Showing posts with label Leica. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Leica. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Olympia in the Morning, Part 2 (Oly 05)

Let us continue our morning walk through downtown Olympia, Washington. It is quiet, and most stores are closed. I saw only 5 or 6 homeless people his time. Two years ago, there were 10s or 100s of them. How did the city purge them? Regardless, downtown Olympia is still rather grungy.


206½ 4th Avenue
Dumpster on 4th. I bet that stuff looks better than most of my wardrobe. 
Capitol Way view south
Alley parallel to 4th Avenue (25mm ƒ/4 Color Skopar lens)
My favorite Olympia Alley (25mm ƒ/4 Color Skopar lens)
Jefferson Street view north. I have not yet seen a train, but I occasionally hear them, usually at night.
Frog Pond Grocery in the historic South Capitol district (50mm ƒ/2 Summicron-DR lens).
Argh! Another Taco truck, this time on Plum Street. The fire system is for the hot sauce? 


Well, enough of exploring downtown. Time to walk home and have another coffee.


State Avenue view west (50mm ƒ/2 Summicron-DR lens).

Proceed north and soon you reach East Bay. On many mornings, it is still as a mill pond. The buffleheads and surf scoters love it here.

East Bay from Olympia Avenue NE (50mm ƒ/2 Summicron-DR lens). Swantown Marina is in the distance.

The Bigelow neighborhood has many charming traditional cottages from the early 20th century. It is not as elegant as South Capitol, but is more modest and free from the background drone of I-5.
 
Traditional cottage on Quince Street (25mm ƒ/4 Color-Skopar lens)
Historic Quince Street house

This ends our walking tour around Olympia with Kodak Gold 100 film (another one of my experiments with expired film). I used Pentax Spotmatic F and Leica M2 cameras. We will see more of Olympia in future updates. Thanks for walking along.


Saturday, February 10, 2024

Another Random Walk around Vicksburg, Mississippi (2021-2023)

Downtown


In the last article, I looked at houses along South Washington Street. Let's take a semi-random walk in the southern part of Vicksburg plus one view downtown and see what interesting photons passed through my camera lens and into the film emulsion. Most of these frames will also be from color negative film, mostly Kodak Ektar 100. Please click any picture to see more details.



Downtown Vicksburg from China Street (Royal Gold 25 film, Leica M2, 50mm ƒ/2 Summicron-DR lens)

As of 2023, The Vicksburg apartments are being renovated. Residents had to move to other accomodations around town. I hope this continues a downtown revival. The brick building in the left is the long-unused Junius Ward Johnson YMCA. It has been empty for at least 20 years. 

South Washington Street Area



View west towards the Mississippi River from Washington Street (Hasselblad, 80mm ƒ/2.8 lens)

This the view west to the Mississippi River (the shiny water at the horizon). The Yazoo canal is out of sight just beyond the water tower. The water tower is a remnant of the cotton compress, of which very little remains now. With an amazing view like this, in most cities, a neighborhood like this would have gentrified. This one is still a mess.


Washington Street view north near Bowman Street

Tri-State Tire, 2209 Washington Street

This unusual building with decorated arches was once an ice company. Then, in the 1960s, it was the Seale-Lily ice cream store. Mr. Christ bought it in the 1970s and converted the building into a tire business. His daughter, Susan Christ, runs the business now and provides courteous and efficient service. I wrote about Tri-State in 2018


1009 (?) Bowman Street
1007 and 1009 Bowman Street

Turn right from Washington Street onto Bowman Street. Some of the housing stock is seriously degraded. 


Magnolia School, Bowman Street

The former Magnolia School has been unused since at least the mid-1980s. Former windows were bricked in decades ago. From the 1920s to the 1950s, this was one of the most progressive schools for African-American students. J.G.H. Bowman, the principle of Magnolia Avenue High School, was highly respected for his dedication and accomplishments in running the school. The street is now named after him. 


807 Speed Street

It looks like the occupants ran out of blue paint. Speed Street is pretty rough.


