What looks like a vintage photograph of Chevin Road by the chapel has been identified as being taken on a misty February morn… February 18th, to be precise… 2016.
Webmaster Ashley Franklin, the taker of the photo of the maker of this deception – courtesy of Photoshop – explains: ‘Every morning between 7.45 and 8, I drive from my Bank Buildings home to pick up my morning paper. Many a time I’ve approached this spot where there’s smoke issuing from a pipe and, if it’s a misty morning and the rising sun is about to burst through, it’s so atmospheric. Trouble is, I would drive through and curse the fact that I hadn’t got my camera!
So, on the morning of the 18th of February, noticing the mist and the promise of a blue sky day, I made sure I put my camera bag in the car. I had chosen the perfect morning. I parked the car and took the shot. Above is the original, untouched image.
As I gazed at the image, I thought to myself: ‘without the school sign, lamp posts, TV aerials and both the sign and metal plate on the side of the chapel, this could be a scene from the early 20th century.’ So I decided to erase those elements in Photoshop. Here is the result.
Obviously, though, it didn’t look right in colour, so I opened up a software programme called Silver EFX. This treatment – called ‘Yellowed’ – is meant to make an image look like an old, yellowing photo. At the same time, it looks as if smoke is issuing from the mill chimney. Maybe something to work on another time…
However, I played around with another monochrome conversion which I also quite like. This has set me off thinking: ‘let’s see if I can make other scenes in Milford & Makeney look as dated as this.’ Watch this space!
