Photo type help

[JoeyFarino]

Type 1 or 3?

[D. Bergin]

It would be much easier to tell if in hand. From the scan It's a bit hard to tell for sure because the exposure on the photo is a little off, and you can tell from the back scan they were using a Descreen setting on the scanner, which smooths out print lines a bit.

Many wire photos from that very specific time period were done incredibly well and the wire transfer lines were often hard to pick up with the naked eye without the use of a loupe. Harder also to pick up on if the inset wire caption was trimmed from the photo.

I did see it listed on Ebay, but they didn't mention any dimensions. If the photo had non-standard dimensions that might be a clue if the wire caption was trimmed off.

They used the term "wire" in the description, but based on their other photographs it looks like they don't use it correctly, as they had other press photos that were obviously Type 1's, also listed as "Wire Photos", so they are using "Wire" in place of "Press Photo" as a general term.

[JoeyFarino]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

It would be much easier to tell if in hand. From the scan It's a bit hard to tell for sure because the exposure on the photo is a little off, and you can tell from the back scan they were using a Descreen setting on the scanner, which smooths out print lines a bit.

Many wire photos from that very specific time period were done incredibly well and the wire transfer lines were often hard to pick up with the naked eye without the use of a loupe. Harder also to pick up on if the inset wire caption was trimmed from the photo.

I did see it listed on Ebay, but they didn't mention any dimensions. If the photo had non-standard dimensions that might be a clue if the wire caption was trimmed off.

They used the term "wire" in the description, but based on their other photographs it looks like they don't use it correctly, as they had other press photos that were obviously Type 1's, also listed as "Wire Photos", so they are using "Wire" in place of "Press Photo" as a general term.

Ya thats where i have the hardest time determining a type 1 and 3. His other photos are type 1's. Whats your gut feeling on this one?

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by JoeyFarino

Ya thats where i have the hardest time determining a type 1 and 3. His other photos are type 1's. Whats your gut feeling on this one?

Ask him the exact dimensions.

[JoeyFarino]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

Ask him the exact dimensions.

8x10

[drcy]

I'll guess it's type one. The slight graininess is not inconsistent with it likely being shot from across the courtroom and that the photo is a larger size. Blowing up to a larger size an action or distant shot sometimes produces a grain. The blurriness/exposure issues with the faces is likely because the photographer was sitting there waiting for a moment when Luciano glanced in his direction. In that sense, it's a bit of an action shot and notice that Luciano is looking to his side.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by drcy

I'll guess it's type one. The slight graininess is not inconsistent with it likely being shot from across the courtroom and that the photo is a larger size. Blowing up to a larger size an action or distant shot sometimes produces a grain. The blurriness/exposure issues with the faces is likely because the photographer was sitting there waiting for a moment when Luciano glanced in his direction. In that sense, it's a bit of an action shot and notice that Luciano is looking to his side.

Agree. The exposure is a bit off giving it a Type III look, but it's probably a Type I. The caveat being, it's not 100% until you have it in hand.

Like I said, during this time period they put out some incredibly high quality "wire" photos, some of them in a larger format, so even with the wire caption trimmed off, they might still measure as large as 8x10.

If they haven't sent it out yet, you can perhaps ask them to put it under a loupe and see if there are any wavy lines present.