[PRCo] Re: Kodak

[Jim Holland]

Fred Schneider wrote:
.
> STRANGE THAT A DYED IN THE WOOL RAILFAN WOULD AGREE WITH ME ON THAT. I 
> have long believed that we need to clean up photographs and that 
> sometimes art is more important than what the camera saw. I think I 
> just heard you agree with me.
>
> I forwarded your compliment to John Bromley.
>
> About two-third of the pictures that went into the two PCC books were 
> retouched.... ------- [Snipped] -------
.
I Am agreeing that John Bromley is Superb in delivering photos that are 
Perfectly Sharp and Beautiful from any viewpoint of analysis.     
(-(-(-Incidentally,  *All_OF_US_Here*  are Dyed in the Wool RailFans by 
Definition with each of us representing an aspect of that definition by 
specific interests~!~!~!~!-)-)-)
.
Beyond that we get into ethics of manipulating photos and I Personally 
don't have an  *Opinion*  because I have not thought through the process 
and if I did have an  *Opinion*  that is all it would be  --  
*One__Opinion*  amongst many // hundreds // thousands probably.
.
Right Here On This List some time back we discussed some of the Novak 
collection.     The son is an engineer for CSX  (operates the 
trains~!~!)  and he is gifted as an PhotoShop Artist  --  he apparently 
knows John Bromley well.     The Novak photos  (some original from the 
father and others which have been purchased over the ages)  will have 
shadows removed that cross the TrolleyCar  (like Line Poles,)  dirt and 
debris removed like paper littering the street // prw etc, and other 
removals // touch ups that otherwise would detract from the photos.      
Some people don't even like this to happen, apparently  --  doesn't 
bother me.
.
If the photo is of a TrolleyCar then my attention is to the TrolleyCar 
and its environs  --  I would say that I prefer the TrolleyCar to be the 
center of attention and wouldn't mind removal of objects that would 
hinder that attention  --  but this is obviously an item which might be 
debated and others will have differing opinions~!~!~!~!
.
*I__Definitely__Enjoy__ALL__The__Photos*   in the PCC books and 
recognize the art of retouching has been applied to photos probably from 
near the beginning of photography.     This also deepens the 
appreciation of the   WORK   that is involved in bringing a book to 
market.     In Reality, Fred, the PCC books produced by You and Stephen 
Carlson through Interurban Press are  *Far__More*  than treatises on the 
PCC    ----    they are Standards which reveal Excellent Organization, 
Very Fine Writing, Tremendous Research, And Many Other Attributes which 
Other Writers can emulate~!~!~!
.
.
.
>
> On Nov 3, 2007, at 3:30 PM, Jim Holland wrote:
>
>> John Bromley is an Extremely Gifted // Highly Talented individual 
>> when it comes to Computers / PhotoShop / Digital Images ---- he is 
>> obviously naturally artistic and does far more than produce marvelous 
>> results -- his results could be called Miraculous~!~!~!~! It would 
>> seem he missed his calling and could have profoundly altered the 
>> photographic world had he pursued that career~!~!~!
>>
>>
>> Fred Schneider wrote:
>>
>>> I need to acknowledge that the quality built into some of those ink 
>>> jet printers today is marvelous. You can do wonders in Photo Shop to 
>>> clean up old images. Over the last year our former list member John 
>>> Bromley has given me hundreds of prints he made from new digital 
>>> images, as well as faded, scratched and dirty color slides and color 
>>> negatives which he worked on in Photo Shop to produce absolutely 
>>> stunning visuals. The nice thing about Photo Shop is that John has 
>>> also become quite adept at cleaning up distracting elements in 
>>> pictures in minutes that used to take me forever with a paint brush 
>>> or an air brush. If a utility pole is in the wrong place or an 
>>> automobile is clearly distracting and ruins the composition of a 
>>> picture, John has become quite good at removing it and cloning the 
>>> background over it in minutes. This technique is also good if the 
>>> photographer wasn't holding the camera level and you need to 
>>> straighten the picture and rebuild part of a building. I also 
>>> remember one picture where the film tape fell off in a camera and 
>>> wiped out a group of trees in a scene on top of Mount Royal in 
>>> Montreal ... John rebuilt the trees simply by cloning other nearby 
>>> trees. That is a skill that is possible in Photo Shop that you could 
>>> have never done properly with art colors and a paint brush.
>>>
>>>>
>>>> ^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^
>>>> .
>>>> .
>>>> Jim Holland
>>>> .
>>>> Studying Pittsburgh Railways Company (PRCo)
>>>> .
>>>> ..............................From 1930 -- 1950
>>>> .
>>>> Pennsylvania Trolley Museum (PTM)
>>>> .
>>>> http://www.pa-trolley.org/
>>>> .
>>>> N.M.R.A.
>>>> .
>>>> http://www.nmra.org/