image galleries Archives - Laughing Frog Images

Amtrak on the Northeast Corridor

Posted on June 23, 2015June 20, 2015 by Kurt

As I’ve been moving and organizing and backing up image files, I stumbled across some iPhone images of passenger railroading on the Northeast Corridor, and I’ll be adding a few small galleries to share images of how others travel and commute.

The first of these galleries will be of Amtrak.

Several of these images are instant history, as the 900-series AEM-7 locomotives are well into their 30’s and are being replaced by new locomotives.

The AEM-7 is based on the Swedish Rc4 locomotive design, and was produced by the Electro-Motive Division (EMD) of General Motors from 1978 to 1988. You can learn more about the AEM-7 on Wikipedia and also on Amtrak’s archives which also discuss Amtrak’s other electric locomotives. (Amtrak’s history website is well worth a visit on its’ own merits.)

If you’ve never been around trains powered by electric locomotives, it’s different because they’re quiet. Very quiet. If the engineer doesn’t blow the horn, sometimes your only clue is the sound of the wind created by the train. If the wind is blowing the sound the other way, you might not even get that. It’s actually pretty neat to experience it.

I often travel by Amtrak between work locations in CT, NJ and MD – it’s really the only way to go. Public transportation on the East Coast may not be perfect, but it’s pretty darned close if your basis for comparison is the Los Angeles area. The photo above was taken at the Newark International Airport Station (yes, we do have shreds of logic where different modes of transportation connect!).

Out here, the transportation planners seem to have figured out that it’s a good idea to put light rail transit (modern streetcars) in where they tore up the rails that carried passenger trains and electric streetcars long ago. As Homer Simpson would say, “Duh”. Makes you wonder why they tore up the rails in the first place, but don’t get me started…

So, if you’ve always wondered what the trains look like “over there” and you’re curious, waste a little time and head over to the Amtrak on the Northeast Corridor Gallery on Laughing Frog Images.

Enjoy!

Flasks Now Available!

Posted on June 15, 2015June 13, 2015 by Kurt

As part of our ongoing quest to have something available for everyone on Laughing Frog Images, we’re pleased to announce that seven ounce stainless steel flasks are now available!

Everyone has a favorite beverage, and this is a great way to enjoy it!

If you have to get someone a gift and you’re finding yourself giftipated (explained in a post last holiday shopping season), here’s something unique and different.

If you’ve got THAT family event, and feel like you need…. Well, we won’t go there, but hey – we’re trying to move product here!

Anyway, if for whatever reason a flask seems to be the thing for you or someone else, and you’d like to get that flask and make it special with an image of a train, lighthouse, or whatever, we invite you to shop the galleries on Laughing Frog Images and get the image you want the way you want it on a convenient seven ounce stainless steel flask.

So, how do you get this flask?

First, surf around the galleries on Laughing Frog Images. When you find that special image, simply click “Buy” up at the top and towards the right. You’ll see the following screen:

Click on the Flask at the bottom, follow the instructions to make it your own, and a few days later – enjoy your flask or see someone’s face erupt into a smile when they unwrap it.

Happy shopping!

Messy Birds, Happy Squirrel

Posted on June 13, 2015June 13, 2015 by Kurt

We have several feeders just outside of the kitchen table for our winged friends – suet, socks for the finches, and mixed seed for the masses.

The feeders serve as entertainment for the cats, and, I have to admit, me and my camera as well.

Occasionally, the birds are messy. Don’t know if it’s because they are digging for that special seed or what – the birds don’t say much to me.

However, when the birds are messy, someone else is happy – and that’s the squirrels. The birds’ mess means that they don’t have to do much to dine – they just have to show up.

Here’s Ethel posing for the camera while she takes a break from breakfast. Actually, I can’t tell you if Ethel is a he or a she, but there’s a story behind the name that the guy’s might appreciate.

We have two regular squirrel visitors, one has a healthy bushy tail – and has been given the name Ethel. The other one, well, it’s tail is kind of scraggly – proverbially speaking, like someone’s gone at it a bit. So, that’s Fred. If you don’t get the Fred and Ethel reference, you’re showing your youth, or you’ve never seen I Love Lucy…

This image of Ethel has been added to the “peaceful (for the most part) critters” gallery on Laughing Frog Images. Look for more of Fred and Ethel to be added over time.

Wander on into the image galleries on Laughing Frog Images for a while and take a break from reality, and who knows, get something for yourself or for someone who deserves something unique and different.

Enjoy!

The “Recent” Page (new feature!)

