Win this museum-grade reproduction at PaLA!

On July 15, 1863, Matthew Brady and his photographic outfit captured this iconic image of three unnamed Confederate prisoners of war. Taken on Seminary Ridge at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, just a few hundred yards from both General Lee’s headquarters and the Lutheran Theological Seminary, this photograph is acknowledged to be one of the finest records of Confederate uniforms ever recorded during the American Civil War. We will be pleased to award this museum-grade reproduction to one lucky librarian who visits our booth at the Pennsylvania Librarian Association Annual Conference – October 1-2, 2012, at Gettysburg PA.

Creekside Digital created a composite uncompressed TIFF master file from the left and right halves of high-resolution scans of the original stereo glass plate negatives (Library of Congress Call Number LC-B811-2288) using the clearest, most-detailed and least-damaged portions of the source images. The composite was then expertly retouched to remove dust, tape, emulsion scratches, and other flaws present in the original image, requiring many hours of manual work. In order to maximize the both D-Max (darkness of black) and overall tonal dynamic range present in the final print, we selected Hahnemühle’s FineArt Baryta paper for use with our 12-color pigment ink reproduction process (using four separate shades of black and gray). This 325 g/sm paper uses barium sulphate in its coating to emulate the look, feel, and depth of black & white prints made using traditional darkroom processes. Multiple proofing strips were run and adjustments made to ensure that subtleties such as shadow detail and folds and creases in the uniforms were retained in various parts of the composite while retaining D-Max and an overall balanced, pleasing contrast. If properly cared for, this archival print will last for over 150 years without fading.

Original, unretouched left and right glass plate negative halves

Finally, the printed image was mounted, double-matted, and custom-framed using quality, acid-free Larson Juhl materials. Creekside Digital is able to create such custom, museum-grade reproductions from items in digital collections, on demand and at any volume, and frame and ship them anywhere in the world.