MIRACLES WITH A DIGITAL CAMERA
With my first pc, I also bought a Xerox copier, scanner, fax. When I found that the ink cartridges cost more than a new printer, I bought an HP unit. It too has all the functions, but I have never had much luck using the scanner.
However, I discovered the joy in using my digital camera to take pictures of old photographs, and have since digitized many of the old photographs in our various albums.
Not only does this provide digital copies, it also allows for editing of the pictures, and this to me is the amazing part.
Take for example a photo of my father taken in Wainwright Alberta in 1924. Imagine the camera that was used at that time. The photo is dark and without much detail. However, when digitized and edited, much of what was originally dark has become sharp detail. The picture shown had virtually no detail in the original.
Another was again of my father during WW2 when he was a guard in a prison camp in Nipigon in 1943. (both edited pics are shown below)
Again, the original shows no detail inside the tent, whereas the edited copy does.
It is true that care is required when taking the pictures. I find the best method is to sit in the light from a North window, using no flash, and with the close up setting on. You can use a camera stand to give stability, but I find it to be a nuisance, and it is better to just move the camera around until the picture is clear and square in the camera viewer, and with no visible reflection.
It seems to me it is nothing short of miraculous to be able to save all these old photographs in a form that will make them easy to store, easy to find when you want them, and easy to share.
There are many other benefits to a digital camera that particularly appeal to those of us old enough to remember when you had to use film, remember to buy flash bulbs, take film to a developer to have prints made, and then paste into albums.
I know there are purists out there (my friend Dan for example) that prefer the old methods, but for me, digital cameras are one of the best developments of recent years.
mailto:deerthistle@sympatico.ca
However, I discovered the joy in using my digital camera to take pictures of old photographs, and have since digitized many of the old photographs in our various albums.
Not only does this provide digital copies, it also allows for editing of the pictures, and this to me is the amazing part.
Take for example a photo of my father taken in Wainwright Alberta in 1924. Imagine the camera that was used at that time. The photo is dark and without much detail. However, when digitized and edited, much of what was originally dark has become sharp detail. The picture shown had virtually no detail in the original.
Another was again of my father during WW2 when he was a guard in a prison camp in Nipigon in 1943. (both edited pics are shown below)
Again, the original shows no detail inside the tent, whereas the edited copy does.
It is true that care is required when taking the pictures. I find the best method is to sit in the light from a North window, using no flash, and with the close up setting on. You can use a camera stand to give stability, but I find it to be a nuisance, and it is better to just move the camera around until the picture is clear and square in the camera viewer, and with no visible reflection.
It seems to me it is nothing short of miraculous to be able to save all these old photographs in a form that will make them easy to store, easy to find when you want them, and easy to share.
There are many other benefits to a digital camera that particularly appeal to those of us old enough to remember when you had to use film, remember to buy flash bulbs, take film to a developer to have prints made, and then paste into albums.
I know there are purists out there (my friend Dan for example) that prefer the old methods, but for me, digital cameras are one of the best developments of recent years.
mailto:deerthistle@sympatico.ca
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