# London Piccadilly Circus 1958 Night Scene - Kodak Retinette IIb



## stowpirate (Mar 30, 2014)

Two photographs stitched with MS ICE. Photograph by my dad who died last sunday. Possibly taken with a 35mm Kodak Retinette IIb. Just scanned these and found I could stitch two together.


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## Fez909 (Mar 30, 2014)

stowpirate said:


> Two photographs stitched with MS ICE. Photograph by my dad who died last sunday. Possibly taken with a 35mm Kodak Retinette IIb. Just scanned these and found I could stitch two together.


Sorry to hear about your dad 

Great pics, and good job on the stitching


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## Red Storm (Mar 30, 2014)

Wow!


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## stowpirate (Mar 30, 2014)

Fez909 said:


> Sorry to hear about your dad
> 
> Great pics, and good job on the stitching



Thanks for the comment. Notice not Linux but MS ICE in XP  

Should really have used Fotoxx in Puppy Linux


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## joevsimp (Mar 30, 2014)

should see about getting it printed and framed, great way to remember him


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## stowpirate (Mar 30, 2014)

joevsimp said:


> should see about getting it printed and framed, great way to remember him



We have a large print that needs framing. Also with the negatives I can experiment a tad. I am sure he would have found this interesting 






Attempt with Fotoxx and Showfoto blue hue


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## editor (Mar 30, 2014)

Fantastic pics.


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## stowpirate (Mar 30, 2014)

editor said:


> Fantastic pics.



Thanks ed. My dad died last Sunday, just scanning some of his photos to share with family and those interested in photography. More can be found here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/soviet...h/13515391895/


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## Dan U (Mar 30, 2014)

Sorry to hear about your dad stowpirate 

Will email those to my own dad if you don't mind. He used to go to the jazz nights of soho in the late 50s and tells me stories of getting in to pubs through toilet windows (he was underage) and seeing musicians etc waiting outside boots at picadilly to get their heroin scripts.


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## stowpirate (Mar 30, 2014)

Dan U said:


> Sorry to hear about your dad stowpirate
> 
> Will email those to my own dad if you don't mind. He used to go to the jazz nights of soho in the late 50s and tells me stories of getting in to pubs through toilet windows (he was underage) and seeing musicians etc waiting outside boots at picadilly to get their heroin scripts.



OK with me email them to your dad


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## stowpirate (Mar 30, 2014)

Some earlier medium format photographs he took of London in 1949. 
Going by the negative size I guess the camera used was one of those 
folding types of the period. I noticed the skyline lack of high buildings
and the old cars in the background.


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## RoyReed (Mar 30, 2014)

Sorry about your dad stowpirate - but some great photos to remember him by.


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## sim667 (Mar 30, 2014)

Wow, great photos.


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## neonwilderness (Mar 31, 2014)

stowpirate said:


> Thanks ed. My dad died last Sunday, just scanning some of his photos to share with family and those interested in photography. More can be found here:
> 
> https://www.flickr.com/photos/soviet...h/13515391895/


Sorry to hear about your dad, but there's some great pics there


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## Belushi (Mar 31, 2014)

They're a great memento of your Dad stowpirate


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## dweller (Mar 31, 2014)

Sorry to hear about your dad. Great to see his photos  
Plus I love the wedding photo in the street, really a special one.


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## spanglechick (Apr 1, 2014)

So sorry for your loss.  No hurry at all, but if you wouldn't mind I'd happily pay/donate to have a decent resolution file of the top image.  It's gorgeous and would look great on the wall.  

I dunno - is that a weird thing to ask?


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## stowpirate (Apr 1, 2014)

spanglechick said:


> So sorry for your loss.  No hurry at all, but if you wouldn't mind I'd happily pay/donate to have a decent resolution file of the top image.  It's gorgeous and would look great on the wall.
> 
> I dunno - is that a weird thing to ask?



