Dry Plate Restorations | Cowboy on a Cliff This cowboy is holding his hat over his six-shooter and holster. Perhaps, he’s looking over the herd of cattle he is driving to market. As you can see, the image is overexposed in the background. For the whole story and all 7 images, see 5×7 Dry Plate Restorations | a 7 Image Story.
5×7 Dry Plate Restorations | River Canoeing This image appears to be from a nice river in the northern Midwest state; probably Wisconsin or Minnesota. For the whole story and all 7 images, see 5×7 Dry Plate Restorations | a 7 Image Story.
5×7 Dry Plate Restorations | Lake Excursion This boat excursion was on a large lake boat capable of handling the Great Lakes. The image also appears to have been taken in the early 1900s. Notice the clothes; quite fashionable for 1900. Back then, people dressed up to travel. It was a slower, gentler time. For the whole story and all 7 images, see 5×7 Dry Plate Restorations | a 7 Image Story.
5×7 Dry Plate Restorations | July 4th Parade This 5×7 dry plate image appears to be a summer parade, probably the 4th of July, marching down a dirt street somewhere in small town USA. From the dress of the band and the onlookers, the image was captured sometime in the early 1900s. Also, notice the horses hitched to a wagon near the windmill. From the other pictures in the box of dry plates, the town is likely in the upper Midwest like Wisconsin, Minnesota, or Michigan. For the whole story and all 7 images, see 5×7 Dry Plate Restorations | a 7 Image Story.
5×7 Dry Plate Restorations | Imperial Junior Camera 5×7 dry plate cameras were popular with photographers during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Based upon the camera type and patent for the shutter/lens, this camera was likely manufactured in 1902 by the Imperial Camera Company of La Crosse, WI; using a Wollensak Optical Company lens and shutter mechanism. It’s a beautiful wooden 4×5 camera with a brass lens and leather casing. A 5×7 dry plate camera, similar to this one, produced the restored photographs in this week’s: 5×7 Dry Plate Restorations | a 7 Image Story.
5×7 Dry Plate Restorations | a 7 Image Story 5×7 dry plates were popular with photographers during the late 1800s and early 1900s. This story started for me after I went to an estate sale where I bought a 5×7 view camera in very good condition and a box of exposed 5×7 plates. After realizing the 5×7 negative dry plates could be scanned, I began a project to scan and restore print images from the 5×7 dry plate negatives. Remember, these are 5″ x 7″ negatives capable of yielding very large prints. The substrate of the dry plate is glass where proper handling becomes very important.
The six images chosen from the box of exposed 5×7 dry plates were the best of the lot. My instinct tells me that this box was a box of the photographer’s throwaways. Several of the dry plates restored into decent images; several did not. Restoration time for each image was significant. Actually, the restoration completed thus far allows me to post these images, but is not thorough enough for larger prints. To learn more about the restoration process, see 5×7 Dry Plate | a 7 Image Story.
Imperial Junior Camera Based upon the camera type, Imperial Junior Camera, and patent for the shutter/lens, this camera was likely manufactured in 1902 by the Imperial Camera Company of La Crosse, WI; using a Wollensak Optical Company lens and shutter mechanism. It’s a beautiful wooden 4×5 camera with a brass lens and leather casing. A 5×7 dry plate camera, similar to this one, produced the restored photographs in this week’s images.
July 4th Parade This 5×7 dry plate image appears to be a summer parade, probably the 4th of July, marching down a dirt street somewhere in small town USA. From the dress of the band and the onlookers, the image was captured sometime in the early 1900s. Also, notice the horses hitched to a wagon near the windmill. From the other pictures in the box of dry plates, the town is likely in the upper Midwest like Wisconsin, Minnesota, or Michigan.
Lake Excursion The boat excursion was on a large lake boat capable of handling the Great Lakes. The image also appears to have been taken in the early 1900s. Notice the clothes; quite fashionable for 1900. Back then, people dressed up to travel. It was a slower, gentler time.
River Canoeing Even river canoeing down a nice river in a northern Midwest state, probably Wisconsin or Minnesota, reminds us of a slower pace.
Cowboy on a Cliff This cowboy is holding his hat over his six-shooter and holster. Perhaps, he’s looking over the herd of cattle he is driving to market. As you can see, the image is overexposed in the background.
Cattle Round Up Looks like an old fashion cattle round-up to me; complete with cow ponies, wranglers, and chuck wagon. Since there are no mountains, this image was likely taken in the Great Plains or Midwest.
Each image will be posted individually this week with a bit more narrative under category 5×7 Dry Plate Restorations.
Click any image below for a slide show!
