Apparently, I Favour the Letter "C"!

Or, at least it appears that I favour blogs that begin with the letter "c"!  :D  Check out my new Blog List gadget on the lower right of this page.  I added the three blogs that I currently have in my "Follow" list and strangely enough, they all begin with the letter "c".   What an amusing coincidence!

And yes, as a matter of fact, when I am procrastinating, it does take very little to amuse me!

But seriously, folks, these are really good blogs.  Check them out when you have a moment for some enjoyable reading!  For humour, wit and intelligence, you can't beat 'em!

Now back to the topic of the week---the photograph project.

I've vowed to carry on with this project at a steady pace and I am determined to keep that vow.  However, my tendency to let myself become distracted and then to procrastinate (or do I allow myself to become distracted as a MEANS to procrastinate?  Hmm), has forced me to set another goal to go along with that first goal;  namely, to write in this blog every day before I set to work as a way to get myself mentally ready to get down to business.

So, my progress yesterday:

I had the scanner out of the box and set up in record time.  Because I had downloaded the software the evening before, (which took no time at all---my lovely new MacBook Pro is so efficient and it's pretty, too!), I was able to literally take the scanner out of the box, plug it in and begin. 

Learning how to adjust settings and to figure out where the scanned images were going, on the other hand, took a lot of time and trial and error.  I've never taken a computer class in my life, and I graduated university when it was still acceptable (and usual) to pass in handwritten term papers to the professors.  Let's just say that I am learning as I go, and my deficit in formal computer training can be a real handicap from time to time.

But, ya know, I have a Mac, so a little common sense can go a long way, thank the gods!

OK, so Yes, it did take me nearly 3 hours to scan the contents of the photograph compartment in my wallet, but the really important thing to know here is that those 3 hours were my tutorial in scanning!   I scanned wallet-sized school photos over and over again using the different settings until I had a decent idea of how the thing works and how the various settings affect various types of photographs. I also had to learn how to set up folders into which to sort the scanned prints (wallet photos are great for this because they are from several different years).  I figured out the folder thing fairly quickly, once I discovered where the Epson software was trying to hide scanned pictures.  The scanner settings took a little longer to figure out, and I imagine will take weeks to master, but I did get one or two things straight.

For instance, yes colour restore (auto) from the new ICE technology can be an amazing fix for some old, yellowed photos, but when that feature is checked all the time, it actually degrades the colour quality of better-preserved photos.  I learned through trial and error during those 3 hours with my wallet photos (of varying ages and qualities) that I must be prepared to make adjustments with the scanner and just what sort of ajustments would most likely be necessary according to the condition of various photos.

I also tried scanning negatives. I realised, likewise, that in some cases scanning negatives is superior to scanning degraded prints, but in other cases scanning the prints was at least equal to scanning the negatives (perhaps some negatives were degraded).  So, I learned that I can save myself a step every now and then by examining the prints and negatives and deciding which way to go, instead of assuming that negatives are always the best way to go.   Before my 3- hour crash self-tutorial, I hadn't the first idea about any of this.

Anyway, after the first 3 hours, I moved right along and scanned a little more quickly.  Nevertheless, this is going to be one long project.  I scanned and recorded about 10 rolls of prints once I got going, and that sounds like a lot.  However, consider that I probably have 100 rolls per year for the past 20 years and you have an idea about how daunting this task may become.

Especially for someone with my attention span.  Ha.

OK, so right after I put on the next load of laundry, I am going to get back at it!  The first thing I am going to do before getting back to the packs and packs of prints (there are four large rubbermaid bins crammed full), is scan all of the older photos already in albums, since I have no idea where their packages are (they predate our marriage, mostly, and the originals and negatives belong to other people).  I will then attempt to burn a CD of those photos to test a couple of things:  1) how many photos I can get onto one CD in the rich tiff format I am using and 2) how well the photos reproduce onto CD after I've put them through this scanning process.  If I have time, I may also attempt to print off one or two photos from the CD.

Hey, this blogging thing works!  I am now excited and can't wait to get started again!  First, that load of laundry and the, the old photos!

Good day to all!