I will see what I can do. Most of the stitching software tends to default to some lower resolution than the original scan.


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## RoyReed (Apr 1, 2014)

stowpirate said:


> I will see what I can do. Most of the stitching software tends to default to some lower resolution than the original scan.


Hugin is free and should be able to stitch at the original resolution. If not, I could stitch them using PTGui at full res for you. Let me know.


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## stowpirate (Apr 1, 2014)

spanglechick said:


> So sorry for your loss.  No hurry at all, but if you wouldn't mind I'd happily pay/donate to have a decent resolution file of the top image.  It's gorgeous and would look great on the wall.
> 
> I dunno - is that a weird thing to ask?





RoyReed said:


> Hugin is free and should be able to stitch at the original resolution. If not, I could stitch them using PTGui at full res for you. Let me know.



Original scans if you want to have a go are here:

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7043/13556153435_ea7f2ab77d_o.jpg
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2933/13556261883_a82ecd9795_o.jpg
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7212/13556136565_8beaf70a5f_o.jpg

I can try scanning again if these are no use. Please be aware not that sharp images albeit looks wonderful on my dads original print of single photo.

If you want to have a go at sorting them into a panorama you will need to rotate, flip, clone, levels etc


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## RoyReed (Apr 1, 2014)

stowpirate said:


> Original scans if you want to have a go are here:
> 
> https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7043/13556153435_ea7f2ab77d_o.jpg
> https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2933/13556261883_a82ecd9795_o.jpg
> ...


What do you think of this? I've tweaked the levels and corrected the verticals. I've also retouched a couple of blank areas that were just cropped in making the panorama. Absolutely classic image of London in the 1950s!


The full size image at 300dpi which would print to about 475mm wide (5589x2880px - 5.4MB).

*Edit:* I've taken down the link to the full size image to save my bandwidth.


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## spanglechick (Apr 1, 2014)

RoyReed said:


> What do you think of this? I've tweaked the levels and corrected the verticals. I've also retouched a couple of blank areas that were just cropped in making the panorama. Absolutely classic image of London in the 1950s!
> 
> View attachment 51339
> This links to a full size image at 300dpi which would print to about 475mm wide (5589x2880px - 5.4MB). I'll leave this linked image up for the rest of today. Let me know when you've got it and I'll take the link down.


stowpirate - do you mind my having a print of this? Is it ok with you?


If so will download after work today.


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## stowpirate (Apr 1, 2014)

spanglechick said:


> stowpirate - do you mind my having a print of this? Is it ok with you?
> 
> 
> If so will download after work today.



No problem you might possibly want to have a slight cold blue tint to it?


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## stowpirate (Apr 1, 2014)

RoyReed said:


> What do you think of this? I've tweaked the levels and corrected the verticals. I've also retouched a couple of blank areas that were just cropped in making the panorama. Absolutely classic image of London in the 1950s!
> 
> View attachment 51339
> This links to a full size image at 300dpi which would print to about 475mm wide (5589x2880px - 5.4MB). I'll leave this linked image up for the rest of today. Let me know when you've got it and I'll take the link down.



Thanks for that wonderful work 

I will also upload this to flick.


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## quimcunx (Apr 1, 2014)

Lovely photos. 

Sorry to hear about your dad.


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## stowpirate (Apr 1, 2014)

RoyReed said:


> What do you think of this? I've tweaked the levels and corrected the verticals. I've also retouched a couple of blank areas that were just cropped in making the panorama. Absolutely classic image of London in the 1950s!
> 
> View attachment 51339
> This links to a full size image at 300dpi which would print to about 475mm wide (5589x2880px - 5.4MB). I'll leave this linked image up for the rest of today. Let me know when you've got it and I'll take the link down.



Thanks got it on flickr now as well as local HD 

Linked to this thread on flickr so that those interested can see the process and how useful sites like urban 75 can be for help.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/sovietcamera/13557066125/in/photostream/


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## quimcunx (Apr 1, 2014)

I want to watch Happy Anniversary with David Niven and Mitzi Gaynor now. 

