The wonders of AI technology ...

This morning I woke up to an email from my buddy Dave in Vancouver Island, with the message ~ “I asked CHATGPT to restore the John Kerr image and it came up with this :”

In addition to using CHATGPT, further enhancement was done using Google Gemini AI ….

John Kerr was my granduncle, born on the 9 August 1897 and was killed during WWI in The Somme, France on 4 February 1917. The original photograph shown below is the only one in existence of John, it has evolved over 25 years to what Dave has created now via AI.

The story of John Kerr's photo …

Many years ago, during my teens I had the unenviable task of clearing out the attic in my grandmother’s house. It was not a pleasurable assignment, in fact, it was truly awful. I think for many days afterwards I was coughing up and sneezing out decades of coal dust and perhaps a few other nasty things. During the clear-out, I came across a photo that had been printed on what was then a very fragile piece of card measuring about 10” x 20”, I learned from my grandmother that it was a photo of John Kerr, her older brother.

Much later during the early 1990’s after a visit to Scotland, I brought the photo over to Canada. By this time, it had deteriorated even further to the point it had broken up into dozens of random sized pieces. It was around the early 2000’s, I decided to see if the photo could be salvaged. I gave all the bits to a professional illustrator who I worked with, to see if he could produce some magic with it. Using a high-quality scanner along with enormous patience and tremendous skill, he brought all the pieces together and created a high-quality scan of the assembled parts. From there with the aid of a graphics/photo software, he carefully and seamlessly blended all the parts together, creating what was at the time a very impressive result, with John in the uniform of the Drake Battalion of the Royal Naval Division.

I have been fortunate to have visited John’s grave in France twice, during April 2000 and June 2004. Below is a photo of his grave at Hamel Military Cemetery, taken in June 2004, with his photo, and one of his parents James Kerr (12 March 1866 ~ 2 February 1926) and Agnes Guthrie Caldwell (26 March 1867 ~ 4 March 1930), who visited his grave during the early 1920’s.

Below are the blogs relating to John Kerr, click on the image or links below …

https://southshoretidewatch.blogspot.com/2017/02/rememdered-after-100-years.html

 

https://southshoretidewatch.blogspot.com/2024/06/euro-2024-somme-and-family-war-graves.html

Sunset at sunset …

After yesterday’s blog ~ “A misty sunrise at sunset …” I went out this evening to see the sunset at sunset, and to take similar photos. There was very little movement in the river, making it almost looking like glass.

The perfectly still conditions allowed all of this evenings photos to be taken at 100ASA, high F-Stops with exposures between one and two seconds.

A misty sunrise at sunset …

Early this morning, I went a short distance along the LaHave River to watch a misty sunrise at Sunset Park. Not too long after my arrival, the mist dissipated leaving bright clear blue skies.

Conquering my fear …

Last week a contractor for Nova Scotia Power was in the local area with the task of cutting down or trimming back trees that were too close to the overhead power-lines, as a result, I lost about ten trees out front.

All the smaller branches were removed by the contractor and put through a wood chipper, I was left with a large number of 10’ to 12’ lengths of tree trunks, which had to be cut into no more than 16” lengths for the wood stove.

This meant I had to conquer one of my major fears ~ using a chainsaw. There are three things that top my fear list, they are Mice, Rats and Chainsaws, I have many tales about the first two, but to know more, you will have to wait for the book. As for the chainsaw, I have used it before for cutting up small branches and logs, but never for something as big as the task that faced me this occasion.

I bought the chainsaw back in May 2018, and on the very few times that I have used it, I have been filled with far too much apprehension compounded by high levels of nervousness, which is never good when operating such a potentially dangerous machine. With no other options, I just had to get on with it. 

I am now hugely relieved and delighted to report, all my limbs are accounted for, the tree trunks are now cut into 16" lengths and the process of splitting the wood is progressing. It actually feels good to have conquered this fear, living where I do surrounded by many trees, requires the occasional use of a chainsaw. So with a little pride, I can now declare the chainsaw has dropped to a lower position on my fear list, as for the mice and rats, they will always occupy the top slots …!!!

Some pics ...

Here is a blog from May 2018 when I bought the chainsaw, click on the image or the link below ~

 https://southshoretidewatch.blogspot.com/2018/05/a-new-family-member.html