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Sun Nov 14, 2021, 03:45 PM

HAB911 (8,162 posts)

Evolution of a family heirloom

Obviously, I didn't take this photograph, but I want to share it with those I believe can really appreciate it. Photographs are as close to a time machine as we have. I can't count the hours spent bringing it to life. The original is a 2.75in x 4.5in negative taken by my mother or father of my older brother, by 12 years, (RIP dear brother) in about 1942 or 1943. He is standing on my dad's new Southern Bell telephone truck. The first photo is the raw scan, the second is the processed b/w, and just today......I colorized it. I really hope you enjoy it.

38 replies, 2237 views

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38 replies	Author	Time	Post
Evolution of a family heirloom (Original post)	HAB911	Nov 2021	OP
Excellent	Glorfindel	Nov 2021	#1
Super cool! Was it taken in Rural Florida?	MLAA	Nov 2021	#2
That was taken near Athens Georgia	HAB911	Nov 2021	#22
Excellent work	wendyb-NC	Nov 2021	#3
Love brother's bibs!	Cracklin Charlie	Nov 2021	#4
Way cool!	Heartstrings	Nov 2021	#5
Well done!	AndyS	Nov 2021	#6
Nice work!	brer cat	Nov 2021	#7
You did a wonder job!	Callalily	Nov 2021	#8
This is just wonderful, my dear HAB! What a great memory. ♥	CaliforniaPeggy	Nov 2021	#9
Beautiful work!	StopTheNeoCons	Nov 2021	#10
What make is the truck?	patphil	Nov 2021	#11
Ford.	BHDem53	Nov 2021	#17
yes, probably a '42 Ford	HAB911	Nov 2021	#23
My uncle served on P.T. boats in the South Pacific.	Grumpy Old Guy	Nov 2021	#33
Old Chinese proverb	HAB911	Nov 2021	#34
Looks like a Bell Telephone or AT&T trunk?	George II	Nov 2021	#12
Yes, Bell System	HAB911	Nov 2021	#29
An interesting piece of trivia that many people don't know about - gas wasn't rationed because....	George II	Nov 2021	#30
Nice job!	Grumpy Old Guy	Nov 2021	#13
The cool cast "ages" the image.	alfredo	Nov 2021	#20
That's true.	Grumpy Old Guy	Nov 2021	#21
funny you should ask	HAB911	Nov 2021	#24
LOL! The heck with those people.	Grumpy Old Guy	Nov 2021	#26
What do you think?	Grumpy Old Guy	Nov 2021	#27
LOL, yes that is good	HAB911	Nov 2021	#28
It's nice that you're able to do that for the family.	Grumpy Old Guy	Nov 2021	#32
I like what you did. You added a bit of a warm cast?	alfredo	Nov 2021	#36
Thanks.	Grumpy Old Guy	Nov 2021	#37
It's fine as is.	alfredo	Nov 2021	#38
Nicely done, old friend.	TNNurse	Nov 2021	#14
thanks, you know how I love photography!	HAB911	Nov 2021	#25
A moment in time...	SergeStorms	Nov 2021	#15
Really well done!!!	PatrickforB	Nov 2021	#16
Great! Fantastic! nt	reACTIONary	Nov 2021	#18
You did a great job restoring that picture.	alfredo	Nov 2021	#19
thank you	HAB911	Nov 2021	#31
Restoring family photos is a labor of love	alfredo	Nov 2021	#35

Response to HAB911 (Original post)

Sun Nov 14, 2021, 03:50 PM

Glorfindel (9,015 posts)

1. Excellent

Thanks for sharing, HAB911.

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Response to HAB911 (Original post)

Sun Nov 14, 2021, 03:51 PM

MLAA (13,799 posts)

2. Super cool! Was it taken in Rural Florida?

My parents grew up in North Florida and I visited there many times and always got sand in my shoes! The roads were dirt roads until the mid 70s if I remember right.

