Ice Storm - January 1974

I am in the process of scanning old photos.....something I started a number of years ago.  I get sidetracked and years go by without adding to the scanned collection.  Technology and my skill also improves so I guess I am glad that I didn't do more than I did years ago.  I am so happy with the results of my new scans of slides that I am thinking about going back and rescanning what I had already done.

Years ago, I was worried about the size of the files I created when I scanned.  I started scanning at 1200 dpi and was only somewhat satisfied with the results.  It took forever for a scan and they just didn't look like they did when I projected the slides onto a screen.  They lost vibrance and every flaw in the scan and speck of dust that I missed showed up big time.  Part of this was my fault and part was just technology.

I now have a better scanner and a faster computer with terabytes of storage so I have upped my game by scanning at 3200 dpi.  I can say now that the scanned slides look just as good if not better that the originals.  I have learned a lot about using Photoshop over the years so the results have allowed me to improve on the originals from an exposure standpoint as well as  maximizing that colors of the slide.

So, as I continue scanning, I though I would select a few of my favorite old shots on the blog.  We won't be traveling for a while so I time for pure photo fun.

This first post is of the aftermath of an ice storm that hit our area in January 1974......40 years ago.  I was so happy to see that the slides hadn't deteriorated over the years.

The first few photos are of the duplex I was renting in Blue Springs, MO.  You can see the ice buildup on the porch railing back-lit by the mercury vapor street light.  All the photos were taken with my then new Canon F1 with a 50mm f1.2 lens on Kodachrome.

In this photo, I "painted" the railing with light from a flashlight just for fun.  I experimented a lot back in those days.

My size 10.

Broken ice in the gutter.

The remaining photos were taken on Old Truman Road in Independence, MO as the sun rose in the morning.  The colors keep changing as the sun rises.

As I said....just for fun.