Fishin'

click images to enlarge














Fred McKellar and the one that didn't get away














Fred puts his prize catch on ice














My mother and kid sister. (Photo sponsored by Coors)

- That's the McKellar's camper and station wagon in the background, and I also remember that Grumman aluminium canoe! Look closely and you can also see the McKellar's cat, Cocoa. (Koko?)














John Noble's catch of the day

- John Noble loved to camp and fish in Alaska and he would often bring his sons Darren and Christopher along. If John showed up for a weekend trip without those two, I'd be bummed out!















Alaskan street gang

- Left to right: Unknown Kid (anyone know?), my sister Aimee, me (with the fish), Darren Noble, Christopher Noble. Seems like our favorite camping and fishing spots were Chatanika River, Salcha River and the Gulkana River. I'm not sure where this was taken.














I think Lee Payne is in this photo, in the striped shirt? Not sure who the other fellows are.















Salcha River - about 50 miles from Fairbanks















"Breakup" season on the Salcha River
















Not sure if this is the Salcha, Chatanika or Gulkana.

Extra: Slide Restoration Demo

These 1970s era Kodachrome slides were, for the most part, in remarkably good condition. However, many of the slides needed some rather serious restoration work.

I cleaned the "problem slides" using a solution made by PEC-12. Takes out smudges and fingerprints without leaving any residue. Some of the slides had to be removed from their original cardboard/plastic mounts and remounted. I like to use Wess full-frame slide mounts for this.

The slides were scanned with a Nikon Coolscan 5000 film scanner, then "sleeved" in archival quality slide sheets. No PVCs (polyvinyl chlorides) allowed! PVCs will damage film emulsion over time, so slide sheets must be "PVC free". Clear File's ArchivalPlus slide sheets are good.

Next step was to open the scanned images in Photoshop and go to town on them. Most of the scratches and other imperfections were removed. The film scanner software can help with this process, too. Colors have been corrected and restored to their original Brady Bunch-era glory whenever possible.

This is Fred McKellar and his awesome catch before and after the restoration. Click on this image to open it up for a better look.

Wish I had more slides to share, but I hope you've enjoyed these!