23: Loch Scavaig, Black Cuillins, Skye. Scanned slide

Loch Scavaig, Black Cuillins, Skye. Scanned slide

22 comments so far...

Andy Rodker September 09, 2017, 04:22 PM

Shot taken on September 3, 1978. A climbing holiday in the Cuillins. We stayed here (just out of shot) at the JMCS (Junior Mountaineering Club of Scotland) climbing hut. One of three late 70s stays here. We managed to complete the Ridge but not in one go. It took several visits each time to do it. Quite a few days were spent cooped up inside the hut due to appalling weather. Annoyingly my photos have in the main disappeared or become degraded over time with the exception of a very few such as this.

Fizgig September 09, 2017, 10:18 PM

Beautiful scene with the boat 'n' all....

raingirl September 10, 2017, 05:09 AM

Wow. The boat looks like a miniature compared to that scene. No wonder it took more than on go to get up the Ridge.

What a great experience that must have been. I'd love to go to Skye one day, bad weather and all!

Andy Rodker September 10, 2017, 07:20 AM

Thank you, Fizgig!

Andy Rodker September 10, 2017, 07:24 AM

Thank you, Laura.
Well, The Cuillin Ridge is one of the most famous walks / climbs in Britain; the closest we get to Alpine conditions. It is a long and arduous horseshoe. Unfortunately all my photos from the ridge itself are too poor or have become too degraded for me even to try and edit them to get satisfactory versions! :o(

HerbRiddle September 10, 2017, 07:54 AM

Another great scene. You done well with the colours here Andy, many of my 11,000? had faded or at least showed colour shift on scanning.
From what I hear, you will need to book years in advance to get on Skye in a bit, as there are so many tourist going. Maybe I will post some more of my slides here on 23 myself soon. Look forward to seeing more of yours.
Cheers, Herb

Andy Rodker September 10, 2017, 08:33 AM

Thank you, Herb.
Alas I have only a couple of others!! I didn't really take too many photos in those days - not many people did with film being expensive!
Sadly, most of the slides weren't able to be rescued. Unfortunately the plastic box covers had come lose after 35 years or more and they were 20 years in my bedroom in Cornwall which was unheated in winter and very damp (I only stayed there for a couple of summer weeks every year). In addition the room was in the attic which is a 'flying freehold' meaning it extends over the neighbouring property and for many years they has a coal fire where the soot and smoke penetrated my bedroom and got into everything. A combination of this and the damp I think was fatal for my slides (and also for quite a few prints).
Well that is my best guess!

HerbRiddle September 10, 2017, 10:46 AM

Ah, what a pity Andy. My slides, in comparison must be in much better condition then. They go back to 1974 and went more numerous as I earned more money. Fortunately they were always kept tight in their boxes and in a dry place. I still have most of them all, even though I have scanned them all during a big project soon after my retirement.
Andy - I have just re-found my old Wheal Coates pictures and so have posted them here for your enjoyment!
Cheers, Herb

Andy Rodker September 10, 2017, 03:54 PM

I see, Herb! Well, I will enjoy looking at your Wheal Coates picture in a second!
Brest wishes,
Andy

Sonja September 11, 2017, 11:39 AM

Nice shot!

I guess most of us got those issues with the developed film footage of old.
Just some other sort of legacy promise that was not held for more than a few decades, all those in retrospective way to expensive and not well working storage systems! My dad's slides from my childhood are meanwhile in an unbelievable bad state, due to foam layers in the plastic storage boxes that had a text included long ago, they would forever protect them so well, they need not to be stored in a special climate. They disintegrated, and glued the frames together into a mess and also accumulated condensing water.
My american negatives from 1994 to 2003 sitting in their original Kodak envelopes are not exactly the hit either when it comes to retaining information and staing straiht and supple. At least no framing means less handling. But I am still less than thrilled by the scans compared to my newer digital shots.