That dates it to the end of 1959/beginning of 1960.


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## stowpirate (Apr 1, 2014)

quimcunx said:


> I want to watch Happy Anniversary with David Niven and Mitzi Gaynor now.
> 
> That dates it to the end of 1959/beginning of 1960.



Have you a link you can post here?


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## quimcunx (Apr 1, 2014)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Anniversary_(film)

Release ( US so not sure about UK)  November 1959.


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## RoyReed (Apr 1, 2014)

stowpirate said:


> No problem you might possibly want to have a slight cold blue tint to it?


I thought the straight black and white had a more authentically 1950s look. The blue tint looks a bit 1930s to me.


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## stowpirate (Apr 1, 2014)

RoyReed said:


> I thought the straight black and white had a more authentically 1950s look. The blue tint looks a bit 1930s to me.



The print my mum has is slightly tinted but also has some damage. Any ideas on printing this at small poster size and getting those printer levels right?


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## spanglechick (Apr 1, 2014)

I should possibly explain my love for this image.  Apart from loving all things London and being a bit keen on the mid-century aesthetic, the photos remind me of my own lovely late father.

He was a bit of a London wide boy in his twenties, and we have a black and white cine film he took around this time, from the top deck of a bus as it went around the west end at night.  I think at Christmas? Lots of lights anyway.  So this beautiful photo reminds me of my Dad's blurry and slightly drunken (no doubt) film.

It's much more accomplished of course, but as soon as I saw the picture I had a pretty much visceral reaction and sense of connection to the inevitably mysterious version of my dad that he was before he was a dad.  It made me instantly emotional and so, I really wanted a print - not just for aesthetics but for love 


For what it's worth.


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## stowpirate (Apr 1, 2014)

spanglechick said:


> I should possibly explain my love for this image.  Apart from loving all things London and being a bit keen on the mid-century aesthetic, the photos remind me of my own lovely late father.
> 
> He was a bit of a London wide boy in his twenties, and we have a black and white cine film he took around this time, from the top deck of a bus as it went around the west end at night.  I think at Christmas? Lots of lights anyway.  So this beautiful photo reminds me of my Dad's blurry and slightly drunken (no doubt) film.
> 
> ...



Looking into printing options now as also want this on my wall. I let you know what happens if I can find a local print shop that will do one off long A3, A2 ish size prints


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## RoyReed (Apr 1, 2014)

stowpirate said:


> The print my mum has is slightly tinted but also has some damage. Any ideas on printing this at small poster size and getting those printer levels right?


If you're sending it to a printer, just tell them the size you want it printed to. Its native size is about 475mm wide at 300dpi, but that doesn't mean it has to print at that size. It would still print OK up to about 700mm wide (which would be about 200dpi) or smaller if that's what you want.

Here's a recommendation for a printer if you need one: PrintSpace


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## spanglechick (Apr 1, 2014)

I was probably just going to use photobox.  I use them for all my printing.  And then have it framed, which of course will be the spendy bit.


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## stowpirate (Apr 1, 2014)

RoyReed said:


> If you're sending it to a printer, just tell them the size you want it printed to. Its native size is about 475mm wide at 300dpi, but that doesn't mean it has to print at that size. It would still print OK up to about 700mm wide (which would be about 200dpi) or smaller if that's what you want.
> 
> Here's a recommendation for a printer if you need one: PrintSpace



Would you go matt or gloss on this?


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## RoyReed (Apr 1, 2014)

stowpirate said:


> Would you go matt or gloss on this?


If it was for me, I'd go for Fuji Matt Crystal Archive paper, but it's a purely personal choice. A giclee print on Hahnemuhle Photorag could work very well.

I'm sure a print from photobox would work just as well for this image.


