The Rahn Family Photos

    When I learned in May 2005 that my father, then 90, had amassed over 6000 negatives of us three kids growing up in the 1940s through the 1970s, I resolved to scan them into my computer as soon as possible. I have now (early January 2006) finished the first half of the 35-mm set of 100 rolls. I have posted them primarily for our family to view and comment on, but also for other interested viewers.
    Each roll of 35-mm negatives had been cut into six strips by my father and stored in standard glassine envelopes of maximum six negatives each. I scan them with my Nikon Super Coolscan 5000 ED, at densities of 1000 and 4000 dpi. The photos posted are the low-density versions. They are grouped by roll and then by strip. For example, Roll 1-5 means first roll, fifth strip.
    For the technically inclined, I treat each negative individually. First I prescan, then adjust the brightness and contrast, and then scan, using Nikon's grain-reduction postprocessing function. The results are very good, except for scratches on the negatives.
    I have made the photos here the same size as the color images on my other slide shows, 1024x683 for horizontal images and 455x683 for vertical images. To view them best, use full-screen (F11 on IE) and no frames.
    For the 6x9 negatives and a few of odd size, I used a Nikon Super Coolscan 9000, because the 5000 ED could not accept negatives larger than 35 mm. They were scanned in the same way, and are listed here by number. (See below.)
    I am adding only minimal text for now. Later I will reorganize them and add more text. For now, just enjoy!

    Update as of May 2008: I worked for 18 months on these negatives, and then had to put them aside. I finished all the 6x9s and the first 50 rolls of the 35-mms in mid-July 2006. I am now restarting my efforts, with roll 52 of the 35-mms.
    In the interim, my father passed away (February 2007). At least he got to see the first batch of his negatives projected on a big screen.
    Update as of July 2011: In the last session, I got from roll 52 through roll 80. Now I have some time to continue, and am working from roll 81.

Roll No. (35 mm)

    In September 2005 I received a set of 2300 6x9 negatives that my father took from 1940 to about 1955. I am scanning them with my new Nikon Coolscan 9000 ED, obtained for this purpose. As this job takes three times as long per negative than the 35-mms did, I am posting the larger pictures in groups of ten, or one Web page at a time.

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