picture of them?

Proofsheet - G&G 03

As we slowly add more proofsheets to GAP, here is from a roll of film that Ellen sent.


Click for a larger image. Let us know in the comments if you would like GAP to post larger images of any of these.

Poll - John, the Complete Man

GAP proudly presents its first family poll.

John's recent comment that he "would have been a complete man if only Mom and Dad (Grandpa and Grandma) would have bought me the coon skin hat" followed by a laundry list of his childhood heroes got us thinking. Hmm, there must be something we can do with this.

In Which Hero Costume Would John Look Most Like a Complete Man?

Vote early, dip your finger in purple, and give thanks that you live in a democracy!

Rippin'est, Roarin'est, Fightin'est Man the Frontier Ever Knew!

Fess Parker died today. He is not family, and his television fame as Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone predates me. In fact, I would not have noticed his passing had I not come across his name earlier in a family picture.

When I was scanning some of Grandpa's slides a few months ago I became curious about this picture of John and Susan playing in the snow (developed in April 1967). What was John holding?


I opened the largest scan I had, zoomed in (click to see the big picture), and made out the words "Fess Parker" and a picture of a frontiersman.


After some poking around on Wikipedia and eBay (thanks, interwebs!) I found a better picture of the lunchbox and some history about Fess Parker.


And now I'm curious. What other Fess Parker gear did John have? For that matter, what other childhood heroes were people fans of?

As I look at the family pictures, I sometimes wonder about the details in them and the stories they hold.

UPDATE

Susan writes in the comments "wow, now that's a blast from the past" and John adds:

That lunch box was one of my favorite treasures including the matching thermos inside. I would have been a complete man if only Mom and Dad (Grandpa and Grandma) would have bought me the coon skin hat. In addition to Daniel Boone, I had my eye on Flash Gordon, The Lone Ranger, Jungle Jim, Zorro, And of course Super Man. Oh the good old days....!

Thanks, Susan and John!

Shari also writes, "You guys must have been walking home from school. :)" Ah, the fond memories of walking home from school. I should do a post on this, because in my memories I did enjoy the walk home. Thanks, Shari!

Proofsheet - G&G 02

We are making our way through a couple of projects right now, so the postings have been (and will continue to be) quite sparse. Things are moving along, though! We did get a chance to add Merissa to our Facebook link list (Hi, Merissa!).

The following is another proofsheet of a roll of film that Ellen sent.


Click for a larger image. Let us know in the comments if you would like GAP to post larger images of any of these.

Proofsheet - G&G 01

The following is a proofsheet of a roll of film that Ellen recently sent.


Click for a larger image. Let us know in the comments if you would like GAP to post larger images of any of these.

Found On The Interwebs - Bloody Tongue, Bald Head, and a Budding Political Future

Tyrel, Karla's oldest, not only made the second round in the Wyoming state wrestling tournament this past weekend (as a freshman!), he also was featured in a Casper Star-Tribune picture with the bloodied mouth he endured during a first round match.


Woohoo, we're proud of you, tough guy!

Former wrestler, and Tyrel's grandfather, Joe appeared recently in a Billings Gazette video about about his employer, Alternatives Inc., which provides treatment programs for inmates.


Joe's the old man at the end who looks like his nose is two inches from the computer monitor. He said that he was actually looking through the window, not at the monitor, and I'd probably tell people the same thing, too.

Lorna, Joe's wife, was featured several years back in a Billings Gazette article about her work at a "Congress" held by her company, Aware Inc., which provides services to persons with disabilities.

The Congress, which operates in much the same way as a state legislature, adopted 23 measures including one co-authored by Stutz that would provide flexible hours, more part-time employment and refresher courses in handling administrative chores. Aware delivers services for persons with challenging mental health, emotional and/or physical disabilities who otherwise would be served in a more restricted setting or not served at all.

Is that a political career I smell brewing at the Stutz household?

If anyone has other stories from around the Interwebs to post on GAP, send them our way!