Up I-85

[pez]

A scan of a really old negative from ~1979. On I-85 north of Atlanta, the DOT was replacing the old mercury vapor lamps with newer (at the time) sodium vapor lamps, but they had only finished one side. I rode my motorcycle to the spot under an overpass and carried my gear up to the bridge for the shot. Kodacolor 200, I believe. I discovered the negatives a while back and thought I'd do some scans. That grain is as noisy as a bad phone photo! :/ Anyway, thought I'd share it.

 

[Woodsman]

Nice, looks like the old Kodacolor negatives held up well. Back in the early 70's I was shooting non Kodak like Fuji or photo store branded film and slides to save money. Bad move. When I was scanning them a few years ago I found way too many that had color shifted so badly they were no longer viable.

I retired last November but often had to go to Alpharetta and used to take part of I-85 to the 400 through Atlanta if I recall quite often. Not something I enjoyed in rush hour.

 

[HaveCameraWillTravel]

I will be on that road tomorrow. Driving from Charlotte to Montgomery (then on to Laredo tx)

 

[pez]

Nice, looks like the old Kodacolor negatives held up well. Back in the early 70's I was shooting non Kodak like Fuji or photo store branded film and slides to save money. Bad move. When I was scanning them a few years ago I found way too many that had color shifted so badly they were no longer viable.

I retired last November but often had to go to Alpharetta and used to take part of I-85 to the 400 through Atlanta if I recall quite often. Not something I enjoyed in rush hour.

Well, not so sure how good they are. My storage practices leave much to be desired, as well. This one had many scratches and micro holes in the emulsion, which I had to fix after the scan. Also, it looked super washed out. So I had to adjust well, everything- levels, contrast, vibrance, saturation, curves, etc. Would have looked like crap straight off the negative. My old B&W negatives generally fair better. Slides seem to preserve quite well over the years, however.

 

[Woodsman]

I shot a lot of slides as it was cheaper than prints back then and money was tight. The Kodak slides all have held up very well on the color over 40+ years but many of the other brands and no name rebranded slides are blue or washed right out.

 

[sm4him]

Cool little blast from the past! I lived in the ATL back then--that was my senior year in high school, so I'd just been driving for a few years. I've always had bad vision and for some reason those "new-fangled" lamps were the dickens for me to ever get used to. I remember driving to the airport one night during a horrible storm, with those lights (they'd all been changed over by that point, I guess) glaring, driving behind a semi-, not really able to see any lane lines or anything, just glowing wet pavement, and I thought "If that truck drives off the road and over a cliff, I'm gonna be going off it right behind him!!"

Typically, I avoided both 1-75 and I-85 like the plague, took longer back roads practically everywhere just to avoid the interstates. Even 285. And it was nowhere near as bad back then as it is now.

 

[pez]

I shot a lot of slides as it was cheaper than prints back then and money was tight. The Kodak slides all have held up very well on the color over 40+ years but many of the other brands and no name rebranded slides are blue or washed right out.

I agree. My old Kodak slides are the best, no contest! Long live Kodak. I work in Alpharetta, BTW.

Cool little blast from the past! I lived in the ATL back then--that was my senior year in high school, so I'd just been driving for a few years. I've always had bad vision and for some reason those "new-fangled" lamps were the dickens for me to ever get used to. I remember driving to the airport one night during a horrible storm, with those lights (they'd all been changed over by that point, I guess) glaring, driving behind a semi-, not really able to see any lane lines or anything, just glowing wet pavement, and I thought "If that truck drives off the road and over a cliff, I'm gonna be going off it right behind him!!"

Typically, I avoided both 1-75 and I-85 like the plague, took longer back roads practically everywhere just to avoid the interstates. Even 285. And it was nowhere near as bad back then as it is now.

I've lived in and around of Atlanta for the last 37 years, and I avoid the expressways if at all possible! Over the years I've moved further and further out of the city.

 

[sm4him]

I shot a lot of slides as it was cheaper than prints back then and money was tight. The Kodak slides all have held up very well on the color over 40+ years but many of the other brands and no name rebranded slides are blue or washed right out.

I agree. My old Kodak slides are the best, no contest! Long live Kodak. I work in Alpharetta, BTW.

Cool little blast from the past! I lived in the ATL back then--that was my senior year in high school, so I'd just been driving for a few years. I've always had bad vision and for some reason those "new-fangled" lamps were the dickens for me to ever get used to. I remember driving to the airport one night during a horrible storm, with those lights (they'd all been changed over by that point, I guess) glaring, driving behind a semi-, not really able to see any lane lines or anything, just glowing wet pavement, and I thought "If that truck drives off the road and over a cliff, I'm gonna be going off it right behind him!!"

Typically, I avoided both 1-75 and I-85 like the plague, took longer back roads practically everywhere just to avoid the interstates. Even 285. And it was nowhere near as bad back then as it is now.

I've lived in and around of Atlanta for the last 37 years, and I avoid the expressways if at all possible! Over the years I've moved further and further out of the city.

We lived in a little bitty place called Avondale Estates, not far from Decatur or Stone Mountain. But part of the time I worked at Northlake Mall, and the rest of the time I worked at a place on Howell Mill Road--that was a rough one to get to on back roads!