Drummond Street Area


Pink house, 2721 Green Street
Ducks in a row, 911 Bowmar Avenue 
2815 Drummond Street

This four-unit apartment has been empty for at least five years. The front porch is sagging. As so often with these older houses, status unknown.


Johnny's truck, Candee Street

This ends our short walk around Vicksburg. I took the 2023 photographs with Kodak Ektar 100 film using my new Pentax Spotmatic F camera and 50mm ƒ/1.4 or 55mm ƒ/1.8 SMC Takumar lenses. Watch for more Vicksburg photographs soon. Thanks for coming along!



Tuesday, January 23, 2024

Greenwood Cemetery, Jackson, Mississippi

Dear Readers,

Let us return to the South with a series of Jackson and Vicksburg articles. Then we will jump back west to the Pacific Northwest and take a few stops further afield. Afterwards, I want to go through some of the family archives from various locations.

Jackson, Mississippi



Central Jackson, Mississippi, from Google Maps. Greenwood Cemetery is at the red marker.

Greenwood Cemetery is a peaceful and restful green space in downtown Jackson, Mississippi. According to the Greenwood Cemetery Association,

The members of the Greenwood Cemetery Association welcome you to historic Greenwood Cemetery. This cemetery was established by an act of the Mississippi State Legislature which was approved January 1, 1823. It has grown from the original six acres to its present twenty-two acres.

Greenwood Cemetery is downtown Jackson's largest green space. Towering oaks, magnolias, crepe myrtles, and cedars shade portions of the grounds and the sunny areas boast large collections of antique bulbs and ever blooming, own-root roses. Camellia bushes are scattered throughout the cemetery, and the wisteria is breathtaking in early May. There is something blooming every month of the year. The natural landscape and the beautiful monuments make it a calm and serene spot adjacent to the bustle of downtown.

Until the end of the 19th century, all residents of Jackson could be buried in Greenwood Cemetery and many were. The early records are incomplete and work continues on identifying those buried. 

I had driven by the cemetery many times but never stopped to walk inside. In early 2023, I finally looked around. 


Northeast part of Greenwood (Kodak Plus-X film, Leica IIIC camera, 50mm ƒ/1.8 Canon lens)

The cemetery was a bit overgrown. I recall a call for volunteers to clean brush and grass. All in all, it was not as interesting as cemeteries in south Louisiana, where many of the monuments are ornate and almost Baroque.

Just west of the cemetery is the historic Farish Street neighborhood. During the post-World War II economic boom, this was a thriving cultural and business hub for the African American community. After the 1970s, the neighborhood decayed severely. I remember 1990s attempts to encourage a comeback, but those efforts did not generate much (or any) reinvestment. This Mississippi Today article outlines the decades of disappointment, political infighting, and missteps in the attempts to revive the district. Preservation in Mississippi also posted some articles on Farish Street. 

I have posted pictures from the Farish Street area before. Here are more photographs from my archives from Lamar, Cohea, and Monument Streets, all immediately west of Greenwood Cemetery.



998 North Lamar Street (TMax 100 film, Olympus Trip 35 camera)
1107 North Lamar Street

Lamar Street runs north-south just west of the cemetery. Some (much) of the housing stock is seriously deteriorated. 


East Cohea Street view west

Empty lots in this area mean that deteriorated or abandoned houses have been razed. This is a significant cost for the city. It also means that the property no longer generates tax revenue. 

Cohea view east from near North Mill Street (Panatomic-X film, Fuji GW690II camera) 
Duplex at 146 Cohea Street
Duplex 147-149 Cohea Street
Duplex 153 Cohea Street

These modest duplexes likely once were homes for families who shopped and worked at the stores, restaurants, and jazz clubs on Farish Street. Now they are silent; the happy children are gone. 

Cottage, 155 Cohea Street
Cottage, 328 East Monument Street (no longer extant)

I took these photographs on Kodak Plus-X (2023 frames), TMax 100 (2018), and Panatomic-X (2012) films. 

