Chuzhao Camera again

 It's been a while since I did anything much with the Chuzhao "toy" camera, so I pulled it out yesterday.  Managed a few photos at Maryville Drost Park.

The Chuzhao is a fun little camera, no settings, no zoom, no real control, just simple captures.  It is a different experience than working with my "real" cameras, or even the iPhone.  

Here's some of the keepers:

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Happy (US) Independence Day!

250th Anniversary of our declaration of Independence.  I wish I could say we were having a big shinding, but we're just doing the retired folk lay about.

But I did get out for a walk today, and saw this flag display at a nearby park.

 

Red Tailed Hawk

This Red Tailed Hawk was hanging out in the neighbor's yard this morning. It was nice enough to hang out while I got my camera, and then gave me a nice "flying" pose!

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Throwback Thirsday - Emergency Only

 This is from some random beach near Jacksonville, FL.  Taken in the early 00's, at the tail end of a business trip to a conference not far south of Jacksonville (maybe Ponte Verde).  On our drive back to the airport, we realized we had spent a week in FL and hadn't seen the ocean.  So we took a short side trip, found a public beach.  We left our shoes in the car (and rolled up our pants' legs) and spent a few minutes getting sand between our toes.  then along our way to our flights home.

This was taken (probably) with one of my 1st digital cameras, just a point-n-shoot.  Pretty sure I did some affects on the computer to compensate for the mediocre quality of those early cameras.  This version was posted to Betterphoto (RIP) in 07/2003.

Adcock Pecans!

 When we pass through southern Georgia on I-75, we like to stop at Adcock Pecans, in Tifton.  Because you can never have too many pecans!

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Family Plot

 So, last week, we did a "quick" trip to Florida for the visitation/funeral from my wife's uncle.  A lot of windshield time, but worth it.  

On the way home, we made a stop in Tifton GA, to visit the gravesite of her grandparents.  Just a quick stop off I-75, and we squeezed in a visit at Adcock Pecans....

Left to right, the plots are:

Marjorie Jean Gay 09/16/1920 <--> 02/09/2007

Orman Homa Gay 08/20/1909 <--> 08/12/1998

James Langston Gay 12/02/1869 <--> 08/11/1945

Mary Francis Gay 06/26/1877 <--> 11/13/1960

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And thanks to the Geotagging of my iPhone, we now have the exact location, and won't have to wander quite as much trying to remember the location withing the cemetery.

Coordinates:  31.44696 N, 83.52619 W

We had to make a quick trip to Florida recently, for my wife's uncle's funeral.  2 day drive down, 2 days there, 2 day drive back.  2200+ miles.  But these things are important.

Anyway, we split the drive back on the west side of Chattanooga, a HIExpress that we've stayed at before.  Across the street from the hotel was the remains of an old fast food restaurant.  Based on the sign, I believe it was a Taco Bell?  

I thought it was interesting, but a bit challenging to photograph. The parking lot was filled with trucks and such. Looking at the historical views on Google Earth, it looks like the restaurant closed between 2016 and 2019, and the building has been gone since at least 2022.

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Throwback Thursday - Corny

 From June 7 2016, 10 yrs ago:

Not positive, but I suspect this was just down the road a bit from my old office, taken during a lunch time walk...

Throwback Thursday - 1982 Jetta

 A couple of Thursdays ago, I did a post of a 14 y/o me standing next to the family's 1975 Volvo 244.  Great car which I ended up driving for most of my college time (Sophomore - Senor years).  So here's another car photo:

This is a 22 y/o me, next to my then new 1982 VW Jetta.  May I loved that car.  I miss it almost as much as I miss that hair...  This is scanned from a 3.5x4.5" print, tweaked in Lightroom Classic, then turned over to ChatGPT for some "AI Magic".  Pretty decent results, here's both versions for comparison:

With LrC and AI clean-up

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Straight from the printer/scanner.

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Nothing Is Shouting

 So, I like to submit my photos to ChatGPT for analysis and comments.  And to get suggested Instagram hashtags, though I don't know if those help with engagement there.  And yes, I know not to take the opinions of a computer program too seriously.  But it can throw out some interesting points.

Today I uploaded a couple of photos from Schon Park, taken yesterday (6/9), and in the subsequent discussion (covering several June photos), it said:

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  "What strikes me about the images you've shown so far is that nothing is shouting."

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I rather like that, should make it my new artist statement.  What do y'all think?  

Here's the specific photos:  

 

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Blue Shutters, Cross - Throwback Thursday

 

Throwback from June, 2016.  I've always liked this one.  Taken near Stuart VA, during a road trip.

it made me happy to do so.

 I have never taken a picture for any other reason than that, at that moment, it made me happy to do so.

Jacques Henri Lartigue

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Western Sky, Early Summer

 

Pretty sure that the 2 brightest object are Venus (the lower, extremely bright object) and Jupiter (the upper-left bright object). About 40 minutes after "official" sunset, looking west, during an evening walk.

Throwback Thursday

 I was trying to clean up my (home) office the other day, and came across this old Polaroid photo.  It is marked April 1975, which seems to fit.

That would've been when the Volvo was pretty new, and when I was a freshman in high school (a couple months shy of 15 years old). Pretty crazy.  The first version is my scan and clean-up of the photo.  The second is after I asked ChatGPT to clean it up.

ChatGPT version:

Here's what ChatGPT had to say about it:  

That's actually a pretty good candidate for AI restoration because the original has several things working in its favor:

The composition is straightforward.

Most of the important details (car, face, clothing, background) are present, just soft and faded.

The color cast and haze are typical of aging prints and can be reconstructed fairly convincingly.

What impressed me most is that the restoration preserved the feel of the original photograph rather than turning it into something obviously modern. It still reads as a mid-1970s snapshot—just one that was taken with a much better camera and film.

And as a historical note, that's a pretty cool image to have. A nearly-15-year-old standing proudly next to the family Volvo has a very specific time-capsule quality. The orange car, the jeans, the hair, the driveway—all of it instantly places the photograph in an era.

One thing to keep in mind: AI restoration is part restoration and part reconstruction. The car is likely very close to reality because there was plenty of information available. Smaller details—facial features, exact textures, tiny objects—may be educated guesses.

...

Seeing is not enough

 Seeing is not enough; You have to feel what you photograph

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André Kertész

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