Matching the aspect of ancient photographs.

In article , Peter Jason wrote:

Sandman:
Given the fact that the OP didn't post a picture of the old photo,
any recipients of his message isn't likely to be able to help
with figuring out where the camera was exactly. I read his post
as more of a general question about how to closely resemble the
position of the original photo. He even states that he is
accepting a margin of error, so it's unlikely he's trying to make
a 1:1 copy.

Which brings us back to full circle - my suggestion was to stand
as close as possible to the original position, take a slightly
wider shot of the scene and fix any perspective difference in
post.

Here's a typical photo taken in the late 70s.
http://i57.tinypic.com/mwe1z7.jpg I will take a few random shots to
see what happens. The original camera is lost.

That shouldn't be a problem. Just use a ~50mm lens, stand in the same
intersection, and make sure to take a slightly wider shot. Then, if you have
Photoshop:

1. Overlay the new on the old
2. Set opacity of the new photo layer to 50%
3. Use Free transform to match some central feature of the old to the new, like
the corner of the main building
4. Pressing alt and shift, grab one of the selection corners and resize the new
photo to roughly match the features of the old
5. If not good enough, then use perspective warp, draw at least two planes (one
along the right side of the building, one along the left side, make sure it
follows the perspective of the new photo closely
6. Go into warp mode and then drag these corners to line up the perspective as
closely as possible.

Why 50mm? Well, that's a rough estimate based on the picture, also it is by far
the most common focal length. Seeing how this is a B&W photo from the 70's and
it's probably not an instamatic photo, I would assume it was taken by an SLR, and
the most common focal length was 50mm, especially for a more or less regular joe
kind of guy.

All guesses, of course.

--
Sandman

In article ,
Sandman wrote:

In article , Peter Jason wrote:

Sandman:
Given the fact that the OP didn't post a picture of the old photo,
any recipients of his message isn't likely to be able to help
with figuring out where the camera was exactly. I read his post
as more of a general question about how to closely resemble the
position of the original photo. He even states that he is
accepting a margin of error, so it's unlikely he's trying to make
a 1:1 copy.

Which brings us back to full circle - my suggestion was to stand
as close as possible to the original position, take a slightly
wider shot of the scene and fix any perspective difference in
post.

Here's a typical photo taken in the late 70s.
http://i57.tinypic.com/mwe1z7.jpg I will take a few random shots to
see what happens. The original camera is lost.

That shouldn't be a problem. Just use a ~50mm lens, stand in the same
intersection, and make sure to take a slightly wider shot. Then, if you have
Photoshop:

1. Overlay the new on the old
2. Set opacity of the new photo layer to 50%
3. Use Free transform to match some central feature of the old to the new,
like
the corner of the main building
4. Pressing alt and shift, grab one of the selection corners and resize the
new
photo to roughly match the features of the old
5. If not good enough, then use perspective warp, draw at least two planes
(one
along the right side of the building, one along the left side, make sure it
follows the perspective of the new photo closely
6. Go into warp mode and then drag these corners to line up the perspective
as
closely as possible.

Why 50mm? Well, that's a rough estimate based on the picture, also it is by
far
the most common focal length. Seeing how this is a B&W photo from the 70's
and
it's probably not an instamatic photo, I would assume it was taken by an SLR,
and
the most common focal length was 50mm, especially for a more or less regular
joe
kind of guy.

All guesses, of course.

A wider shot from the same position would indicate that 35-40mm focal
length on the zoom would be a better choice. To be cropped later of
course.
--
teleportation kills

In article ,
Sandman wrote:

In article , android wrote:

Peter Jason:
I have some old photos of my locality going
back about 70 years.

I want to compare these old scenes with their modern
equivalents.

How does one position a camera (and lens) to match the
ancient scenes so that the old & current images are
superimposable (or nearly so).

Peter

Sandman:
You take a wider shot and then crop.

android:
Good advice. Nice Sandy!

Sandman:
I know.

And you've never manage to stop hitting your wife!

See why you are on the troll list?

Because you're in denial?

Sandman:
Photoshop can help you fix perspective differences as
well,

android:
Not true

Sandman:
Incorrect.

True!

It is true that your claim was incorrect, yes.

No, and you keep snipping helpful information!

but the closer you are to the same spot when you take
the pic, the better.

android:
Stating the obvious... Helpful Sandy!

Sandman:
That was in relation to fixing the perspective in post, just to
make sure that the OP didn't step back thirty meters and takes a
wider shot to find that he has a larger perspective difference
than can be fixed in post to a satisfactory degree.

No need to make excuses.

Indeed, which is why no excuses were provided.

There sure was. They were obvious but implicit. Cant you read your own
posts???