This has been a quick look at central Jackson near Greenwood Cemetery. For other articles on Jackson, please see:


Jan 2010: Mississippi Basin Model
Jan 2010: Hawkins Field
Jan 2010: Naval reserve Center
Feb 2010: Hinds County Armory
Nov 2010: Jackson Municipal Library
Apr 2013: Hinds County Armory update
May 2013: Oil Mill
May 2013: Mill Street corner store
Apr 2015: Lock business, Pascagoula St.
May 2015: Mill Street
Jun 2015: West Capital Street
Jun 2015: Masonic Temple
Nov 2015: Mississippi Basin Model continuing decline
Dec 2015: West Porter Street
Jan 2016: Near the State Capital
Sep 2016: North Mill Street
Jul 2017: Grayson Court
Dec 2017: Old House Depot
Feb 2018: Basin Model update
May 2018: Fortification Street
April 2019: Woodrow Wilson Ave.
Aug 2019: Bailey Avenue restaurant

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

Salvaging Faded Ektachrome Slides



1957 Ektachrome booklet (courtesy of Mr. Maurice Fisher at Photographic Memorabilia)

Eastman Kodak introduced Ektachrome transparency film in sheet film format in 1946. The big advantage of Ektachrome over the famous Kodachrome was the former could be developed at local laboratories or even at home. In Ektachrome, the color couplers were included in the emulsion and processing required only one color developer. Kodachrome required a major laboratory operation for developing, and this meant a turnaround time of several days for most users. 

The film that my dad used in 1959 would have been the version that required the E-2 Process or the Improved E-2 Process. The film speed was probably 32 ASA. His slide mounts have the same blue pattern as the example on the cover of the Kodak booklet. The text on the slide mount is in English, but I do not know where he had them processed. Were there color photo labs in Rangoon at the time?

The big failing of early Ektachrome was that colors faded. Most 1950s and 1960s Ektachrome slides are now a red mess. Image data is there, but much of the color information has been lost. In the days before Photoshop or other sophisticated software packages, there was not much you could do with one of these faded slides. I threw out hundreds of family slides decades ago when my wife and I sorted my dad's archives. 

Let us look at one example from Rangoon, Burma, from 1958 or 1959. I scanned the slide on a Plustek 7600i film scanner using Silverfast software via a Mac mini computer with the BigSur 11.7.4 operating system. The original slide shows the characteristic red color shift. You see the same with Anscochrome slides from the 1960s. 


Standing on a furniture box that came from Hong King

This is the scan on "Auto" mode as a 48-bit TIFF file (16 bits for each color). There does not appear to be much useful color data left. (I have resized for this article but not changed color).



This is the "Portrait" mode in Silverfast. I am amazed how well it did with no more intervention on my part. The software is doing some clever work in the background.



This is a 16 bit monochrome scan. This does not look too bad and demonstrates that there is still image data on this media. In another 64 years, will there be retrievable image data on our digital storage media or on our accounts in the "cloud"? Sorry I keep asking this, but you readers know the answer.



Photoshop's automatic color correction tool did not work well on a slide this badly shifted. The grey dropper also did not work. On the Photrio forum, experienced Photoshop users said the best way to correct a faded slide was to use the curves tool manually. I moved the curve to the extents of the color data and adjusted the amplitude. The example above is or the blue channel. I am far from a sophisticated Photoshop user but did the best I could in CS5. The result is slightly different than the Silverfast "Portrait" scan, neither better or worse. 

Summary:  There is some recoverable color data in old faded Ektachrome slides. And a conversion to monochrome can look surprisingly good. Maybe future software will be more sophisticated, but I have not seen many (or any?) new scanners in the last decade. But we can always hope for software development.

Saturday, September 2, 2023

From the Archives: Summer on the Beach in Calabria (Italy)

Cosenza study area

In mid-2000, two of my coworkers and I conducted a study of beach processes and structures along the west coast of the Province of Cosenza. The Provincial Government of Cosenza asked us to examine coastal structures and beach erosion. The beaches has suffered serious retreat over the years, and various types of seawalls, beach armoring, and detached breakwaters had not done much to stabilize the coast. 

