The Joplin Journal

[Mhayes]

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to share some of the pictures taken while on the Joplin Copy Run. There will be more in the coming weeks on the homepage/blog and the newsletter to come out. The delay has been partly due to getting the family's photos tagged and cropped and uploaded to PhotoShelter and my coming back with a sinus infection. A big thanks to Jan for getting all the Joplin photos uploaded, plus some her candid shots taken during the run. The forum has the benefit of being able to add more photos as we go along and also letting others chip in with their thoughts.

Jan had the camera set with a timer and many shots were taken. One was done in fun and I'm still debating whether it will ever see the light of day. Two volunteers by the name of Claire and Linda may wish to pay to keep these off.



Front Row-Left to right: Jan Neil; Linda Pedroley; Pat Sluder, Victoria Johnson; Annette Crossen; Margie Hayes; Vicky Sutterfield.
Back Row-Left to right: Phil Hughlett;Claire Walker; Randy Henderson; Mike Sluder; Scott Crossen, Christine Crossen; Corey Crossen.


Friday when we opened the doors there were people lined up outside and things took off. Some of the people remarked that they thought there would be a line wrapped around the library.





Most of the volunteers were new to the copy run experience and it gave them a real appreciation for what OPR does. We were so lucky to have Scott Crossen, owner DigMyPics, and his wife Annette, son Corey, and daughter Christine help on their 2nd copy run. My sister Vicky and Jan were the only other ones that had been on previous runs.

Tomorrow, more on the copy stands that were used. Jan is so spoiled with our new system that I will probably never be able to get her near a tripod again.

Margie

[Pat]

I'll always be grateful to have had the opportunity to meet and work with fellow OPR volunteers and also meet the amazing people who came to us to have their damaged photos restored.

We met families clutching photos that they felt sure we'd say were a lost cause only to be moved to tears in some instances after hearing us tell them "no problem", "we can fix that", or "you'll be amazed, you'll see."  We heard amazing stories of how photos were found miles away and returned to their families.  We heard stories of family relationships and the friendships of the people portrayed in the photos.

It was very uplifting to be a part of something that would have such a positive impact on people in the mist of such devastation.

[Tori803]

Thanks for posting the photos and updates!

[schen]

Thank all of you for your dedicated work at the copy run.

As for the silly fun picture, what happened in Joplin stays in Joplin, unless it will embarrass our fearless leader.

[Tess (Tassie D)]

Great photos Margie and Jan. I want to see the silly picture too lol.

[Mike S.]

Hello everyone,

It was an incredible experience meeting everyone from the OPR Copy Team and all the people that came in with damaged photos.  You really see what the photos are worth to the people who own them.


Mike

[Mhayes]

More photos coming later. This time more about the copy stands that were a great improvement this time around.

Shujen, no the embarrassment is for Linda and Claire, with Linda probably taking top honors. She almost looked like a Red Skelton character.  ;D

Margie

[Mhayes]

Now for more about the copy stands. We had three: Mike and Pat's; Linda's; and mine. The first two were large professional copy stands. These were big, but really nice! Since all of the copy stands were transported by car no problem. However, should a person need to fly to the destination the copy stand would have to be shipped ahead. Unlike before when we traveled with tripods and the lights and supplies were shipped ahead. This time we saved on shipping and it really was easier packing up at the end.

I will let Mike and Pat tell you more about their copy stand. It was the newest and very impressive. Both Mike and Pat had their system worked out  and maybe the the mini Ohio run before helped set the stage for this one. What Jan was so thrilled about on this run was having the camera's on the stands tethered to a lap top that gave a preview of each shot.





Here Mike is explaining how to work things to Christine and Scott Crossen. Sorry Corey, but the shots of you didn't come out because i didn't have my camera set to the highest shutter speed for Mike. You can't believe how fast this guy is---one minute he is in your frame and the next he isn't. <sigh>



Next is Linda's copy stand that Randy used his camera on the first day and Linda her own camera the second. This was a very nice professional stand that Linda got for a steal from a Missouri University and I think on eBay. We kidded Linda and Randy about getting a sun tan from her lights.

Last but not least was my copy stand that was used as an extra and in this shot Randy and his wife Victoria. This is what you call the "Deluxe Cheap" Model. I went to a camera store and bought an old enlarger and had them exchange out the enlarger and put a tripod head in its place. I bought a set of lights and two polarized filters to clamp on the lamps and a circular polarizer for the lens. I had a chance to use this once and it turned out good, but really need a couple more clamps to hold the filters in place.



Jan was so delighted with the results of having the camera's tethered to a computer that this is how she wants to go in the future. Jan probably got the most work out as she was responsible after each shot to download to her laptop and with Lightroom  would enter the personal info for each photo and then have the extensions added by each batch. She was also on the look out for any errors before the families were allowed to take their photos home.



More tomorrow.

Margie

[Bambi]

Very, very interesting. It's great to put names with faces. What brand is Pat and Mike's copy stand?

