The Avengers movie wreckage on East Ninth Street in Cleveland, Ohio
There was carnage all over East Ninth Street this week after several explosions rocked downtown Cleveland – rattling office windows and the nerves of the workers within. But fear not, Captain America was on the scene to restore calm.
Unless you've been hiding under a rock the past few weeks, you've heard how the filming of the latest Marvel Studios production – The Avengers – has transformed parts of Cleveland into New York City. Unfortunately, it has unintentionally brought some of New York’s traffic gridlock to the area with the closing of East Ninth Street between Prospect and Euclid Avenues. Local authorities expect that portion of the street to be closed for about a month of filming.
More “The Avengers” movie wreckage on East Ninth Street in Cleveland, Ohio
Nevertheless, many Cleveland area Marvel comic book fans are in “seventh heaven” as they get to see a real live action film being made in their hometown.
The Avengers is scheduled to be released in the U.S. on May 4, 2012 – about 10 days after it’s world premier in France.
Have you seen The Avengers filming in the Cleveland area? Did you snap any photos or make a video? Did you get stuck in traffic because of street closures around town? Please leave your comments on this post.
Dare2Care of Cleveland staged a flash mob at a park at West 25th and Lorain to raise awareness against bullying.
They danced to Abba's “Dancing Queen.” The group was suppose to perform at the West Side Market but was bumped to the park so market vendors could service their Easter customers.
The "Supermoon" - seen in the top photo after manipulation in Photoshop to help the background appear more visible than the orignal photo shown at bottom.
The moon hasn't been this close to the earth since 1992.
Because the moon’s orbit around the earth is oval, it is sometimes closer to the earth and other times – it’s farther away.
Last night, it appeared larger and brighter than normal earning the name “Supermoon.”
Although Supermoons have a slightly stronger pull on the earth's tides, NASA states that last night's event did not cause the earth quake and tsunami in Japan.
I took this photo at Huntington Beach in Bay Village – looking east toward Cleveland and Lake Erie.
Upon returning home, I adjusted the contrast and brightness of the original image in Photoshop to better show the size of the moon in relation to the city in the background.
The actual size of the moon was not altered in these photos.
There were several “moon seekers” at the beach – observing and photographing this amazing phenomena.
Before-and-after restoration of a flood damaged baby photo by SpectraLight Photography
With the recent flooding in Northeast Ohio and possibly more high water on the way, I decided to put together several tips to save water-damaged, heirloom photos.
When floods and fires hit, most people don't grieve losing a stove or couch. It’s the loss of valued family photos, scrapbooks and memorabilia that makes them cry. Living in North Ridgeville and seeing how hard the residents were hit was a real “eye-opener.” It motivated me to do some research and put together a guide to help flood victims save their photos.
When facing piles of soggy, mud-spattered photos and other valuables – saving them may be possible by using some of following tips.
Carefully extract photos from muddy water. Remove photos from soaked albums and separate any that are stuck together. Be careful not to rub or touch the wet surface on the image side of the photos.
Gently rinse both sides of the photo in a sink filled with clear, cold water. Again, don't wipe the image side of the photos. Be sure to change the water often.
If you have time and space, immediately lay each washed photo – picture side up – on clean blotting paper like paper towels. Don't use newspapers or printed paper towels because the ink from those materials may transfer to your wet photos. Change the blotting paper every hour or two until the photos are dry. It is best to dry the photos indoors if possible because wind and sun will cause photos to curl more severely.
Save money with a company that allows you to back-up your files online to secure web servers.
See an affordable photo restoration software that will help you fix your photos on your computer.
Buy archival storage products for your photos.
More photography related resources to be added as I discover them.
As a photo restoration specialist, I combine today's digital technology with old-fashioned artistry to repair worn, stained, spotted, torn, cracked, bleached and faded photographs to their original luster. Digital restoration costs have been reduced to at least half of what they used to be and the quality has improved substantially!
See samples of badly faded or damaged photos and how they look after restoration here. You will be amazed with the results.
Learn about our photo restoration services here. Get our FREE guide with tips for saving water or flood-damaged photos here. See a photo restored in a high-speed video here. Read our photo restoration FAQs that may answer questions pertaining to your faded or damaged photograph here.
Do you have damaged, faded or crumbling photos representing an important part of your family history? Don't give up on them just yet – they may be recoverable! For a no-cost, no-obligation appointment to examine your photographs and receive a quote – contact us TODAY through this link or call 440.748.6300… BEFORE it's too late. (NOTE: This is a landline so text messages won't come through.)
Have you have a personal experience with photos damaged by a flood? Why did you have them restored? To preserve a special memory? To remember a special family member? Please share your story with a comment, here.
