Yes, Kelly found a stack of old negatives, and I’m back at it. These days, I basically have the scanner running whenever I’m at the computer. I load up the negative carrier, preview scan a bunch of images, and final scan the best ones. The process is time-consuming, but my new computer is fast enough that I can now run the scanner software in the background pretty much no matter what I’m doing, which is sometimes quite a lot. So, in an evening I can now get 6 or 8 scans done – sometimes without even having to reboot. Yay Windows!

So, I have this shot of Dave that is much taller than it is wide, but man, it looks really nice if you happen to have a your 1600×1200 pixel display in portrait orientation. So there ya go.

Our foodie friends Jim and Wendy dropped in while celebrating 25 years of wedded bliss. Congratulations to both of you, and thanks for giving us a reason to visit some of the best the Bay Area has to offer. I’m full now.

Thanks, Dave for sending this shot of Lori & Pat’s tree. What’s that then, a maple? Is this tree in Lyons, Wisconsin? Who are Lori and Pat?

Kerry and Matt paid a visit to the Bay Area. We spent a few food-filled days traveling up and down the coast. I will be posting more pictures as soon as possible!

Once in a while a friend sends a photo that amazes me. Dave was practicing with his new camera, and managed to capture this cool image of googly-eyed puppies going crazy in the Wisconsin snow.

Dave, I’d say this picture proves that some pet-owners do look just like their pets! :)

Welcome! You certainly picked a gorgeous day to fly in to Oakland.

Thanks, Bob for the very cool shots!

A few years ago, my best man Steve and I split the cost of a Nikon film scanner. I figured I’d spend a few days scanning the best of the thousands of slides and negatives I have scattered around. Well, this little project has grown into a monster. I’ve been scanning on and off for the better part of three years, and I’m no where near done.

The main reason my project has grown so time-consuming is the amount time it takes to get a good scan. Initially, I cut corners and scanned at lower resolutions or lower bit-depth or even skipped a preview scan. Now I know that attempting to save time in this way a very bad idea. There is no way around the fact that every image must be preview scanned and adjusted individually. Also, there are several scanning options which must be enabled to get the best results. Doing this causes the amount of time per scan to increase dramatically. A single 35 mm slide now takes about 15-20 minutes to scan. My 6 x 7 cm images will take three or four times that. And that’s before they even get opened in PhotoShop, which can easily add another hour or two to the process.

So now, in addition to the slides and negatives that have not yet been scanned, I have to go back and re-scan a buttload of images. This may not be as bad as it sounds though. It turns out that the scanner is perfectly happy scanning in the background. Even on my lowly pee see, I can color-correct and dust-spot an image in PhotoShop, and make an entry on my blog while the scanner hums away on another decades-old image.

You never know what you’ll find. I had a few spare moments this rainy Saturday afternoon, and decided to take up my scanning project again. It didn’t take long to find something fun and timely. These old slides were in the first box I opened. I’m sure Jim will love these! Ha!

Food has always played a big role in our lives. Jim’s annual pig roast was one of the best-tasting events of the Wisconsin summer. What fun. Thanks for the memories, Jim!

I’ve been too busy to post anything in such a long time. Then, my pal Dave sent these images from Wisconsin. Seems the snow on his truck either slid or was blown into this amazing magic snow carpet. How cool is that?!?

I didn’t think I was taking enough pictures on my recent short trip to the Midwest – probably because I was so busy consuming everything from a deep-fried “onion brick” at The Hub to Wendy’s amazingly decadent molten truffle dessert. Oh. My. God. Most people probably don’t think of a trip to Wisconsin as a culinary treat. These people don’t know my friends.

I didn’t take a single picture of the fall colors, and for that I have no good excuse. I guess I was feeling lazy. Sorry. But I did get to see some things I had never seen before – like the stunning Milwaukee Art Museum (beautiful!) and the Miller Brewery. (Miller Lite does NOT taste this good.)

A huge thanks to my fabulous hosts, Uncle Steve and Caesar, Jim, Wendy Rowe and the dogs, Mark, Ann and Lexy, Nancy and Cindy. Thanks for all the great food and memories. I had a wonderful time. Check out a few more shots from my week-long binge here.

You gotta love the Internet. This week it helped bring me back together with my roommate from 27 years ago. We exchanged a few e-mails and I learned that my old friend Rob Espinosa would be performing today at the Novato Art and Wine Festival.

Kelly and I watched Rob play with the David LaFlamme band – formerly It’s a Beautiful Day. Those of you who remember Rob from the days that we lived together on Conkey street would instantly recognize him – especially when he’s on stage clowning around and flashing that trademark grin. Oh – and he still plays his guitar fabulously. Rob is leaving soon for the east coast performing with a Summer of Love 40 Year Reunion Tour where he’ll be playing with the likes of Jefferson Airplane and Big Brother and the Holding Company! Awesome!

Rob, it’s really great to hook up with with you again and to meet your wife Nancy! It’s especially cool to discover that you live just an hour away in Santa Cruz! Let’s fire up that hot tub and barbecue grill when you get home. We’ll bring the wine!