My Job

[BDTROUT]

While most are out getting some great shots of wildlife ,nature, and landscapes I was damned to capture some images of work.Actually,did some product shots of boxes we make for our companies website and brochure.But decided to get some pics of the charm and elegance of parts of our building and my favorite machine.A 1953 Miehle two color printing press, I have the pleasure of wrenching on this beast on a biweekly basis.It will be retired soon, and I hope I am still around when they drop this thing into the bottom of lake Erie.I figured since its an old machine, I would use an old camera E-1 to get the shots.









This used to be part of our warehouse, but its unofficially condemned now,,,,Rats eye view

[ernman]

Very nice series of photo's!

[BDTROUT]

Thank you for the reply,,,now my wife understands why my cloths are trashed after work
Bill

[Sino_Patriot]

I realized most men love devices or some big machines. Good job Bill.

[wigpro]

Great job - Boy that brings back memories (I'll have nightmares tonight)...I ran an old Miehle 36" two color that looked to be about in the same condition as the one you photographed....great old press which produced amazing color work in it's day! Sadly some have been left to operate way longer than their projected life. I moved from the 36" inch Miehle to a 40" Heidelberg Speedmaster 5 color....brand new...what a step up....that was the last press I ran on a regular basis, moved into management after that, started in estimating and worked my way up from there...30 years putting ink on paper, glad to be retired!

Hang in there, by the looks of that press, it won't be long before it sees the "bottom of Lake Erie".

Thanks for the trip down memory lane and I love the photos....the first one of the press name plate is my favorite. The three legs on the rheostat/control switch is my second favorite.

Jim

[Steven R]

Nice shots. The first 4 shots look like they could be found in a professionally produced corporate report.

[BDTROUT]

Great job - Boy that brings back memories (I'll have nightmares tonight)...I ran an old Miehle 36" two color that looked to be about in the same condition as the one you photographed....great old press which produced amazing color work in it's day! Sadly some have been left to operate way longer than their projected life. I moved from the 36" inch Miehle to a 40" Heidelberg Speedmaster 5 color....brand new...what a step up....that was the last press I ran on a regular basis, moved into management after that, started in estimating and worked my way up from there...30 years putting ink on paper, glad to be retired!

Hang in there, by the looks of that press, it won't be long before it sees the "bottom of Lake Erie".

Thanks for the trip down memory lane and I love the photos....the first one of the press name plate is my favorite. The three legs on the rheostat/control switch is my second favorite.

Jim

Thanks all again, and Jim yes this beast has almost had it,,,I have been told by my sources(Absolute printing equip in Indiana) that this is the only two color miehle left running,,,The top unit has been retired for a year,,Dahlgren unit is ca put,,,
can't find parts and too expensive to get machined....so we only run it one color at a time,,,also my pressman is getting ready to retire,,he has ran this machine for 18 yrs, and when I started working here 16 yrs ago another pressman retired after running this machine 25 yrs,,,we have been sending a lot of our process color printing to Oliver printing, they have all the new toys.We do have some nice equipment ,,,two newer Bobst 1260 diecutters,,they are circa 1971, and 1970.

[wigpro]

Thanks all again, and Jim yes this beast has almost had it,,,I have been told by my sources(Absolute printing equip in Indiana) that this is the only two color miehle left running,,,The top unit has been retired for a year,,Dahlgren unit is ca put,,,
can't find parts and too expensive to get machined....so we only run it one color at a time,,,also my pressman is getting ready to retire,,he has ran this machine for 18 yrs, and when I started working here 16 yrs ago another pressman retired after running this machine 25 yrs,,,we have been sending a lot of our process color printing to Oliver printing, they have all the new toys.We do have some nice equipment ,,,two newer Bobst 1260 diecutters,,they are circa 1971, and 1970.

Yea, they don't make them like that anymore...just looking again of the overall picture of the press and it brings to mind - Just how many times I stumbled stepping down off of the catwalk on that press. The new presses are much lower and more compact. Also how many times the chain jumped off the gear on the feeder stacker. I spent about 4 years on one of those and can still hear and feel the vibration of that press.

I don't doubt that it is one of the last ones running, but I would suspect that there are still a few others around the world, cranking out printing and high quality stuff...

Sometimes I miss the smell of ink and the spray powder....but not often...it is a wonder I still have skin on my hands after all the chemicals we used in the old days to wash those things down...

Thanks again for the memories.

Jim

[JamesD]

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Mr. Trout,

I think we were all supposed to have consigned our worthless old dinosaur relics like the E-1 to the trash bin by now, weren't we?
Somehow, though, I didn't get the memo.
You neither, huh?

Say can you tell me what post processing you did on these.
If each one was different, please just tell me about the second one if you will; that's the one I'm focusing on.

Much obliged,

JamesD

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[BDTROUT]

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Mr. Trout,

I think we were all supposed to have consigned our worthless old dinosaur relics like the E-1 to the trash bin by now, weren't we?
Somehow, though, I didn't get the memo.
You neither, huh?

Say can you tell me what post processing you did on these.
If each one was different, please just tell me about the second one if you will; that's the one I'm focusing on.

Much obliged,

JamesD



.

memo what memo, just recieved the E-1 about 4 months ago, and still trying to get used to the button layout, I downloaded the manual but who has time to read a stink'n book when there are pictures to take,,,,love the camera so far, and it seems so much easier to get perfect shots every time opposed to my E-620.
The pics above were processed in lightroom 4, and I gave it a look that Bootstrap here used to use all the time.
contrast slider all the way right
shadows and highlight sliders all the way right (brightness,all the way right lightroom 3)
vibrant and clarity all the way right
pull back on saturation
and play with exposure untill it looks right for your taste also lightroom 3 increase black some after pulling back saturation
lightroom 3 is similar along with other raw processors
also darken corners in vignetting, if ya like

The main things to do with any processing seems to be increase
contrast
vibrancy
brightness
pull back saturation
adjust exposure
and increase black

Bill

[lkeeney]

About 30 years ago I had a company where I converted old equipment like this (not specifically printing equipment) to the latest microprocessor controlled systems, replacing a lot of the mechanical components with electronic components.

Great images by the way, I love them.

[Jay Reeves]

Bill,
these are some great photos. Like others, I am drawn to the second - such a large range of things going on and none of it has been lost, there are shadow areas but they contribute to the feel. These are also good examples of what can be done with post processing - really like the look you have achieved. Would love to see some of these printed - would be intersting to see matte and gloss or semi gloss to compare. I will try using some of the settings you suggest and see what happens.

Thanks for sharing,
Jay

[JamesD]

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Thanks, Mr. Bill.

I don't have Lightroom.
So I had to use my handy Pocket Lightroom-to-Photoshop Translator.
But I get what you're doing there.

I desaturate a lot of my images.
And then between Levels, exposure adjustment and some contrast, am pretty much with you.

I don't know what vibrance is or does, but except for that nothing seems foreign to me.

Mainly I really liked this set of pictures, especially one and two, and was just wondering what the Mad Doctor had been up to in the post processing lab.

Thanks,

James

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[thebinaryman]

Very cool shots! I enjoyed viewing. Interesting press, how large does it print? I work for a printing company, we have a couple 6-color plate presses, as well as digital presses and high-speed inkjet.