Meet my ancestors.

[dewmuw]

Recently Megatrixel asked about my avatar. I posted the picture of mym mum and dad's wedding, 52 years ago. This coincided with my mum asking me to upgrade some of her cherished phots. I thought you might like to see some:

This is what one of the originals looked like - this was one of the better conditioned ones too!

http://www.pbase.com/dewmuw/image/41589173.jpg

This feature my great-grandfather (Edward McCafferty) and one of his cherished horses.
http://www.pbase.com/dewmuw/image/41589178.jpg

Edward McCafferty again with one of his cherished horses. This one was called Tucker and actually accompanied his coffin to the church when he died. I think this photo was taken in 1948. My great gradfather worked on the railways for years as a carter and the horses were a tool of the trade. He loved to show them too.

http://www.pbase.com/dewmuw/image/41589176.jpg


My nan (my mum's mum) as a 2 year old. This photo must be close to 100 years old.
http://www.pbase.com/dewmuw/image/41589180.jpg

[Skip Souza]

Damian, you did a good job on the old photos. Thank you for letting us into your past. The horses are magnificent!

[cactusclay]

Those are some great old pics.

[dewmuw]

Thanks guys. I love looking at the old photos my mum has. I'm no expert but I was pleased with the result. I guess there are others who would do better. My mum likes them though! :D

[Fer]

Thanks for sharing those Damian!

[stoneylonesome]

Thanks for sharing those Damian. You did a great job fixing the first one. I'm in the process of going through some old family photos. not an easy task, but sure is fun. :lol: :lol:

[marie]

they are wonderful pictures Damian

I see the big horse in the third photo won 3rd prize
seems to be a proud moment for your great granddad
how he is holding onto and showing the horse

the granma picture as a baby is marvellous



http://www.photography-on-the.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif

[charlesu]

Great stuff. I love seeing shots like these. What a family treasure.

[Michaelmjc]

I love lookin at old pictures. You did a great job on restoring the old one, looks a lot better than the original.

I'll have to go to my grandmas and see what I can find there.

[MegaTrixel]

Just excellent! The difference between the original (first pic) and the touch-up is amazing! Great work! This preservation and touch-up work will turn these old pics into treasured family heirlooms for generations.

Thanks for sharing these.

[mdm]

Wonderbar!

[dewmuw]

Thanks everyone so much.

My 16 year old niece has recently gotten interested in family history and she's really pleased to have her own copies.

Marie - the horses meant a lot to him. He worked with them all his life and they were treated very well, even though they spent their lives in the city.

One of the issue I have found is that, and this is shown in the fourth pic, that in those days the subject had to sit very still as the lens was 'open' for a few seconds. This leads to blur when the kids move. I have one of my greatgrand mother with my nan on her knee at about 6 months old. My great-grandmother (who I remember as a kid and who lived to 96) is pin sharp and my nan is blurred. A pity.

[marie]

Thanks everyone so much.

My 16 year old niece has recently gotten interested in family history and she's really pleased to have her own copies.

Marie - the horses meant a lot to him. He worked with them all his life and they were treated very well, even though they spent their lives in the city.

One of the issue I have found is that, and this is shown in the fourth pic, that in those days the subject had to sit very still as the lens was 'open' for a few seconds. This leads to blur when the kids move. I have one of my greatgrand mother with my nan on her knee at about 6 months old. My great-grandmother (who I remember as a kid and who lived to 96) is pin sharp and my nan is blurred. A pity.


that was a shame
it can even happen today though

working horses were around in the cities a lot then
your grandad must have had a place to keep them

you done a great job on that picture

[D4VE]

Great photos. Good job on the first one :)
When was that taken?, based on his age increase it must be 20s or possibly earlier?

The far background is almost like a painting, you can just see the outline of a roof :)

[dewmuw]

Great photos. Good job on the first one :)
When was that taken?, based on his age increase it must be 20s or possibly earlier?

The far background is almost like a painting, you can just see the outline of a roof :)

We're not sure when it was taken, but my mum guesses at about 1920 (ish) so good guess by you there.

I love the backdrop too. Looks almost like a scene set from Oliver! :)

[konyko]

Great restorations. What application did you use?

[dewmuw]

Great restorations. What application did you use?

Thanks very much. I used Photoshop CS and a lot of cloning! :)

[skade]

WoW! You are so lucky to still have those photo's around! Great job!

[smittymike19]

excelent stuff. i always love looking at these kind of shots as it quickly reminds me why i love taking shots of people. i did something similar for my MIL. i made 5 copies of one of the only pictures she had of her dearly beloved father, 1 for her and each of her 4 sisters. She framed them and gave them as presents. A few days later i received 5 separate thank you cards in the mail. The next time I saw them all, they all cried talking about how much they loved the shot. Its always great when you can do soemthing that has sentimental value for someone and Im sure your mum enjoyed the shots. great job.

[RbrtPtikLeoSeny]

Great job! awesome edits.

[dewmuw]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the comments.

[phisch22]

That's cool. I love making old photo's look better. And I ust love looking at old photo's. Have you ever seen tyhe first photo ever, or the first person ever photographed.

http://www.digicamhistory.com/capt.1016748147.france

This is the first photo ever taken

http://www.digicamhistory.com/second%20photograph.gif

This is the second photo ever taken

I couldn;t find the photo of the first human ever photographed, but I found out that the true first photographs were taken buy a guy that put the light sensitive chemicals on leather. They were so sensitive that canlde light would deteriate the image. A shame if you ask me.

But yeah, I like old photo's.

[dewmuw]

Where they taken with a Nikon? :D

[sixshot]

Great pics. I like to look through my grandparents pics.