JF!

You need a light meter! Without one, you can use the "Sunny 16 Rule", see:

https://en.wikipedia.org//wiki/Sunny_16_rule

Use as the shuuter speed: 1/nearest number to ISO/ASA of film with recommended aperture in chart below.

Be well! Ed

(Download)

Hi all!
In general, the "common practice of individuals... to use someone's work for their personal use... or for other purposes without first asking permission" has been a dirty secret forever. Back in the day, photographers would provide portfolios to potential ad agencies, clients and anybody who might be interested in hiring them for photographic work. Often, art directors and other buyers would "borrow" or copy interesting images for their files!

This practice has existed to this day! Who hasn't saved an image for "reference" never to actually be used for any
commercial purchase but because it appealed to the viewer!

The website: www.petapixel.com highlights copyright cases where photographers have both won and lost lawsuits against those who would impose on their copyrights. Names such as Andy Warhol, Richard Prince and even the tattoo artist Kat Von D have used images for their work which have been protected by their creators. Some of these folks claim "Fair Use" as an exemption for using others' work, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use

Things started to get hairy with the invention of Xerox copying in the 50's and nowadays, the Internet where downloading is so eazy and the desktop printer/copier is ubiquitous.

So it basically boils down to one's sense of fairplay and ethics whether or not to ask permission to use someone's creative work!

Be well! Ed

In New York, the cut off age is also 70, see: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2017/S2977

The last time I had Jury Duty, it was announced to the waiting room, that if one was NOT called for voir dere or anything by 4 PM of your first day, then you were done with your Jury Duty. There were also forms for those folks who wanted to volunteer for Jury Duty. Does it still pay $40/day?

Be well! Ed

home brewer!

With your setup, a little bracketing of the exposures might help with blown-out highlight detail! From experience, it's easier to bring up detail in shadows than blown highlights. As you probably noticed, with old Ektachromes, the first color layer to fade and affect the color balance is magenta. This is caused primarily by poor processing and storage conditions. I know because I owned and ran a custom color lab for 40 years, from 1968 to 2008 when I retired.

Recently, from my portrait and model shooting days, my Ektachrome slides of that time still retain the freshness of the times I shot them. I also found images of my 1964 World's Fair Exhibition in Flushing, NY shot on Kodachrome, again, as fresh as the day they were photographed.

My story! Back in the early days of Photoshop (90s), my lab was an early adopter and we offered photo retouching and restoration among our many services. We were doing airbrushing and other retouching on prints anyway for models, actors and product photography. I and my staff restored tens of thousands of images for my customers and larger companies such as the NY Opera Company where I restored and inkjet printed old images from their archives.

Your main issues will definitely require the use of software, many of which now offer simplified ways of improving and restoring old images. This is in contrast to using high-ended Photoshop and masking and selecting areas to improve as we did back in the day. An alternate might be Photoshop Elements, a simplified and less expensive alternative to regular Photoshop. Nowadays, most of the newer software offers AI as a feature to improve your images but it wouldn't hurt to learn basic editing techniques such as density, contrast, gamma, color balance and cropping.

To improve your wedding photo, I used a free basic raw image viewer called FastStone It allows many of the basic techniques I spoke about but only does so, globally. It doesn't allow doing things to smaller areas via selecting and masking, in which case you can use an external program such as PS, Elements or any other program.

With your image, I played with "Adjust Lighting," which allows you to pick up detail in the highlights, then "Adjust Color," to improve the skin tones and eliminate the overall magenta color cast. I then used "Reduce Noise" and "Sharpen." I also used the "Clone and Heal" tool to remove the artifacts and black spots. Finally, I tickled the image with "Adjust Levels." I did a "Quick and Dirty" restore of your image in about 12 minutes. A better piece of software (more expensive) would show faster and better results (!?). Each of your original image scans will require different steps and time.

An alternative is to use an image restoration website. I notice that they are reasonable (generally) in cost but I am not familiar with the quality of their work. A test or two would allow you to see the results.

For Free services: https://listoffreeware.com/best-free-websites-to-restore-old-photos-online/

You can Google "Paid" services (this post was originally rejected for posting a link as SPAM)!

I have no affiliation with any service or company mentioned!

