Tuesday, February 09, 2016

More Rescans - The Mark Twain

By now you know that I have been rescanning slides from the past in an effort to get better results. Today I have two featuring the Mark Twain, and I think they've turned out pretty good.

Here's one that was originally posted back in 2007; it's a moody shot of the Mark Twain as it heads past Fowler's Harbor into the great unknown. It's not bad, but it could be better.


See what I mean? There's blue in the sky, for instance. And things are just crisper and clearer. Look at the barren hills in the distance! That's right about where a certain new Land will be hatched.


This next one was posted in 2006, two scanners ago. That first one was a real piece of junk, as evidenced by the fuzzy image and too-warm color.


This one looks much more natural. I love the "racing" canoes, as well as the signs of construction going on over on Tom Sawyer Island. There are boxed trees aplenty. I think I see the top of the Burning Settler's Cabin peeking up over the trees, so presumably this was taken a bit further north compared to today's first photo.


17 comments:

Nanook said...

Major-

OMG - this 'nip & tuck' you've performed on the images is nothing short of black magic. Are you harboring a secret license as a member of The American Board of Cosmetic Surgeons, or are you merely skilled at "lifting the veil"-? Either way, the improved versions really sparkle.

Now... are we all in agreement the bevy of activity we see in the second image is for the construction of Castle Rock-?

Thanks, Major.

Chuck said...

Wait - Castle Rock's not a natural feature?

Alonzo P Hawk said...

Wow, what a difference. In the second photo of the first set you can actually "see" the yellow balloon on the upper deck.

Between the new CCD's in the upgraded scanner and the Major's rapidly improving scanning and color correcting skills we are being gifted with quite the visual treat.
Thanks for all your hard work and effort.

TokyoMagic! said...

The first thing my eye went to in that first pic...even before enlarging it, was the fact that there is only one smokestack! I thought either it's April Fool's Day, or there was some serious repair work going on on the Mark Twain. Your new scanner was able to bring out the second smokestack through all the steam. At least I'm assuming that's steam. I guess it could be a cloud of mist that the boat is entering, like from the movie, "The Incredible Shrinking Man".

K. Martinez said...

Love the Indian War Canoes following behind the Mark Twain. Thanks, Major.

TokyoMagic!, I was thinking the "Richard F. Irvine" in that first pic.

Monkey Cage Kurt said...


I remember the first time I saw the one with the single smokestack; I was convinced the Mark Twain was in the middle of having some work done. You assured me that it was just a well placed puff of steam. But NOW you can clearly see the top of the invisible smokestack. Not that I didn’t believe you the first time or anything.

These really are remarkably better Major. Now all you have to do is rescan every photo you’ve ever posted and you will have 10 more good years of blogging ahead of you. and you were SO close to thinking you were done.

Thank you, Major!

Unknown said...

Mmm. Delicious re-scan goodness!

I do wonder, though, what the sort of pole-like structure peeking up over the trees to the right side of picture two are. It could maybe be the pilings for the Suspension Bridge support but it seems kind of tall for that. Any ideas?

Anonymous said...

Patrick, I was wondering the same thing. Could that be piping for the framework of the treehouse? Or is this too far north on the island to be that? - TokyoMagic!

Chuck said...

I think that may be Ft Wilderness under construction.

Nanook said...

@ Patrick Devlin-

My vote's with the Suspension Bridge.

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, I admit it, I sold my soul to the Devil. It was totally worth it! I honestly don’t know what that structure is that is under construction… I thought it might be Fort Wilderness.

Chuck, Castle Rock is not a natural feature, but it is OK because Santa Claus gave it his stamp of approval.

Alonzo, I didn’t even notice the yellow balloon! Thanks for the compliments!

TokyoMagic!, I am surprised at how invisible that other stack is… I’m not sure why the top of it appears to much better in the second version. Weird! I seem to recall that I did think that, when I first viewed this slide, this was a rare photo of the Twain missing one of the stacks. No such luck.

K. Martinez, the canoes are about to launch their torpedoes to sink the Mark Twain and send it four feet to the bottom.

Monkey Cage Kurt (where have you been?!), as a politician I am in the business of reassuring people. I appreciate the kind words about the new scans… unfortunately only a small percentage of the old scans are worth retrying!

Patrick Devlin, you have posited yet another question that I am unable to answer. Frowny face.

TokyoMagic!, it doesn’t look like pipes to me, but it is hard to tell.

Chuck, I don’t think that Fort Wilderness had much (if any) steel, but my mantra is “I could be wrong”!!

Nanook, what I need is a really good look at the Suspension Bridge. If only someone would invent the Internet.

K. Martinez said...

Hey Monkey Cage Kurt! It's good to hear from you. You were missed.

Steve DeGaetano said...

Yes, in the first two photos, exhaust steam from the starboard steam exhaust stack is indeed obscuring the port smokestack. What that new scanner is able to bring out is amazing!

Monkey Cage Kurt said...

I’m always here guys, I just don’t have that much to contribute.

Nanook said...

Monkey Cage Kurt-

I second what Ken has said-! All commentary is welcome. If not - I hate to think where most of my commentary would end up...

Monkey Cage Kurt said...

I’ll try to chime in more often.

Kel said...

Very cool! You can further pull out detail using some editing with imaging software like photoshop or lightroom.

http://i.imgur.com/KXSzVO3.jpg