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Response to MLAA (Reply #2)

Sun Nov 14, 2021, 08:15 PM

HAB911 (8,162 posts)

22. That was taken near Athens Georgia

and thanks, it has been a project of love

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Response to HAB911 (Original post)

Sun Nov 14, 2021, 03:59 PM

wendyb-NC (2,494 posts)

3. Excellent work

You have brought the past to life. That's a mesmerizing photo. Thanks, for sharing the picture and how you made that forgotten memory back to life.

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Response to HAB911 (Original post)

Sun Nov 14, 2021, 04:05 PM

Cracklin Charlie (12,619 posts)

4. Love brother's bibs!

Handsome little feller.

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Response to HAB911 (Original post)

Sun Nov 14, 2021, 04:10 PM

Heartstrings (7,349 posts)

5. Way cool!

What a treasure!

Beautiful!

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Response to HAB911 (Original post)

Sun Nov 14, 2021, 04:18 PM

AndyS (13,508 posts)

6. Well done!

Much better than Ted Turner!

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Response to HAB911 (Original post)

Sun Nov 14, 2021, 04:28 PM

brer cat (20,349 posts)

7. Nice work!

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Response to HAB911 (Original post)

Sun Nov 14, 2021, 04:51 PM

Callalily (13,716 posts)

8. You did a wonder job!

We should all cherish and preserve family photos. They tell such wonderful stories and bring back such wonderful memories.

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Response to HAB911 (Original post)

Sun Nov 14, 2021, 05:04 PM

CaliforniaPeggy (144,482 posts)

9. This is just wonderful, my dear HAB! What a great memory. ♥

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Response to HAB911 (Original post)

Sun Nov 14, 2021, 05:11 PM

StopTheNeoCons (873 posts)

10. Beautiful work!

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Response to HAB911 (Original post)

Sun Nov 14, 2021, 05:21 PM

patphil (4,443 posts)

11. What make is the truck?

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Response to patphil (Reply #11)

Sun Nov 14, 2021, 06:42 PM

BHDem53 (1,026 posts)

17. Ford.

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Response to patphil (Reply #11)

Sun Nov 14, 2021, 08:18 PM

HAB911 (8,162 posts)

23. yes, probably a '42 Ford

just before he went into the Navy as a SeaBee, telephone communications of course and eventually served on a PT boat base in New Guinea

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Response to HAB911 (Reply #23)

Mon Nov 15, 2021, 11:28 AM

Grumpy Old Guy (2,028 posts)

33. My uncle served on P.T. boats in the South Pacific.

He had two boats shot out from beneath him.

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Response to Grumpy Old Guy (Reply #33)

Mon Nov 15, 2021, 11:49 AM

HAB911 (8,162 posts)

34. Old Chinese proverb

"Nut not fall far from tree"

As Seabees worked somewhat outside of normal channels, he came back with a mahogany chest full of photographs and contraband I spent a year on the DMZ and came back with a load of photos myself. The commonality of the two sets is astounding. The Army however took all my contraband, lol.

Here are a couple of my very first consciously taken as a "photographer" while in Korea, and I have hundreds.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/103678326

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Response to HAB911 (Original post)

Sun Nov 14, 2021, 05:43 PM

George II (67,782 posts)

12. Looks like a Bell Telephone or AT&T trunk?

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Response to George II (Reply #12)

Mon Nov 15, 2021, 06:59 AM

HAB911 (8,162 posts)

29. Yes, Bell System

you can see the WWII gas ration sticker on the windshield, just before he went into the Navy '42 or '43

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Response to HAB911 (Reply #29)

Mon Nov 15, 2021, 08:04 AM

George II (67,782 posts)

30. An interesting piece of trivia that many people don't know about - gas wasn't rationed because....

....there was a shortage of gasoline. It was rationed because there was a shortage of rubber for tires and it was needed for the military.

Probably the only useful thing to come out of WWII was the development of synthetic rubber.

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Response to HAB911 (Original post)

Sun Nov 14, 2021, 05:47 PM

Grumpy Old Guy (2,028 posts)

13. Nice job!

Back in the day, before instamatics, amateur cameras used roll film with decent sized negatives. Unfortunately, they were often "box cameras" with no control over the settings. We often got contact prints back from the photoprocessor.