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## spanglechick (Apr 1, 2014)

RoyReed said:


> If it was for me, I'd go for Fuji Matt Crystal Archive paper, but it's a purely personal choice. A giclee print on Hahnemuhle Photorag could work very well.
> 
> I'm sure a print from photobox would work just as well for this image.


Oh gosh.  I'm a phillistine!


Thanks for the edit.  I'll have a looksee.


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## RoyReed (Apr 1, 2014)

spanglechick said:


> Oh gosh.  I'm a phillistine!


You'd need to see a side-by-side comparison of the different papers to make up your mind between them. There's no right or wrong. I really don't think it would make a lot of difference for this image.


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## stowpirate (Apr 1, 2014)

RoyReed said:


> I thought the straight black and white had a more authentically 1950s look. The blue tint looks a bit 1930s to me.













Don't know this sort of looks just as good albeit overdone the lights?


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## spanglechick (Apr 1, 2014)

Personally prefer the original myself as it looks more "of its time".  The blue one is more arty, perhaps?


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## beesonthewhatnow (Apr 1, 2014)

Or a sepia tint maybe?


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## RoyReed (Apr 1, 2014)

stowpirate said:


> Don't know this sort of looks just as good albeit overdone the lights?


It's knowing when to stop!

 Blue toned


Sepia toned


Platinum print


Albumen print


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## stowpirate (Apr 1, 2014)

RoyReed said:


> It's knowing when to stop!
> 
> Albumen print



like the last one albeit it does not work on this photo. More my usual type of composting of my own photos


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## stowpirate (Apr 2, 2014)

At some point it had to happen! Cropped and composted one of the photos 

Some colour photos of Piccadily Circus 1950's:

http://www.retronaut.com/2012/04/colour-photographs-of-piccadilly-circus-1950s/


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## spanglechick (Apr 2, 2014)

I ordered my print.  It's from a company called peak imaging.  Had it made to its natural size, and they'll build it a frame, too.  £51 plus p&p, but would have been about a fiver less with a different style frame. The print itself was less than a tenner.   No idea if I could get it much cheaper, as photos aren't usually my area, but for a custom-made frame that's pretty fucking reasonable.  

Not glass, mind.  It's increasingly hard to find people who will sell you glazed photo frames over a certain size. The thing about Perspex is it doesn't clean well.


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## stowpirate (Apr 2, 2014)

spanglechick said:


> I ordered my print.  It's from a company called peak imaging.  Had it made to its natural size, and they'll build it a frame, too.  £51 plus p&p, but would have been about a fiver less with a different style frame. The print itself was less than a tenner.   No idea if I could get it much cheaper, as photos aren't usually my area, but for a custom-made frame that's pretty fucking reasonable.
> 
> Not glass, mind.  It's increasingly hard to find people who will sell you glazed photo frames over a certain size. The thing about Perspex is it doesn't clean well.



Please let us know how it looks. I might go down the same route. Did you see the colour shot on the last post that was taken from more or less the same position without the railings? 3rd one down.


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## RoyReed (Apr 2, 2014)

spanglechick said:


> I ordered my print.  It's from a company called peak imaging.  Had it made to its natural size, and they'll build it a frame, too.  £51 plus p&p, but would have been about a fiver less with a different style frame. The print itself was less than a tenner.   No idea if I could get it much cheaper, as photos aren't usually my area, but for a custom-made frame that's pretty fucking reasonable.
> 
> Not glass, mind.  It's increasingly hard to find people who will sell you glazed photo frames over a certain size. The thing about Perspex is it doesn't clean well.


The print is always the cheapest part. Even at the pro place I use the print would have only been about £12-13. Be careful with the perspex, though. It's not only that it doesn't clean well, but it attracts dust, so needs cleaning more often and it scratches really easily.


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## spanglechick (Apr 2, 2014)

RoyReed said:


> The print is always the cheapest part. Even at the pro place I use the print would have only been about £12-13. Be careful with the perspex, though. It's not only that it doesn't clean well, but it attracts dust, so needs cleaning more often and it scratches really easily.