This is the rugged and mountainous part of Calabria in southern mainland Italy facing the Tyrrhenian Sea. The first major landforms to the west are Corsica and Sardinia. The Aeolian Islands, including the active volcano of Stromboli, are also west near the north coast of Sicily. I had never been to Calabria, so this was a geological and cultural treat. 

Our hosts were fantastically generous. They provided some superb meals (Calabria has a distinctive cuisine), a helicopter, boats, and a van with a driver. He was a burly, friendly fellow. When he wore his sport jacket on certain days, he had a mysterious bulge under his left armpit. Hmmm...  But seriously, there were no security issues of any sort. Everyone we met was friendly and curious. 

Here are a few Kodachrome slides from our project, organized from north to south. There were many more slides, but I sent them to the American Shore & Beach Preservation Association along with thousands of other beach and marine photographs


Beaches and coasts


Marina di Belvedere view south

This aerial view of Belvedere Marittimo shows the complicated topography and modified coast in this part of Cosenza. In the foreground, the beach was massively armored with detached breakwaters but this did not result in an attractive recreation beach. One major failing: the engineers did not artificially add sand on the landward side of the breakwaters after initial construction. All of these types of structures need sand to be mechanically added.


Eroded sandstone and poorly consolidated riverine sediments south of Diamante

Near Diamante the geology is a challenge. The rail line is perched between an eroding upland and a retreating coast. To prevent mud- and rockslides from disrupting the railroad, the engineers built concrete protective walls. But then sediment no longer enters the marine littoral system, contributing to sediment starvation on the beaches. But storm waves cause the shore to retreat. So, to protect the railroad, construction companies added huge rocks along the shore. The result: no beach and a vulnerable railroad.


Recreation beach at Guardia Piedmontese Marina

Here you can see a sand and gravel beach, with the railroad embankment immediately behind. During especially rough winter storms, salt spray reaches the rail line and causes arcing across the electric lines. This is the main north-south rail line along western Italy, and service disruption has major economic consequences. 

 
On the way it to the beach, Guardia Piedmontese Marina

  Here the rail line is reasonably protected by being well above the level of the parking lot.


Historic houses, Marina di Fuscaldo

Marina di Fuscaldo is a resort village with a number of pre-1900 houses clustered next to the beach. Fishermen pull their boats up across the gravel beach. The road runs above a concrete seawall.  


Former railroad bridge near Marina di Paola

This railroad bridge is an example of the beautiful stonework by master craftsmen during the original construction of the railroad in the late-1800s. The original rail was run along the landward edge of a formerly broad coastal plain. In this area, the coast retreated almost a kilometer in a century. The new railroad bridge is a short distance behind the historic bridge. There is no more room for the railroad to relocate further landward. 


San Lucida, south of Paola

These monumental T-shaped groins near San Lucida are in too deep water, the gap is too wide, and the builders did not add sand. This section of coast is sediment-starved. 

San Lucida
Checking the catch at San Lucida
Reviewing beach measurements in San Lucida

The old town of San Lucida is up on the bluff. The plaza was secured with a monumental concrete buttress and wall. 


Typical Calabrian lunch

What do you do after a morning of surveying the beaches, riding boats, or flying in a helicopter? Well, of course, you eat a giant Calabrian lunch. Add a bottle or two of wine.....


Cars


Ready for a ride, San Lucido
On the beach, Guardia Piedmontese


We were surprised that the tiny Fiat 500 cars (the Cinquecento) are popular again and are being restored. Fiat produced them in various models from 1957-1976. These were a brilliant way to help Italians motorize in the post-war era, and they continued in production into the 1970s. Nice! 


Motoring in Cetraro

Addendum


If you are interested in more technical details, here is the Coastal Sediments '03 conference proceeding. It is a .pdf file that the link will open.