Posted on March 22, 2015March 21, 2015 by Kurt

Thanks to Michael at Visceral Concepts, the Laughing Frog Images web gallery and store has a new feature – the “Recent” page.

Somewhere out there, someone is saying “huh?”

There’s actually a very easy and logical answer to that question.

Until the addition of this page, a visitor or customer had no way of knowing what had been recently added to the Galleries on Laughing Frog Images unless I wrote a post about the new gallery or images that I had added to the site.

You’d all probably hate me if I wrote a post every time I added a picture to a gallery – this is a better way for everyone.

Now, by clicking on Recent at the top of the home page – you can easily see any gallery that’s been added, or that’s had images added to it.

We hope this new feature makes your viewing and shopping experiences more convenient and enjoyable.

Main Gallery Page Enhanced

Posted on December 27, 2014 by Kurt

One of the nice things about having some time to breathe is that you can actually sit and look at your website and say to yourself “what can I do to make it better?”

So, I did that. It’s been a while since I could really sit down and devote some time to the site.

And, knowing that exploring and reading can be dangerous, I proceeded accordingly and figured out that I could add a slide show to the main gallery page. So, I did!

The slide show is a collection of this-n-that, at least one image from every gallery in a random order. Trains. Planes. Rivers. Foliage. Maybe even a bear… Or an alligator…

It’s nice – because you don’t have to dig through galleries to find something if you’re not looking for anything in particular.

It’s nice – because you might see images you might not have known about or considered.

It’s nice – because seeing for yourself is the best advertising.

And everyone has wall space. Or needs a mug. Or needs a unique gift for someone. Or deserves to spoil themselves with something they want.

If you see something you like in the slide show, just click on the image and you’ll be taken to it. To restart the slide show, you have to go back to the main gallery page.

Check out the new main gallery page for yourself!

“Likes” and “Shares” are as always appreciated.

Don’t forget to backup regularly!

Posted on November 29, 2014 by Kurt

While you’re out and about supporting small businesses today like your local camera store or local computer store, here’s a suggestion for your shopping list: an external hard drive or two.

Don’t forget to backup regularly this holiday season and throughout the year!

Why am I reminding everyone of this?

Well, funny you should ask…

You might have noticed that we haven’t added any new galleries lately. There’s a reason for that… The Frog’s main computer is with the computer doctor now (Visceral Concepts also fixes those contraptions) because it has a case of gray screen. It turns on – Windows says it’s starting, and then it all goes gray… Likely a hardware problem, as a Windows problem usually is indicated by a case of blue screen. Neither one is usually good.

Anyway – this is about backing everything up.

I haven’t gotten to the point to where I have everything on the cloud. I’ve been doing things the old fashioned way with my images – external hard drives. The weekend before my computer died, I created two separate complete backups. All of the image libraries and galleries are safe.

As a matter of fact, I had everything backed up but one (1) file when things went south.

Yes, that one file was extremely important. Thanks for asking. It was a book that I’d been working on. I don’t know if that file is going to be recovered or if I get to start all over again. I should find that out today or tomorrow. (More to follow on the book, but not now.)

I handled it quite well. No outward signs of panic. No axe to the computer. I just stared at it for a while… The cats looked at me kind of funny, but then again that’s nothing unusual.

So, the moral of this story for all of you out there is don’t forget to backup regularly! Get a hard drive or two from a local small business, or start using a cloud service. Just don’t forget to backup regularly!

You never know when a problem is going to rear its’ ugly head.

Oh – and when you’re closing that one file that isn’t backed up, and that little voice in your head says “hey – maybe you should back that file up!” – and another voice says “it’s only one file – what could happen?” – listen to that first voice. If you’re wondering why I say that, well, I listened to the second little voice… I was almost done with the book.

Scanning 35mm Slides, Part 2

Posted on October 16, 2014October 12, 2014 by Kurt

Scanning 35mm slides – Part 2.

In Part 1, we talked about scanning a lot of slides. Thousands of them.

So, what if you don’t have thousands to scan?

You’ve got more options!

For one-off scanning 35mm slides, the Frog has a PrimeFilm 7200 from B&H (information at http://www.scanace.com). The PrimeFilm 7200 uses the same software as the Powerslide 5000 – so that was a major factor the purchase of this unit. I’m very happy with this unit – it’s got 7200 dpi resolution and can pull a little more detail out of the dark areas than the Powerslide 5000. It also scans negatives – but that’s another post.

Scans using CyberView or Vuescan software can take as little as five (5) minutes if they are run without the noise reduction and cleaning functions – but I’ve come to terms with waiting a little longer for the slide to be scanned and spending a lot less time cleaning up the final product. As much as you clean your slides before scanning, and as much as you think you do – it’s more amazing what shows up at 7200 dpi than what shows up at 5000 dpi!