Yeah, I know.  I've a couple of pieces of art behind Perspex. Ridiculous.


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## spanglechick (Apr 2, 2014)

stowpirate said:


> Please let us know how it looks. I might go down the same route. Did you see the colour shot on the last post that was taken from more or less the same position without the railings? 3rd one down.


Ooh, those are interesting!


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## stowpirate (Apr 2, 2014)

RoyReed said:


> The print is always the cheapest part. Even at the pro place I use the print would have only been about £12-13. Be careful with the perspex, though. It's not only that it doesn't clean well, but it attracts dust, so needs cleaning more often and it scratches really easily.



I am thinking about some form of photo canvas print albeit it then might look a tad ikea in origin?

http://www.tescophoto.com/photo_wall_art/photo_canvas_prints


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## spanglechick (Apr 2, 2014)

stowpirate said:


> I am thinking about some form of photo canvas print albeit it then might look a tad ikea in origin?
> 
> http://www.tescophoto.com/photo_wall_art/photo_canvas_prints


They don't tend to come in custom sizes, ime.  Standard panorama ratios are less elongated than your picture.


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## RoyReed (Apr 2, 2014)

spanglechick said:


> They don't tend to come in custom sizes, ime.  Standard panorama ratios are less elongated than your picture.


These places do custom sizes:

Original Canvas Company
Canvas Print Studio

Never used either of them personally. And yes, there is a risk of looking Ikea!

If you're going down that route, make sure that they don't wrap the image round the edge of the frame or you might lose things like the policeman's feet. Most  don't give a choice, but some will print a blank colour border that shows on the edges. I don't know if the two I mentioned do that.


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## cybertect (Apr 4, 2014)

spanglechick said:


> I ordered my print.  It's from a company called peak imaging.



Peak should be a pretty safe pair of hands. I've not had many prints from them, but they are one of the few companies I trust to develop my E6 slide film.


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## cybertect (Aug 15, 2014)

Um. Stowpirate, your dad's pic just appeared in my twitter stream


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## stowpirate (Aug 16, 2014)

cybertect said:


> Um. Stowpirate, your dad's pic just appeared in my twitter stream



Does that mean somebody pinched the photo? I have no idea about twitter so do you know what is happenning?


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## RoyReed (Aug 16, 2014)

stowpirate said:


> Does that mean somebody pinched the photo? I have no idea about twitter so do you know what is happenning?


It's a guy who just tweets archive photos of London - sometime several a day. There's never any attribution (which I think is a bit bad). His Twitter handle is @Rima1731, but there's no website or email or anything else associated with his Twitter profile.



> *Unauthorized use of copyrighted materials*
> If you need to report the unauthorized use of your copyrighted material to Twitter, please provide a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notice that includes all of the following information:
> 
> 
> ...



Here's a link to Twitter's copyright policy if you want to file a complaint: https://support.twitter.com/articles/15795#


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## RoyReed (Aug 24, 2016)

And it's just appeared on Twitter again.


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## mattlock (Jun 10, 2017)

Hi, I came across this photo on a Google search and think it’s brilliant, especially as it’s two photos stitched together.  I just wanted to ask please would mind if I got this printed onto a canvas to hang in my hall.  Many thanks


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## editor (May 5, 2020)

More splendid  archive pics here 































						"A Sense of Sex and the Night" - the History of Piccadilly Circus - Flashbak
					

Piccadilly Circus has long been one of London’s best known and popular landmarks. A ‘centre of gaiety’ as one 1930s guide book put it, where thousands and thousands of people and almost as many cars ‘struggle in vain for freedom’. Piccadilly Circus is so popular it’s used to describe anything...




					flashbak.com


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## editor (May 5, 2020)

Oh to be able to zip back in time and take a stroll!


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