(House ... Side ... Maud)

 

"And this is Maude, at the side of the house.

Sigh. So dull.

Bonus - Thieves of ‘cursed’ rocks pen letters of remorse to a national park

The Long Gallery

 

This was an Ektachrome slide that suffered from extreme colour deterioration,  giving it a heavy red cast. So, this images is just the blue component.

According to the slide, this was Parham Park, Sussex and the Long Gallery. Fare enough.

n architecture, a long gallery is a long, narrow room, often with a high ceiling. In Britain, long galleries were popular in Elizabethan and Jacobean houses. They were normally placed on the highest reception floor — the uppermost level designed for entertaining guests (usually above the hall and other ground floor rooms) — of English country houses, usually running along a side of the house, with windows on one side and at the ends giving views, and doors to other rooms on the other. They served several purposes, and were perhaps especially used by the women of the family. They were used for entertaining guests (probably only the more favoured ones), for taking exercise in the form of walking when the weather was inclement, for displaying art collections, especially portraits of the family and royalty, and acting as a corridor.

Bonus - 

Cinderella Will Go to the Ball

 

The Slide, as scanned

The slide, with some manual correction of the colour cast

Side, split into Red, Green and Cyan elements. I don't recall which this was.

The manually corrected slide, passed to an online AI service, and told to "Sort IT"  tho with more guidance. Impressive

So at this year's SlideFest (What? You weren't there?) one common question was on how much I edit the slides. Normally, as little as possible. A little correction of contrast levels, or a little straightening. Usually a little cropping (for ....reasons), but nothing dramatic.

But, some old slides, particularly Ektachrome / E6 process slides, can develop a severe colour-cast. And the results can be Yeuch. So, I sometimes correct them, or just extra a single colour element, and use them as monochrome slides. 

But today, I thought I'd show you before and after, and illustrate what Artificial Intelligence can do.

A Real Vintage One

 

This was an odd set of slides.

A set of black n white negatives, mounted in slide frames.  And allegedly dating from 1937 America.

Very odd. Quite a few motor cars and motorcycles, and they do appear "of that era."  Especially true for this bike and sidecar combo.

Bonus - 

From a 2013 image dump

A Floating Dry-Dock?

 

Curious. This box had a series of Slide Mounts, each with a 35mm Black and White negative mounted in them. How rare. The seller claimed that they dated from 1937...and that might be reasonable.

This image had no description, but appears to be a floating dry-dock, so... COULD be the USS ARD-1. Or maybe something else.

Bonus :

Series "B" - Beekeeping

 

Part 1 - "Hives and Bees"

You find the oddest things when you're slide collecting.

Bonus -  The Story Behind the Photoshoot of David Bowie and Twiggy for the Cover of “Pin Ups” Album in 1973

The Man of Mystery

 

Slide box number 163 is an oddity. Black and white negatives mounted in 35mm slide frames. Allegedly dating from 1937.

This 'ere bloke...doesn't want to be identified. So, I'm guessing that this is a young John F Kennedy.

Maybe.

Bonus - 

Building In Progress

 

Some a little bit interesting for Tedious Tuesday.

The subject slide had deteriorated badly over the years, with a strange colour cast and fading. (It's the second "colour" slide.)

So, one trick up my sleeve is to split the image into the three constituent colour images...and the big image is the "blue" part.

Not any more interesting a subject, but slightly less off-puting.

Bonus - Massacre of Elphinstone's Army       In 2013, a writer for The Economist called the retreat "the worst British military disaster until the fall of Singapore exactly a century later."

Brydon was asked upon arrival what happened to the army, to which he answered "I am the army"

The Impossibility of Music in the Mind of a Duck

 

Hopefully I don't have to explain, but Yes, this was a slide with a SEVERE colour cast / fade, and this is just a single RGB channel extracted from the digital image.

Not sure about the duck, to be honest.

Bonus - 

Druids at Wetton C Hall

 

That was all that was on the slide, and the slide was in a box of Wetton - Then and now slides.

Probably a slide of an earlier photo...but could just be a modern recreation.

Anyhoo, I suspect the location is the carpark of The Royal Oak pub.

Happy Winter Solstice, Druids !

