This is a restoration project. The original document is a marriage certificate from the the 1800′s. The client wanted the document scanned, restored and printed. The original colors and size were client requirements. The document was scanned in four pieces and stitched together. The original colors were faded on some parts and in others totally obliterated from age and environmental effects. The lower right corner needed extensive repair.

The restoration was done in four stages. The overall paper color was restored to a common color of paper used during that period in history. This brought some of the colors into a normal range of the original inks with some fading. The next stage was to repair the lower right corner, any tears and all brown spots on the document. The third stage was color restoration on the faded inks and full color change for the discolored inks. The final stage was overall color saturation boost.

The final restored image was printed using pigment inks.

This is an old picture of two Russian immigrants. The client wanted the image restored and printed for framing. The image was scanned and restored using Photoshop 7. The restoration focused on keeping the image close to the original intent of the photographer.

The final image was burned to a disk for the client and printed as a 5×7 on Illford Pearl Luster paper.

I enjoy the restoration process. Restoring and bringing life back to old documents and images is an art that needs to be practiced continually to keep the skills sharp.

This image was a restored image of the clients mother and father. His father was in WWII. He was one of the last men standing after the bombing raids to Germany from the English RAF bases.

This was shot from a framed pictures of the clients father and his bomber group in England.

This was shot from an actual model plane of the type the client’s father flew in WWII. The tail wing letter  had to be imaged to a P from an A. The background was dropped out and made transparent. A shadow was dropped in and the image was overlaid in the corner of the background.

This image was a restoration of a heavily damaged photograph. The original restoration had the full background and was made into a print for the client. The client also wanted to use this picture in the WWII poster. The edges had to be made transparent and feathered to blend in the final image.

I found this map online of the air force base in Grafton England and used it in the poster.

All the old pictures in the poster were restorations. The bomber patches at the bottom of the poster were actual leather bomber patches of the different groups his father was in during the war. These were scanned and dropped into the bottom section of the poster. I used Adobe InDesign to lay out the poster and Adobe Photoshop 7 to restore and image all the other images. The final file was sent to a large format printer and laminated onto a 1/4 inch board. The poster was then framed

Not many men survived the bombing raids. The background picture is a painting that was shot and used as the background. It is called “The Last Man Standing.” The German bombing raids of WWII took their toll on English and American fighter pilots. Many of the US and English bombing raids on Germany had to take place during the daylight hours. The led to a high casualty rate among fighter pilots. Very few survived the war and the few that did formed a group that maintained contact after the war.

The poster was commissioned by Robert Adorni, a son of one of the pilots of WWII. This was to be a gift for his mother. The project used a variety of media and different pieces to make a poster that commemorated his father’s life and service during WWII.

Many of my projects take the path to mixed media these days. Some projects go on the web, in postcards and other multiple use avenues.

These images are from different galleries and exhibits. Each exhibit had different issues to overcome. Shooting installations requires a bit of creativity because the lighting is usually poor and mixed with various light temperatures. The eye adjusts for many things that the camera cannot reproduce in the same manner as the viewer sees the show. The intent of the photographer is to use creative lighting and camera techniques to render the images in the same manner as the gallery visitor would see the show.

These images are of an exhibit at the Walker Gallery in Davis, California. This Exhibit was on Thai culture. The client wanted pictures of the installation. The important points were capture how the exhibit looked to the public, all the individual pieces of the exhibit and the layout.

It was shot using a Nikon F4 with a 17-35 mm 1.2 lens and a 50 mm 1.2 lens. Slide film was used, Kodachrome, and scanned for the digital reproductions. The ISO was 100 and most exposures were long at 1/30 to 1/15 sec. One strobe with an umbrella was used in some sections of the exhibit for fill light. This was used as reflective light only.

The final images were sent to the client in slide and digital form.

I like experimenting with sectioning and use of color. These images were shot using a Nikon D1X using a macro lens. The images were then sectioned and enhanced to boost the colors. These were put on canvas and used as wall art at a doctor’s office. They were also put on mouse pads and used as screen savers.

I like working on series. This is one of my many series. This is a series on plants and flowers. Each image is manipulated to enhance the essence of the flower.

The two images are from a gallery exhibit in Folsom, California. The show was titled “An Enchanted Christmas”  and was shot in 2009. A new show called “Christmas in Toyland” is scheduled for December 2010 at the Napa Gallery in Napa, California.

The client wanted the images shot to appear as they look when you walk through the show, cutaways and images showing the installations of the pieces without concern for the natural lighting. The two images here are samples of the natural lighting shots. These images were shot using a Nikon D2Xs with a 17-35 mm 1.2 lens. The ISO was 100, F22 with the exposures between 4 to 30 seconds, depending on the scene. A tripod was used and some spot lighting from a miniature LED flashlight was used on extremely dark areas of a few of the scenes.

Imaging was done using Photoshop CS3. The highlight shadow ratio was extreme on many of the images and had to be corrected in editing. Color correction was minimal. A custom white balance was done while shooting. Some color shift from the camera and the long exposure was corrected for in editing. Three of the scenes had sections lightened in imaging even though they were not lit that way. The eye adjusts for the dim lighting when viewing the exhibit, but when looking at a picture, the lighting correction needed to be made to expose the area for a natural look. Overall, the imaging was kept to a minimum.

The scene with Santa is called “A Midnight Walk.”  The other scene is called “A Peek into Fairyland.”

To view all the scenes from the 2009 show just click this link: “An Enchanted Christmas”

The white building is a barn structure at Goldeneye Winery in Mendocino, California. I am working on a photo series capturing barns. I liked the angle of the stairs with the white building against the deep blue sky. This was shot using a Nikon D2Xs with a 17-35mm 1.2 lens. The settings were ISO 100, F11 at 1/125 sec.

The orange barn was also in Mendocino, California. I loved the orange building against the blue sky. The upstairs broken window looked sad and abandoned. This was also shot with a Nikon D2Xs using a 17 mm 1.2 lens. The ISO was 160, F16 at 1/125 sec.

Images of the Sacramento River in California. I love the fact that Mark Twain lived here. The river reminds me of the Mississippi River. This image is from the deck of the Delta King paddle boat that is now a restaurant, theater and hotel. The color image is a houseboat paddling up the river past the Ziggurat building. It almost makes you think of the Egypt with the Pyramids in the background of the Nile.

Shot using a Nikon D2Xs using a Nikon 17-35 mm 1.2 lens. The ISO is 250, F19 at 1/125 sec.