Bambi

[Mike S.]

Hello everyone,

Bambi, the Copy Stand is a Bencher Copy Mate 900-60.  As you can see from the pictures Margie posted it has florescent lights and they are daylight balanced.  The lights run cool so if you have to spend a lot of time on the copy stand you don't get overheated.  All the major camera manufacturers have camera control software.  This lets you take a preview of the picture before you actually take the shot.  Once you have verified it is in the correct position, in focus and has the correct exposure you take the shot with a click of the mouse.  Each picture is automatically named correctly and loaded on the computer as taken.  Pat has a post to follow with more detail.    The files are named by the computer (which is set-up prior to taking each owner batch) they are put on a flash drive at the end of each batch for Jan.  It saves her renaming each and every file so she just verifies everything is correct and loads them on to her master computer.  The whole process is much faster.  We had two very appreciated helpers on the computer and copy stand, Christine and Corey.

Mike

[Pat]

Hi Everyone,

It was a real pleasure working with our youngest volunteers Corey and Christine Crossen.  Those two young people were seemingly everywhere at once with a helping hand and I'm not talking just the mundane go-for chores.  When they expressed a particular interest in copy stand work we literally put them to work.  Corey was a real wiz working the computer side of the process and Christine was a natural working on the camera side.  When you see photos show up in the galleries for the families of BettassoJ, BowyerL, FinneyJ, HammC, NewbyK, just to name a few, they will be ones done by Corey and Christine along with some of the ones for the SnowH family which was the very last batch of photos brought in.  I think Margie has a story she wants to relate later regarding the Snow family.

With our copy stand set-up our camera is tethered to a laptop.  When a family brings photos to be restored we enter that family name into the computer along with the number of photos.  Example, NewbyK10_4_8x10 which indicates the Newby, K family brought in 10 photos, the 4 and 8x10 indicates this is the 4th photo of 10, which is automatically incremented by the software, and the photo size.  The photos are then individually placed on the copy stand, the camera settings are checked manually, a preview shot is then taken via the computer.  If the preview shot which shows up on the laptop is a-okay the final shot is taken, again via the computer.  The very first shot taken for each family is a identity /permission paper filled out and signed by the family when they come in with their photos. With one person handling the computer and the other handling the copy stand and camera work, things run pretty smoothly and swiftly.  Mike and I usually alternate these positions.
 
Once all the photos for a particular family have gone through the copying phase of the process, the metadata for that batch can be embedded in a batch process; the photos cropped, and then uploaded to the OPR archives.  They are now ready to be placed into the galleries for the volunteers to choose.

Pat

[jneil2]

OMG, we have come a long ways since my first copy run to Biloxi, MS!!  Our "copy stands" were a couple of cheap desk lamps--on the FLOOR.  We KNEELED on the floor.  One lady felt so sorry for us that she brought us a couple of gardening "knee pads".  Oh, my back aches just thinking about it....

Jan

[schen]

We had the copy stand (eh... tripod) on the floor because I was too short to look through the viewfinder if it was on the table.  In Winona, we had a right-angle viewfinder and put the tripod on the table.  The tripod toppled when nobody was around and broke the camera.  It was in a historical armory built in 1915.

Shujen

[glennab]

Wow!  The process has certainly streamlined since Biloxi, Jan.  I remember handing you photo after photo while you crouched over the camera for hours.  The upgraded copy stands and the new computer hookups sound awesome.  It seems to me that this set up would allow two or three people to conduct "mini-copy runs" to areas of lesser disasters or returns for more copy runs by people who live near an area of a previous run. Even someone who's not a professional photographer could probably pull off a copy run with an assistant or two.  This is really exciting.  The photos are wonderful and brought back so many tremendous memories of Biloxi (including the "what happens in... stays in...").  Thanks for sharing your impressions of the trip.  Those of us who can't be there feel more involved, and I know I enjoy learning about what happens when an OPR group gets together.  I always wish we could have a global conference and ALL be together and meet.  If only the corporate jet hadn't been hijacked! Darn it! 

Hugs, all, and bless for making the run.  You're the best!

GK

[Pat]

Jan, I saw those knee pads!  Someone, maybe Margie, brought them to Joplin.  Fortunately they were for show and tell only.  Our copy stand was on the floor when we shot the photos from our mini copy run to Stark County Ohio simply because we didn't have a free table available at the time.  I took Aleve twice a day everyday for three days afterwards!
 
Shujen, it's strange how those pesky tripods have a way of toppling when nobody's around.  You can't take your eyes, or hands, off them for a minute!  A table is the only way to go even for those of us who are vertically challenged.  Stepping up onto a sturdy little one-step stepstool when I have to check the viewfinder is just the ticket.

Glenna, with so much of the population affected by disastrous weather conditions lately, having trained volunteers willing to do mini copy runs would be absolutely wonderful.  The mini copy runs could be conducted more frequently, helping people in more areas, and at less expense than major copy runs.

Pat