HerbRiddle September 11, 2017, 12:44 PM

Hi Sonja, I have had some trouble too with a few glass slides and the some left in special slide wooden boxed lined with foam. Once the glass mounted slides get contaminated they are useless and of course in my case, there were many of my best slides. I hope you realise too that our digital photos are not as well future proofed as we think either. My first CD's and DVD's full of stored photos in their original jpg form have stopped working as the coatings have worn, having only been assessed once or twice over many years and I've had at least 3 hard-disc containing backup photos give up too. You might think then, ah, my photo's are all safe on cloud storage such as here on 23hq. We only need to look at Googles, late Panoramio to see what can happen there too. Still there but almost inaccessible. Only the very old printed photos done with proper paper and chemicals then stored at their best have stood the test of time! Our modern ink-jet and laser photos loose their quality after months in some cases. Sonja & Andy enjoy whilst you can. The past is the past perhaps. Welcome to the present.
Regards, Herb

Andy Rodker September 11, 2017, 02:22 PM

Sonja,
Herb,
I expressed similar concerns on IP too and am getting some similar responses from there.
All my digital photos are stored in the cloud with Picasa. Recently I see that Picasa (owned by Google ,which I never knew) has been de-activated too. It seems I can access my photos and use the editing tool as I always did but Google will no longer support or upgrade the site. Will they maintain it and repair things if things go wrong I wonder?
Best wishes,
Andy

HerbRiddle September 11, 2017, 03:18 PM

Doubt it Andy. If you have not got those Picasa photos anywhere else, I would, in your case try to download them back into your computer and then stored somewhere else too. Keep the ones on Picasa but have a copy elsewhere. Fortunately I kept both the originals and also the uploaded copies of my Pano collection of nearly 1800 shots. I am still waiting to see my Pano photos copied or transferred to my Google+ account (almost redundant) by Google.
Cheers Herb

Andy Rodker September 11, 2017, 05:39 PM

Good advice, Herb. I have all my unedited digital photos on my external hard drive as well as the edited ones in the cloud with Picasa.
I too am waiting to for my Pano gallery to be transferred to Google +. I set up an account just for this and have never used it for anything else! (I don't even use Facebook except about twice a year when I have to for something work related - and it annoys me when that happens!).
Many thanks, Herb!

HerbRiddle September 11, 2017, 06:37 PM

Got to admit Andy, I did the same re Google+ and use Facebook only occasionally when I have to. I must admit to being kept busy enough on these photo sites. - Anyway -where were we!!
Herb :)

Sonja September 12, 2017, 12:39 PM

I know, Herb. I try to keep everything in several places, both the originals and the shrunk and improved versions of my better pics. But storage space is an issue, and then, I am not sure anyone cares a lot for my and Karl's memories. We do not have kids of our own, so in family history are only a periferal occurence, although sort of interesting in a fleeting way when it is convenient and someone is truly bored, there is nothing of importance as the old pics from the times when the wandering fotographer came through the village and took shots of the houses and lined up offspring of the families and those structures and faces got documented stiffly in black and white. That I am the one to credit with digitalizing and cleaning up those pics back when other, younger, computer using family members rather played with Super Mario and Kirby is probaply what will stay more interesting than having lived in assorted countries and having been on vacations and sunday walks. LOL

Andy Rodker September 13, 2017, 11:28 PM

Too many interesting (and serious) points you have raised here for a coherent response from me tonight Sonja. Will cogitate for a week or two and either reply with some words of wisdom, some nonsensical rubbish ... or self-combust in the process!

Sonja October 04, 2017, 11:14 AM

LOL -- Andy, it was not meant that gravely, it is just that I am currently really forced to downsizing and my drawers full of old Kodak envelopes seem no protectable value to anyone, so I wonder why I packed all that stuff out of the USA and paid for that when I got no nerves or extra time to scan any of it and my husband mostly marvels at the considerable weight and the space requirements of all that film and prints.
And then I was not even acting like a professional--wannabee back then. When serious nature photographers earning actually something with their stuff now and then encouraged me to take series instead of single shots I was just aghast at the costs, rarely took more than two or 3 pics at once, usually only one, and I still did pile up so much matter that is if obseved with some honesty and emotional distance only technical "special waste" with chemicals in it. :o(

Andy Rodker October 05, 2017, 04:10 PM

:o)
I THINK I understand most of what you say, Sonja!