That was good advice. He could have
accidentally stepped into a pool of quicksand and drowned. Not the
nicest way to go, me thinks... Caring Sandy!

Android, keep on trolling. It's what you do best, after all.

That's a lame thing to say just then I found something nice to say about
you! :-p
--
teleportation kills

In article , android wrote:

Sandman:
Photoshop can help you fix perspective
differences as well,

android:
Not true

Sandman:
Incorrect.

android:
True!

Sandman:
It is true that your claim was incorrect, yes.

No

Incorrect.

Sandman:
Indeed, which is why no excuses were provided.

There sure was.

Incorrect.

android:
That was good advice. He could have accidentally stepped into a
pool of quicksand and drowned. Not the nicest way to go, me
thinks... Caring Sandy!

Sandman:
Android, keep on trolling. It's what you do best, after all.

That's a lame thing to say just then I found something nice to say
about you! :-p

Regardless, it is what you do best.


--
Sandman

In article ,
Sandman wrote:

In article , android wrote:

Sandman:
Photoshop can help you fix perspective
differences as well,

Incorrect.

That's a lame thing to say just then I found something nice to say
about you! :-p

Regardless, it is what you do best.

It's now obvious that you have a mushy sponge brain replacement. A drop
in, the clued in would say...
--
teleportation kills

In article , android wrote:

Sandman:
Photoshop can help you fix perspective
differences as well,

Incorrect.

android:
That's a lame thing to say just then I found something nice to
say about you! :-p

Sandman:
Regardless, it is what you do best.

It's now obvious that you have a mushy sponge brain replacement. A
drop in, the clued in would say...

See what I mean?

--
Sandman

In article ,
Sandman wrote:

It's now obvious that you have a mushy sponge brain replacement. A
drop in, the clued in would say...

See what I mean?

Hows your health insurance? I've heard that some insurers only give you
one mushy spongy brain replacement... And yours seem to near it's "end
of life"! :-))
--
teleportation kills

In article , android wrote:

In article
,

android:
It's now obvious that you have a mushy sponge brain replacement.
A drop in, the clued in would say...

Sandman:
See what I mean?

Hows your health insurance? I've heard that some insurers only give
you one mushy spongy brain replacement... And yours seem to near
it's "end of life"! :-))

See what I mean? You just can't help yourself.

--
Sandman

In article , Andreas Skitsnack wrote:

Sandman:
Given the fact that the OP didn't post a picture of
the old photo, any recipients of his message isn't likely to
be able to help with figuring out where the camera was
exactly. I read his post as more of a general question about
how to closely resemble the position of the original photo. He
even states that he is accepting a margin of error, so it's
unlikely he's trying to make a 1:1 copy.

Which brings us back to full circle - my suggestion was to
stand as close as possible to the original position, take a
slightly wider shot of the scene and fix any perspective
difference in post.

Peter Jason:
Here's a typical photo taken in the late 70s.
http://i57.tinypic.com/mwe1z7.jpg I will take a few random shots
to see what happens. The original camera is lost.

Sandman:
That shouldn't be a problem. Just use a ~50mm lens, stand in the
same intersection, and make sure to take a slightly wider shot.
Then, if you have Photoshop:

1. Overlay the new on the old
2. Set opacity of the new photo layer to 50%
3. Use Free transform to match some central feature of the old to the new,
like the corner of the main building
4. Pressing alt and shift, grab one of the selection corners and resize the
new photo to roughly match the features of the old
5. If not good enough, then use perspective warp, draw at least two planes
(one along the right side of the building, one along the left side, make sure
it follows the perspective of the new photo closely
6. Go into warp mode and then drag these corners to line up the perspective
as closely as possible.

The above is basically the same the same as what I suggested a
couple of days ago. A little more detailed, but the same approach.

Nice. Didn't you also say it was almost impossible to find the original spot as
well?

I did add that a series of shots from various positions could be
done. This could minimize the need of extensive adjustments in
perspective appearance by finding the best fit by trial and error.

You could get lucky, of course, but there will always be perspective differences
unless you stand at the exact spot using the exact same focal length.

This technique will work best when there is part or all of the
original structure, or some other object, in the location. That's
not always the case when showing a "Then" and "Now" comparison of a
location. If the scene is completely different, approximating the
original photographer's specific position is less important.


--
Sandman

In article ,
Sandman wrote:

In article , android wrote:

In article
,

android:
It's now obvious that you have a mushy sponge brain replacement.
A drop in, the clued in would say...

Sandman:
See what I mean?

Hows your health insurance? I've heard that some insurers only give
you one mushy spongy brain replacement... And yours seem to near
it's "end of life"! :-))

See what I mean? You just can't help yourself.

I just care... Do need help with some forms or something?
--
teleportation kills