Nice job on the colorization. Did you try a version with perhaps a little more saturation?

Grumpy

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Response to Grumpy Old Guy (Reply #13)

Sun Nov 14, 2021, 07:33 PM

alfredo (59,761 posts)

20. The cool cast "ages" the image.

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Response to alfredo (Reply #20)

Sun Nov 14, 2021, 08:01 PM

Grumpy Old Guy (2,028 posts)

21. That's true.

👍👍👍

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Response to Grumpy Old Guy (Reply #13)

Sun Nov 14, 2021, 08:20 PM

HAB911 (8,162 posts)

24. funny you should ask

I deliberately dialed down the saturation, knowing that some would not like the very idea of colorization, to give it just a touch of age

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Response to HAB911 (Reply #24)

Sun Nov 14, 2021, 09:27 PM

Grumpy Old Guy (2,028 posts)

26. LOL! The heck with those people.

One of the things that I hate about colorization is that it usually looks so pallid. The world didn't really look like that. Nature is a colorful place. We have Kodachrome, Technicolor and other color processes from those days, and the colors were saturated. I say go for it.

Just my humble opinion.

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Response to Grumpy Old Guy (Reply #26)

Sun Nov 14, 2021, 09:36 PM

Grumpy Old Guy (2,028 posts)

27. What do you think?

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Response to Grumpy Old Guy (Reply #27)

Mon Nov 15, 2021, 06:54 AM

HAB911 (8,162 posts)

28. LOL, yes that is good

reminds me of Technicolor, like it was just taken yesterday!

I will probably offer the family several versions for mounting/framing. There are at least seven b/w copies in the family, the largest is around ~16x20, but I plan on this guy going to full frame at 17x30, maybe bigger, most likely on aluminum.

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Response to HAB911 (Reply #28)

Mon Nov 15, 2021, 11:24 AM

Grumpy Old Guy (2,028 posts)

32. It's nice that you're able to do that for the family.

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Response to Grumpy Old Guy (Reply #27)

Mon Nov 15, 2021, 07:42 PM

alfredo (59,761 posts)

36. I like what you did. You added a bit of a warm cast?

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Response to alfredo (Reply #36)

Mon Nov 15, 2021, 07:53 PM

Grumpy Old Guy (2,028 posts)

37. Thanks.

I just added a little bit of overall saturation to the entire image. I was careful to bring out some of the green in the foliage without going too far to the little boy's flesh tones. It was just a quick edit on my phone in Snapseed. If I was going to do a more serious edit I would apply some correction to the truck too, while still protecting the little boy's face, maybe just adding a little warmth there.

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Response to Grumpy Old Guy (Reply #37)

Mon Nov 15, 2021, 09:03 PM

alfredo (59,761 posts)

38. It's fine as is.

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Response to HAB911 (Original post)

Sun Nov 14, 2021, 05:51 PM

TNNurse (6,327 posts)

14. Nicely done, old friend.

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Response to TNNurse (Reply #14)

Sun Nov 14, 2021, 08:23 PM

HAB911 (8,162 posts)

25. thanks, you know how I love photography!

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Response to HAB911 (Original post)

Sun Nov 14, 2021, 06:23 PM

SergeStorms (18,077 posts)

15. A moment in time...

preserved forever.

Love your progression of photo processing.

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Response to HAB911 (Original post)

Sun Nov 14, 2021, 06:36 PM

PatrickforB (13,906 posts)

16. Really well done!!!

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Response to HAB911 (Original post)

Sun Nov 14, 2021, 06:45 PM

reACTIONary (5,350 posts)

18. Great! Fantastic! nt

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Response to HAB911 (Original post)

Sun Nov 14, 2021, 07:01 PM

alfredo (59,761 posts)

19. You did a great job restoring that picture.

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Response to alfredo (Reply #19)

Mon Nov 15, 2021, 08:11 AM

HAB911 (8,162 posts)

31. thank you

it was a real labor of love

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Response to HAB911 (Reply #31)

Mon Nov 15, 2021, 07:40 PM

alfredo (59,761 posts)

35. Restoring family photos is a labor of love

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Photography (Group)