Be well! Happy New Year (Chinese)!

Ed

(Download)

Bob!

Just sent you a PM! Thank you. Ed

Warhorse and all!

Here in Manhattan, NYC, one can have a Chinese "Lunch Special" for less than $12 an entree plus a bowl of soup and a side of white, brown or "veggie" rice and a fortune cookie :-). Compared to an evening "dinner" portion, it is about 75% in amount.

On Mondays, I pick up 2 lunch specials to go with an additional portion of veggie rice for an additional $3.50 which is close to a dinner portion @ $9.50 and with my wife can make two meals out of it!

Another thing I've noticed is that several restaurants are adding a separate 3% credit card charge if the check is not paid with cash. I thought that was against a bank's credit card rules.

Be well! Happy New Year (Chinese)! Ed

My wife and I both have a United Healthcare/AARP/Mosaic plan where one of the perks is a free Fitbit pedometer, a lesser model that still works well. The program under "Renew Rewards" pays those in the program $1 for walking 5000 steps per day for a minimum of 10 days each calendar month, putting your "rewards" on a debit card at the end of each month. When we first began the program, the requirement was 7500 steps per day but this year dropped to only 5000 steps. Perhaps too many people in the program were unable to do 7500 steps per day? Anyhow, we've both maxed out at $120/year. Other "Rewards" include signing up with their phone app, a yearly health exam, a mail-in fecal test and other health-related activities. Another benefit is OTC which allows an enrollee gratis $40 per month worth of medical-related "Over the Counter" goods from a large catalog such as bandages, first-aid cremes and kits and many other sundries such as Epsom salts which we use to soak when we bathe in our whirlpool. We've also joined a local gym in a government benefit program for seniors formerly called "Silver Sneakers" for free.

We are not employed with UHC in any way but are happy with our enrollment in this plan (at least for now)! You should check out the perks of your health plan regardless of the company!

Be well! Happy New Year (Chinese)! Ed

My wife and I saw Ex Machina in a theatre and it is an excellent movie about AI going rogue! Another movie, Automata with Antonio Banderas, is currently streaming free on Amazon Prime's FreeVee with Ads but Ex Machina is currently being charged for on Amazon Prime. :-(

Be well! Ed

Jerry!

We use Victor's electronic traps too, see: https://www.amazon.com/Victor-M241-Touch-Upgraded-Electronic/dp/B074XXNC9G?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1

We paid less, in the $20+ range a while back. A big one and a couple of small ones for the little guys. When there's street or nearby subway construction, there might be a flurry of rat and mouse activity here in Manhattan, NYC.

These traps always work fine for us and are definitely reusable.

Be well! Ed

This lens and its sister Tokina 12-24mm F4 came out around 2009. I bought both for around $700 a dozen years ago. Both are sharp and are built like tanks! You're getting a great lens deal for $119!

I still use them both on my full-frame Nikon D810's. They begin to cover the FX format around 14.5mm with the "11" and the "12" around 16mm, if I remember correctly. I've been using my D810s at a 1.2X crop, getting an approximately 20 MP RAW file which is half the normal size NEFs. These lenses definitely cover the 1.2X crop
format!

Be well! Happy New Year (the upcoming Chinese one!) Ed

See this article: https://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2013/05/08/iron-mountain#close-modal

Be well! Happy New Year! Ed

As the immediate past President of Park West Camera Club, here in NYC and around continuously since 1937, I agree with Hip Coyote. I met him here on UHH and "talked" him into a "Bookmaking" presentation to my club a while back. A nice guy who travels a lot with friends and family and makes books to share his travels.

Without judging anyone or any enterprise, you must decide if getting critiqued and possible "awards" are worth your hard-earned $$. There are plenty of photographers and groups (some with famous names and credentials) out there who do similar "judging" and offer suggestions to improve your images. You must make an informed decision. Those who bad-mouth others with narfarious motives are some who might enter a "contest" by a well-
known company: "Enter 10 (or whatever #) images for (whatever amount) and win zada, zada, zada but never hear from them unless you actually win the "Grand Prize."