Bonus - Unexpected Winnie-The-Pooh. 

Western Union Intrafax

 

Philosophy Time.

Can a slide be simultaneously tedious and interesting?

Exhibit A. Not a clue why this slide was taken. Also, the slide has faded significantly, such that a monochrome version is the best image.

But, there in the centre...wassizzit?

It's a western Union Intrafax. An early facsimile transmitted...and there's not much on the interweb about them....but Page 73 of this is useful.

Bonus : Will Cats Eat You If You Die in Your Home?

Old Wetton Post Office

 

Yes, I know that this one is a bit of a cheat. A 35mm Slide of an earlier (much earlier) photograph. From the other slides in the box, the original photos seem to be late 40's early 50's....but what do I know.

The slide box was marked Wetton in Derbyshire, but that wasn't a surprise. I recognised many of the locations, and Wetton retains it's rural charm to this day.

In fact, here's the same view more recently, courtesy of Google Streetview.  Wetton PO

Bonus - ‘Like butter for bears’: the grizzlies who dine on 40,000 moths a day

Flashbulb Zombies

 

A little experimentation.

The main image (above) of  Guests At An Event in 1963, suffers from the harsh nature of photographic flash-bulbs of the time. A bright flash of magnesium, 2 inches above the camera, gave a very flat washed-out image of the subject.

Zomie-like I would say.

So, as an experiment, I took the original image and reduced it to mono-chrome (second image).

I then uploaded it to Palaette.fm to see what their AI coloration algorithms would do. And the result - the third image.  Hmm, not bad.

Bonus - Geekdom achieved Platinum Level in 2021

Hope he's an Organ Donor...

 

I mean ... Snow on the ground and a bloke on a Motorcycle.  What could go wrong ?

This was an odd slide. Not because it was a MonoChrome Slide (Agfa used to make such film) but because this was a set of B+W Negatives, mounted in a 35mm slide mount.

Previously featured this bike and bloke.   Twice actually.

Bonus - 

In The Shade with Maude

 

It's been a while since we last checked in with Maude, and we find her enjoying the sunshine, or actually just the shade with he Hubby.

I do wonder if Maude employed a paparazzo to follow her, and take lots of picture of her and Mr J.

Bonus - Quiz question: Which way does water flow in the Bosphorus?

Bonus 2 - 

Caution

 

On first seeing this faded Ektachrome slide, I thought "Definite Tedious Tuesday slide."

However, reducing it to monochrome, and straightening up the horizontal... it's rather a striking composition. I like it.

I believe that this is of an airport, and the covered walkways that existed before the modern articulated, 20ft above the ground ones.

Bonus - The reason why we view neanderthals as hunched over and degenerate is that the first skeleton to be found was arthritic.

The Master prepares to demonstrate.

 

This was a heavily discoloured slide, so I've rendered it as a monochrome slide to prevent your eyes from screaming in agony.

I wonder how many homes now have a grand piano in them now.

Bonus -     the King's doctor Johann Struensee seized power for over a year in 18th century Denmark. He managed to abolish slavery, abolish censorship of the press, and have an affair with the Queen before being ousted and executed in 1772

Last Day In The Office

No, Not Me !

This bloke. Mr Henry Crump. Chief Executive Officer of Bothwick Baths inc.

Here he  is with Chief Accountant Albert Albertson, and Secretary / PA / Model for the enamel bath range - Mrs Edith Scronk.

The original slide had an overpowered red cast , but it looks OK as a sepia tinted slide.

Bonus.  UK has 40,000 Coronavirus deaths, the economy is tanked, and prospects are bleak.   We need something to make us laugh.
"Britain needs new Royal Yacht Britannia to provide 'morale boost', says former trade minister"

Found it !

The Vintage Fire Engine

This is one from the odder set of slides that I have.  A set of card-mounted 35mm Black n White Negatives !  How rare.  Dating from 1937, allegedly, they do have the authentic feel of period clothes, cars and trucks.

Nice.

Bonus -

The Punnage

Beware the Spleen

...and on this slide was writ :

1973 End to slide Portocaval Shunt

Most of that box of slides were actual photo's of internal bits...and ...well, I've not had my tea yet !


Bonus :

McThor