The rest of this post is a review from Part 1. I was going to stop here, but since we’re talking about scanning slides from two different perspectives, I figured I’d leave it be. Consider it a review or reiteration of things to consider.

As discussed in Part 1, there are flatbed scanners out there on the market that can scan up to 20 slides at a time, as well as having the capability to scan documents, negatives and photographic prints. Some of these units can produce very high quality scans – and some simply can’t. These units range in price from $100 to $800. The main makers of these scanners are Espon, Canon, and Hewlett-Packard. Check out the reviews at places like Shutterbug magazine, B&H and Adorama for more information on these units.

There are also lower resolution units that, for lack of better words, take a picture of your slide and convert it to a jpeg image. They’re not scanners in the traditional sense, but converters. They’re inexpensive and fast to use, and they have their limitations. These units can be had from $50 to $150.

What’s right for you?

Well, the first question to ask yourself is “what do I want to do with my scans?” Your answer dictates what you need. Remember, you can always downsize your image, but you can never upsize your scan…

If you want to make 20″x30″ prints – think dpi, lots of dpi – 4800 dpi or more.

If you’re wanting to make 8″x12″ prints – 2400 dpi can work.

Just want to show them on your tablet, laptop, phone or TV? a converter type unit can work for you.

There are also slide scanning services that will scan your slides at varying resolutions for varying prices. They’re an option for you if you don’t have the time or don’t want to do it yourself.

Don’t forget to consult with your local camera store along the way!

Happy deliberating!

If you’ve got questions, post them in a comment and we’ll talk…

Scanning 35mm Slides, Part 1

Posted on October 13, 2014October 12, 2014 by Kurt

As I write this, I’m scanning 35mm slides from 1982. There are a several thousand 35mm slides awaiting their turn. It’s not a fast process – it could be faster, but let’s talk about it since I was asked about it a couple of weeks ago.

If you’ve got a few hundred slides to scan, or less, that’s not so bad – we’ll talk about that situation in Part 2.

Before launching Laughing Frog Images, I did a lot of research on 35mm slide scanners and slide scanning services. My goal is archival scans – 5000 dpi (dots per inch) or better per scan, and having the original scan in a lossless format such as .dng or .tif. Anything less wouldn’t give you the ability to get the image you want the way you want it.

The easy way to get all of my slides converted would have been to send them out to a scanning service, pay them over $1.00 per slide, as well as shipping both ways, tax, etc. As you know, the Frog is a small, small enterprise – and spending $20,000+ to build the image galleries at Laughing Frog Images just wasn’t going to happen. Granted, it would have been nice, but that wasn’t going to happen.

So, it was on to Plan B, and the search for a professional quality scanner capable of batch scanning slides.

I ended up purchasing a Pacific Image Powerslide 5000 35 mm slide scanner from B&H (information at http://www.scanace.com). With this unit, I can scan one slide at a time, or trays of 50 or 100 slides. I have to admit that I’m still working out the bugs of using the 100 slide carousel tray, but there’s a tray of 50 being scanned right beside me as I write this.

I am scanning Kodachrome(R) slides at 5000 dpi with automatic noise reduction and cleaning being done in the CyberView software – it takes about 11 minutes per scan and produces a tif file of more than 300MB. I’m doing a basic crop and auto-level adjustments using ACDSee Pro 6. And I’m a very happy camper!

Scans using CyberView or Vuescan software can take as little as five (5) minutes if they are run without the noise reduction and cleaning functions – but I’ve come to terms with waiting a little longer for the slide to be scanned and spending a lot less time cleaning up the final product. As much as you clean your slides before scanning, and as much as you think you do – it’s amazing what shows up at 5000 dpi!

There aren’t a lot of other bulk-scanning options out there right now, and there may never be. It seems like the scanner market may now be what it’s going to be for the foreseeable future. The Powerslide 5000 is a dedicated slide scanner – it won’t scan negatives unless they are in slide mounts, so negatives are possible, but not without some prep work.

There are also flatbed scanners out there on the market that can scan up to 20 slides at a time, as well as having the capability to scan documents, negatives and photographic prints. Some of these units can produce very high quality scans – and some simply can’t. These units range in price from $100 to $800. The main makers of these scanners are Espon, Canon, and Hewlett-Packard. Check out the reviews at places like Shutterbug magazine, B&H and Adorama for more information on these units.