Park West CC, like many clubs now are on Zoom as a result of COVID-19 isolation but remain very active. My club "meets" on Zoom every Monday evening with over 40 "meetings"/year with the occasional in-person field trip or
party such as last Xmas. See: www.parkwestcameraclub.org

Be well! Happy New Year! Ed

SalvageDiver, in his reply to you, listed 3 reference links for you to further your research on preserving 50 to 75-year-old photographic negatives. If you dive further into the third link of RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology) publications, you'll find the most pertinent publication: Photographic Negatives: Nature and Evolution of Processes.
You will learn everything about photographic negatives in this downloadable PDF. As I have had a longtime interest with photo negatives via my former 40-year-old custom lab, I've perused this publication.

Like Burkphoto, I've kept my many 1000s of 35mm, 120 and large-format negatives and transparencies in Negafiles and like his negatives, are as fresh and clean as the day they were processed! Stored in thick archival boxes with proof sheets, they make viewing a pleasurable and a cost-effective way to store your negatives.

Someone suggested glassine envelopes which are good for short-term storage but they do yellow and the adhesives discolor and deteriorate. An alternative is to use clear storage envelopes made with "Mylar." A bit more expensive but handy.

Generally speaking, you want to avoid any material that is not archival: paper, glassine or "flexible" bags. Non-archival paper will yellow; glassine will also yellow and the adhesive will discolor (as mentioned earlier) while "flexible" bags such as sandwich or ziplock bags are flexible because they contain plasticizers which allow them to be flexible. "Mylar" storage products are stiff and rigid and the preferred way to store negatives or documents.

I speak with some experience as I also collect coins, stamps, comic books and men's magazines, all of which require archival storage to maintain their value and condition. Non-Mylar products may outgas and leave a greenish PVC (plasticizer) on the contents or worse. Keeping out air, maintaining proper storage temperatures and humidity are extremely important.

I also have had much experience with film materials and storage with my former 40-year long custom lab business which I retired from in 2008!

I also recommend www.universityproducts.com" as I have buying and using their products since my custom lab days. You can Google other similar sources.

Another thing, you should check your negatives for any that were shot with nitrate film which has been known to physically deteriorate. Many early cinema films were shot on it and have partially or completely disappeared.

Be well all! Happy New Year. Ed

Yes, The Nikon D700 is hype-driven as well as deserving of adulation. It was Nikon's first full-frame camera, albeit only 12MP. It was released simultaneously with the professional D3 (FX) and the D300 (DX) cameras and used often as a D3 backup body. The D700 was well-made and had the same sensor as the D3 but cost less and because of its 12MP had low-light and low-noise capabilities due to the sensors' larger light-gathering qualities. I bought one at the time, shooting portraits and doing model photography. Later, Nikon released the D3s (also 12MP) with even better low-light abilities as well as a D3X (24MP). Eventually, I bought a used D3s body as well and still use it to this day.

If you buy something today, I would suggest getting the D810 which is also 36MP, and uses the same battery as the 24MP D600, D610, D750 and the D800 (36MP), all full frame as well as your D7100! Some of these bodies use the ubiquitous CF and SD cards and have a built-in flash which I use often with light modifiers and can be bought for less than 30% of the manufacturer's original prices in decent condition with low actuations. With my two D810s, I use the 1.2X crop mode (from 36MP to 25MP NEFs) to increase the number of exposures and to shoot at a faster rate in sequences with plenty of quality to spare!

The Nikon D850 uses an EN-EL15a battery, uses the expensive XQD card as well as SDs and no built-in flash. The camera does have 45.7MP, a faster shooting rate and the same list price as the D810 as well as newer features. However, as a current and newer camera model, it still maintains a higher new and used price.

The choice is yours!

Be well! Happy New Year all! Ed

Before my custom photo lab, studio and I retired in 2008, we used to buy several thousand $$ of darkroom paper, chemicals, film and other sundries from Adorama who were around the corner from us on 18th Street off 6th Avenue, here in Manhattan, NYC's "Photo District". I currently also buy specials online to make sure they are in stock at the advertised price, pay and then pick them up as they are 3-1/2 blocks away from where I live.

Also, we used to spend thousands at B&H Photo when they were on 17th Street as well.

In all the decades of dealing with both companies, we never had a problem!

Be well! Happy New Year! Ed