Monday, February 9, 2009

Some family photos

It's a little chilly today. Our cat, Pipa, really loves the propane heater. We've had our ups and downs out here but the cats have been consistantly happy. They loved it here from day one.

Sheryl really loves the local antique store/soda fountain, but we aren't eating out much anymore because we're 30 minutes from town-- and the last four miles of that are dirt roads. Saves us a little money being homebodies. Most days I like the simplicity and the necessity of self reliance.

This is a partial copy of a family portrait taken in 1905 in Missouri. That's Arlene Gibbany, my Aunt, on the far left at age 15 with her dog on the side saddle. Then there's my Great Grandfather and Great Grandmother holding my grandmother (age two.) This is just a small portion of a truly remarkable large format photograph. Those specks are surface dust which I failed to wipe off before taking this macro shot out on the front porch. The print itself is just amazing, wish I knew the name of the photographer. I keep staring at the photo, and I've taken the magnifying glass to it. To truly capture the quality of this print I'd need about 100 megapixels I'm guessing: there are other family members, the entire two-story house, a lot of sky and foreground too in the original photograph. Wow. Makes me want a large format 8 by 10 box camera. . . sort of; not sure I'd have the patience for the procedure(s). Sometimes I think about all the stuff that wasn't around in 1905, no cars, Tv nor widespread radio, just about everything was done by hand or by horse. What a different life it must have been.

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