What are you other hobbies?

[Distorted Vision]

I know, I know, but this kind of snake oil makes me very grumpy!

I was trying to get a reaction from Vickster.

 

[Reynard]

I was going through boxes of papers after my dad died and I found a very tatty old picture of him when he was working in bomb disposal during WWII, around the time that he met my mum. The picture was folded, torn and covered in white paint. I took it home with me, scanned it, then I set about restoring it. After the restoration, I had a new print made and framed it. I took the picture down on my next visit to my mum and presented it to her. She was really touched...

View attachment 660581

Unfortunately, I no longer have the original picture. Some of the restoration was simply a case of disguising the damage. In the case of the circular plate on the central bomb (just above head height) the damage was so severe that it pretty much had to be painted in.

How fabby is that?

Yes, sometimes you quite literally *are* painting one pixel at a time, but it is SO worthwhile when you end up with a decent print. My current project is giving me headaches though.

I recently acquired a photo for my archive that was a copy of the original print. The person who copied it for me didn't take the original from its frame and used a camera with flash to boot. So I'm having to deal with all sorts of reflections, blow-outs and colour casts. To add insult to injury, the original print is on that textured photo paper that was so fashionable in the late 70s and early 80s, so there's light scatter as well.

I've got it to the stage where it now makes a passable print, but I'm still having real issues. Worth persisting with it though, as it pushes back the earliest image in my archive by some two and a half years. And as a collector, that's worth every bit of that pain.

 

[Reynard]

I should add, that without a scanner, making a reprint of a print (or an enlargement of a print) is something of a dark art. Precisely to avoid the problems I've listed above.

 

[mustang1]

I used to enjoy tinkering with computers then someone told me to do what i love (work with computers). It was at that time that I realised I would hate to be a professional TdF rider because of all the crap that goes along with simply riding your bike. Similarly, there is a lot of stuff you have to deal with in the computer field and its not just computers.

I gave up my job earlier this year and my love of computers has regrown so I will count that as my hobby.

I would love to read more but between mucking around with computers and riding, I listen to audio books instead. They are far more convenient and one can listen at night, in a car, while doing housework, etc etc. I listen to comedy, history, fiction (whodunit, law, adventure), autobiographies and a few other categories.

I used to have a few other hobbies but I prefer talking about the present and near future rather than the past which I use more as a learning platform.

Edit: typo

 

[Reynard]

For reasons that are too obscure to go into I once had a semi official( that means unpaid) job as a photo restorer for St Asaph Cathedral.
My contact died and the photos dried up. A pity really because I became quite good with Photoshop.

That's a shame. Because it's very satisfying to do, isn't it?

 

[FishFright]

For reasons that are too obscure to go into I once had a semi official( that means unpaid) job as a photo restorer for St Asaph Cathedral.
My contact died and the photos dried up. A pity really because I became quite good with Photoshop.

You might enjoy the work of Babel Colour who uses modern software and methods to restore and enhance century old autochromes

https://twitter.com/StuartHumphryes

 

[ColinJ]

Impressive!

I just ran my dad's old photo through an online colouriser. The results are obviously nowhere near as good but it is interesting to see the difference...

 

[figbat]

The only other things I would call a hobby are photography and horse riding, although I haven’t really spent time doing either for ages.

I studied photography ’O’-level and worked in a camera shop (remember those?!) for years. I have a half-decent selection of DSLRs, lenses, accessories etc and a few images of the many thousand I have taken I am proud of. I had a picture printed on the front page of the Chichester Chronicle once. I also have a precious film SLR which hasn’t been out in years plus a darkroom setup in boxes in the loft.

Horses - I learnt as a kid and was regularly riding until I left home for university. I came back to it mid-20s and managed to win a national show jumping championship. Then life took over but I’m still close to horses - my parents have owned horses all the time - the most successful was one that I was first to ride; he went as far as 3* eventing (Blenheim Horse Trials) with a professional rider. My wife learnt to ride and both kids have a weekly lesson - we ride as a family on occasion, most recently on a trek on Exmoor.

 

[biking_fox]

I used to do quite a bit of caving in the early 90's. Great fun !

If your know Darfar* Pot in the Manifold Valley, I was one of the team that found the upper entrance. Other than that it was mostly sporting trips. One of the guys I caved with became a cave diver of some renown , shudder !

*Choose your own spelling for this one.

Another caver here, although I probably spend more time climbing which I do as 'training'. Cycling is very much a transport option for me although I do enjoy a long ride too. (Stories of the 60s cavers biking over the fells with all their kit to do a proper hard trip and then biking home again show just how soft I am in comparison).

Given how niche caving is, this is quite a high turnout! I've not been in Darfar but know of it.

Also reading, cooking, gardening

 

[Distorted Vision]

Impressive!

I just ran my dad's old photo through an online colouriser. The results are obviously nowhere near as good but it is interesting to see the difference...

View attachment 660809

Which website did you use? I want to try it on photos of my father when he was officer in the army.

 

[fossyant]

Oh hell no. Unless your hifi amp is pulling well north of 500W, there's not even the possibility of that making a difference. My Markbass bass amp was rated at 500W RMS output flat out. That sort of thing does require a decent mains lead, but that's all. This hifi overkill is sheerest twaddle, not backed up by any physics whatever.

You'd be lucky to afford to run a fancy amp now !

 

[vickster]

If I hadn't just bought my new Colnago, I could have bought this for the amp in my hifi:

https://www.futureshop.co.uk/quantum-science-audio-silver-extreme-level-uk-13a-fuse

I can just imagine Vickster spitting out her tea when she opens that link.

Wtaf has it got to do with me? 🤷‍♀️ It’s your money to spend on whatever you want

I don’t even know what the point of that thing is

 

[Bonefish Blues]

Me, fish, Ezzard, Great Inagua 😊

 

[ColinJ]

Which website did you use? I want to try it on photos of my father when he was officer in the army.

Img2Go. It was the first free one that I found.

 

[Jody]

The current fixations are:

Japanese Maples - in general but soon to be trying my hand at bonsai
PC gaming (sim racing VR or VR in general)
DJing - A recent delve back in given that I got rid of my decks back in the late 90's