Incognito Proves Beneficial

So as I previously mentioned, I've been kinda incognito for the last week. It has been so peaceful and liberating to not be checking social media sites all the time. And the world went on without me there to watch over it, so I'm thinking I will keep this up for awhile! I have also stepped away from a few business things that were making me insanely stressed, and it too proved beneficial.

In the midst of all this, I realized that I never did something that I promised a dear friend of mine. A couple years ago, in Oct 2010, my friend Debra asked me for help. She had some old tin-type photos and an old book that she wanted to be put into digital form and restored. I was excited to do it, so I gladly accepted. Well, I never did anything with them. She wasn't in any big rush, but I don't think she expected it to take 2.5 years for me to start them. Lucky for me, she is a very patient and understanding friend.

The last couple days, I have begun the grueling process of getting them into digital form. The book wasn't any problem and took a mere 30 minutes to scan in properly. The fourteen tin-type photos, on the other hand, proved to be quite a challenge! Scanning them at various levels and settings did not produce the results I wanted or needed. Time for my trusty camera to help me. I flipped the center pole on my tripod so that I could aim the camera straight down. I set up a white marker board as the backdrop to lay each photo onto. After much trial-and-error, I turned the lights off in the room and opened the shades to gently illuminate the room without putting direct light onto the photo. Next came the painstaking task of finding the perfect camera settings of exposure and shutter speed. I needed to bring out details the naked eye could not see without over-exposing the image. (You have to understand these tin-types are over 100 years old and only about 2x3 inches in size.) After about 30 minutes of testing different settings, I was ready to shoot. But then another problem arose...the image was too dark for the camera to focus on anything. Sigh...back to work again. I spent another 45 minutes determining the perfect depth-of-field so that I could manually focus the lens for optimal results. I had to take 10-15 photos at different depths and focus settings, then remove the memory card, load the pics onto the computer, and determine the best of them. Then go back and readjust from there. Finally, after almost 3 hours of adjusting everything, I was ready to shoot! And wouldn't you know it, the battery in my camera remote died. Just perfect! With the shutter speed at just over 1" long, I had to use a remote to avoid camera shake. Add another hour to make a trip to the store and back for one little battery. Then, it was smooth sailing after that!

11 of the 14 tin-types laid out on the white marker board. And yes, they are actually this dark.

The image taken from my camera on the left, and after about 2 hours of restoring on the right.
I still have quite a bit of work to do on it, but it already looks a lot better! And it's sized for at least an 8x10 print.

I feel better now that I have actually started this project for my friend. With my new "step-away from the B.S." attitude and approach to life, I should be able to get these done for her within about two weeks. I am excited to see the results, and I hope she is happy with them too.