There are also lower resolution units that, for lack of better words, take a picture of your slide and convert it to a jpeg image. They’re not scanners in the traditional sense, but converters. They’re inexpensive and fast to use, and they have their limitations. These units can be had from $50 to $150.

What’s right for you?

Well, the first question to ask yourself is “what do I want to do with my scans?” Your answer dictates what you need. Remember, you can always downsize your image, but you can never upsize your scan…

If you want to make 20″x30″ prints – think dpi, lots of dpi – 4800 dpi or more.

If you’re wanting to make 8″x12″ prints – 2400 dpi can work.

Just want to show them on your tablet, laptop, phone or TV? a converter type unit can work for you.

There are also slide scanning services that will scan your slides at varying resolutions for varying prices. They’re an option for you if you don’t have the time or don’t want to do it yourself.

Don’t forget to visit your local camera store as part of the process!

Happy deliberating!

If you’ve got questions, post them in a comment and we’ll talk…

Searching the Galleries

Posted on September 25, 2014September 21, 2014 by Kurt

Some of you may have looked at the Galleries on Laughing Frog Images, and said “wow, that’s a lot of really super / great / awesome stuff!”, but then wondered how you might find something you want (or don’t know that you want until you find it).

Some of you simply enjoy browsing the galleries and letting your mind go somewhere else for a while.

Some of you enjoy searching the galleries for something that works for you.

And, some of you want to search for specific things. This post is for you!

There’s something that’s been lurking up at the top right corner of the site. But it lurks quietly. And, you might not notice it. So, here’s a little help to make searching the galleries for that special image a little easier.

The best way to do this is with some screen shots from the site:

First, the search function is activated by clicking on the magnifying glass icon up in the top right corner.

Clicking on the icon opens up the search field. Type in what you’re looking for, and click on the icon once again.

In this example, I typed in BNSF to find some train pictures. The results page is shown below, and it tells me that there are two (2) galleries with 34 pictures in them tagged BNSF.

The search function works off of keywords that I’ve assigned to every image (at least I hope so…!). So, as long as our minds think alike, this is going to work just fine…

Seriously, I did try to be practical with the keywords to make things easier for everyone who might be searching the galleries. Any feedback is welcome and appreciated!

We hope this adds to your viewing and shopping experience on Laughing Frog Images.

Growing the Image Galleries

Posted on August 4, 2014July 27, 2014 by Kurt

Growing the image galleries at Laughing Frog Images isn’t happening quite as fast as was hoped. There are two good reasons for that. First, this isn’t my day job. The second is explained in this post.

There are slides and negatives that go back longer that I care to admit, because I can’t be that old! Over 30,000 of them, as a matter of fact. There are planes, scenic views, parks and places, trains, and things I probably don’t remember that are waiting to be rediscovered.

We’re scanning slides at 5000dpi and negatives at 7200dpi, and quite frankly, it’s a slow process. These are archival scan settings to give you the widest range of product choices when you shop at Laughing Frog Images. If you decide you want that killer shot from the Colorado National Monument as a 30″x40″ print and you found out it was scanned at 2400dpi, you wouldn’t be too happy with us. (You’re going to have to wait for that gallery, by the way.)

To give you an idea of what’s behind growing the image galleries, here’s a snapshot of the process:

Get the scanner going.
Cat-proof the work area. This is perhaps the most important step.
Proof the slide or negative and make sure it’s worthy of steps 4-11.
Clean the slide or negative. While this sounds obvious and simple, we’re looking at them through a loupe and using a fine brush and blown air because it’s absolutely amazing how big that speck you can’t see with the naked eye is once it’s scanned!
Load the slide tray or negative holder.
Each image scan takes 4 to 5 minutes for each slide or negative.
Wait for the software and computer to process the image file ( we’re scanning to .dng format).
Image data is added to the file before the slide or negative is returned to storage.
The image goes into a temporary folder to await the next step.
The image is proofed. Any final cleaning takes place here, as well as any adjustments or corrections.
The image is then filed awaiting use.

As we intend to post image galleries and sub-galleries that are related to each other as opposed to posting random images here and there throughout the site, you can start to see that it takes a while to make all of this happen.

This image is part of a gallery that will feature the former Western Pacific Railroad lines from Reno, Nevada to Sacramento, CA.

Obviously, it’s a lot easier when the starting point is a digital image file!

We’re hoping to get some additional galleries up of steam engines that ran in the 1980’s in time for the holidays, because if you don’t love steam engines – you probably know someone who does. And they have walls. Or drink coffee. Or tea. They might even have an iPhone or an iPad. And we might have just the image for them!

Be patient with us as we grow the image galleries! It is happening…

Subscribe to The Frog