A new conspiracy theory spreading throughout Northeast Ohio is that Cleveland's legendary meteorologist Dick Goddard used his “mystical powers” to summon the huge snow storm that has buried the area.
Thursday marked Goddard's 80th birthday so rumor has it that he wanted it to be remembered for the blizzard that hit the area late last night and extending through this morning.
Happy birthday Dick – and thank you for all you do for the animals!
************************
The photo of Dick Goddard in the snow was created by placing his portrait (bottom left) over the photo of the snow gnome (bottom right). I then erased part of his portrait so that it just covered the snow gnome’s face. All this was done in Adobe Photoshop but can be achieved in many other less expensive photo editing programs.
Mark Madere of SpectraLight Photography shows a before-and-after example of how two separate pictures of a man and a woman can be digitally combined to create a new photograph depicting them as a couple.
On February 21st – amid blustery weather conditions, 14 people made their way to the North Ridgeville Library to see my special presentation: “Photo Restoration – The Art and Science of Resurrecting Damaged and Faded Photographs.”
The presentation was sponsored by the North Ridgeville Arts Council and was open to the community. I covered the causes of damage and fading to photographs and how to avoid it. There were several before-and-after photos showing how pictures that were once unsalvageable using old restoration techniques can now be restored to their original glory with “digital magic.”
A special thank you to Alan Willoughby who e-mailed the following comment: “Janet and I enjoyed your photo restoration presentation at the Arts Council meeting on Monday evening. It was time well spent despite the snow.”
I am available to speak to other groups or clubs on this topic. Just comment on this post or contact me here.
Learn about our photo restoration services here. Get our FREE guide with tips for saving water or flood-damaged photos here. See a photo restored in a high-speed video here. Read our photo restoration FAQs that may answer questions pertaining to your faded or damaged photo here.
Have you had a damaged or faded photograph restored? Why did you have it restored? To preserve a special memory? To remember a special family member? Please share your story with a comment, below.
Before and after restoration photos show show how badly damaged pictures can be restored to their original glory.
A couple weeks ago, I had the pleasure of presenting, “Photo Restoration – The Art and Science of Resurrecting Damaged and Faded Photographs” to members of the North Ridgeville Arts Council and the community.
The presentation covered what causes damage and fading to photographs and how to avoid it. There were several before-and-after photos showing pictures that were once unsalvageable using old restoration techniques that can now be restored to their original glory with “digital magic.”
Learn about our photo restoration services here. Get our FREE guide with tips for saving water or flood-damaged photos here. See a photo restored in a high-speed video here. Read our photo restoration FAQs that may answer questions pertaining to your faded or damaged photo here.
Have you had a damaged or faded photograph restored? Why did you have it restored? To preserve a special memory? To remember a special family member? Please share your story with a comment, below.
I grew up 30 just minutes from Punxsy but never experienced the fun and festivities of Punxsutawney Phil and Groundhog Day.
In 2003, I decided to document all the crazy activities surrounding this world renown occasion. This video captures the residence of Phil (the Punxsy library), the members of the Inner Circle with their top hats and tuxedos and photos of the news media from around the world. Even Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell got it on the action!
You'll also witness Phil's wedding chapel where couples actually get married to coincide with Groundhog Day, Phil-themed games for the kiddies, vendors selling groundhog mementos, ice sculpture and wood carving contests and even a 5K race.
The last photo in the video is a three story groundhog located next to a burger joint on the edge of town!
Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney is a “must-see” event that will warm your heart.
Have you ever been to Punxsutawney to see whether Phil would see his shadow? If not, do you think you'll ever make the trip? Please share your thoughts with a comment here.
February 2nd – the magical day when the world’s attention turns to a little town in western Pennsylvania where an over sized rodent predicts whether spring will arrive early.
I had the opportunity to witness the fun and festivities in 2003. My goal was to capture the essence of the celebration in just one photograph. A monumental task when you discover all the cool things going on around Punxsy (that’s what the locals call their town) during the week surrounding the great prognostication (prediction).
Although I created a photo that captures the spirit of the day; it required three different photos blended together in Photoshop to create the image seen here. I first took the photo of local high school boys on stage as they “entertained” the 25,000 spectators at Gobbler's Knob. About 18 minutes later – the fireworks were set off. In fact, the fireworks were in a different part of the sky – not over the stage. After I overlaid the fireworks over the boys, I had to digitally “erase” some of the fireworks so they wouldn’t appear to be exploding right in front the boys.
This year's festivities may be the best yet as they celebrate their 125th “Groundhog Day.” For more information, visit the official Groundhog Day website.
As a side note, I found that battling the photographers who came from around the world for best photo position was worse than photographing Jimmy Carter's arrival in Cleveland for the Presidential Debates in 1980!
