Recently, I purchased a small batch of photos from July 1961; naturally, not too long after that, the negatives also went up for grabs. And, naturally, I went for those too. Some of you might wonder why I would bother buying the negs after I’d already gotten the photos themselves. Hopefully this post will show why and also give you a little glimpse of what goes into creating each blog entry. First up is the photo itself. What about this photo made me interested enough to collect it in the first place? Mainly the Mickey Figure; it’s an early incarnation of Mickey before he became the slick character that he is today. The early figures that walked around the park were often a little more on the scary/crazy side and not quite as accurate as the ones guests see today. The location of the photo is the second reason; just dig that Art of Animation attraction poster on the Monorail pylon! Third reason: the RETLAW Combine Car in the background. Currently in the process of being restored, photos of the Combine are somewhat rare. As you’ll note, the quality of this photo isn’t too bad...but at Daveland, I believe there’s always room for improvement!
Here’s an unretouched view of the negative scan for the same photo; scratched, somewhat faded/color shifted...not real pretty!
With a little help from Photoshop (and some knowledge gleaned from years of experience) this negative gleams like new! Having the negative also gives more image area as well; typically photo prints will cut out about 5% of the image area that was actually shot.
Because of the clarity that I can pick up from a negative, closeup detail shots are now possible, showing little things that you might not notice from just scanning a regular vintage photo print. F’rinstance...the ticket book in the little girl’s hand:
The banner hung above the underpass as well as the writing on the combine and the ticketbooth at right:
Hope you’ve enjoyed this sneak-peak of what goes on behind-the-scenes before these photos reach your home! See more Disneyland entrance photos at my website.
Dave, thanks for the explanation on the photo vs. negative process. Would love to see more "behind the scenes" type posts like this. Fascinating! :)
ReplyDeleteAwesome post on how you post! My eye went straight for that ticket book in the enhanced photo - odd that it appears to be a "ABCD" book (no E ticket) last produced in early 1959? Maybe they brought tickets from a previous trip?
ReplyDeleteTHANKS DAVE!
Great post. Amazing how Mickey is out IN FRONT of the ticket booths. Wow, Mickey for free! Wouldn't happen today.
ReplyDeleteTim - I grew up in Pennsylvania, but I still remember that my mom had a drawer with the leftover tickets from our previous trips to Disneyland which she saved for our return visits. I am sure that was a common practice back then!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea for a post! I'm sure most people would never guess how much work goes into a single photo. Negatives or slides are always preferable to prints (if you have a choice)!
ReplyDeleteI'm digging the poster, too.
I used to live in Pennsylvania! Near Harrisburg, a town called Camp Hill.
Major - I know the area well; have many friends in Mechanicsburg and Carlisle.
ReplyDeleteFun post! Any preference on scanners? Still looking for better results over here!
ReplyDeleteFor photos, I scan with a Canon scanner; for negs and slides, I use a Nikon.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Dave! I too am fascinated by the "behind the scenes". Silly me though, the first thing I noticed on the girl was her one piece jumper and wondered if she had to completely undress every time she had to go pee. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post! I love this version of Mickey.
ReplyDeleteReally fun to see the process and the difference you can make with the negative! Photoshop is amazing. :)
ReplyDeleteI want to vote for this post as most awesome post of the year!
ReplyDeleteI am glad that your Disneyland obsession is as bad as mine.