Sepia Saturday 162 : 2 February 2013

I am sure we have had bicycles before on Sepia Saturday, but there again we have had most things before. The skill - as old Sepians know too well - is to search through the Theme Image in order to find some connection to your own featured archive image. With this weeks' picture - Western Union Messengers, Danville, Virginia  (1911, from the Flickr Commons collection of the Museum of Photographic Arts - you might want to go with bicycles, or young lads with caps on their heads, or that wonderful lettering on the wall. This is Sepia Saturday and you can go where you like : just post your post on or around Saturday 2nd February 2013 and link to the Linky List below.

Searching through images looking for inspiration takes time, and therefore here is a sneak preview of the next two Sepia Saturday Archive Images:

163 9 February 2013 : Snow, snow and more snow. But there is also lamp-posts, long coats and those ubiquitous barrels again.

164 16 February 2013 : Let's slow things down to sepia speed. There are tortoises, pipes, watches and all sorts of other things in this picture.

There we are, that is what is around the corner. Before you get to the corner, why not jump on your bike and pedal on over to the Sepia Saturday Group on Facebook ; there is always plenty of activity and discussion taking place there. 

Wherever your bike ride takes you, make sure to post your post for Sepia Saturday 162, link it to the list below and get around and visit as many of the other Sepians as you can manage. 

Sepia Saturday 161 : 26 January 2013

There are none of my uncles or aunts in our archive theme image this week. But there is a lot going on in this hundred year old photograph of the Dughi family store in Raleigh, North Carolina. The photograph is part of the collection of the State Archives of North Carolina which they have made available on Flickr Commons and they inform us that the two gents on the left are Antonio Leo Dughi and John J A Dughi. As I have already suggested, you might want to go with old store fronts, oysters, fruit and veg, barrels, or odd machines on curved legs. Or you may find some other potential theme in there; or abandon themes altogether and go with any old image. The choice is yours and, if the front of Dughi's store is anything to go by, there is plenty of choice available inside. Just post your post on or around Saturday 26th January 2013 and link it to the list below.

Our Sepia Saturday Facebook Group is going from strength to strength and they have asked for a little mini banner which people can put on their sites to direct people to the group. I have produced one, but I am not sure how people will be able to use it to steer people to the Facebook Group. I will throw that question out to that group and hope that an answer emerges.

I have also put together a little banner which can be used to draw attention to the post I wrote last week (or rather, the one I wrote along with Auntie Miriam, which looks at how Sepia Saturday works. As her fans will instantly recognise, the mini banner features Auntie Miriam herself.

Now let us have a look ahead to the next couple of Sepia Saturdays. Here are the next two theme images for those who like to work on them in advance.

162 2 February : Bicycles, lads with caps on their heads ... the writing is on the wall.

163 9 February 2013 : Snow, snow and more snow. But there is also lamp-posts, long coats and those ubiquitous barrels again.

So, there we go. Sepia Saturday - there is so much to choose from. Who needs an oyster saloon when you can have so much fun with old photographs?

Sepia Saturday 160 : 19 January 2013

We had a bumper week last week, obviously the theme image was far too easy. So for Sepia Saturday 160 we have this odd photo, or rather an odd bit of a photo. It has been cropped off the edge of a picture of my Auntie Amy and Uncle Wilf (is there no end to Alan's aunties, I hear you ask?) As usual, it is up to you to decide what the theme might be, but we all must have pictures in our collections where what is happening in the background is far more interesting than what is happening in the foreground. There is also the looking out possibility : what is the man looking at? Or the old waggon, or seaside piers, or candles and andles and randles. Or you can, of course, totally ignore my silly theme suggestions and go down which ever road you care to choose. Just post your posts on or around Saturday the 19th of January 2013 and link your post to the list below. If you are unsure about how Sepia Saturday works why not take a look at the handy new guide produced by my late Auntie Miriam - it answers all those questions you have always wanted answering but never had the courage to ask.

As usual, here is a sneak preview of the next two Sepia Saturday theme pictures in case you want to make use of the cold, dark January nights to prepare your posts in advance.

161 26 January : Old store fronts, oysters, fruit and veg, barrels, odd machines on curved legs - take your pick.

162 2 February : Bicycles, lads with caps on their heads ... the writing is on the wall.

But those two themes are in the background. For this week let us concentrate on the foreground ... or rather the background. Oh dear, even I am confused now.

Auntie Miriam Answers Your Questions

Well, what a week we had last week! I can now confirm that Sepia Saturday 159 was our most popular Sepia Saturday yet, and it was a great pleasure to be able to say hello to so many new Sepians. Can I also thank Peter for the suggestion that the second Sepia Saturday in January should henceforth be known as Auntie Miriam Saturday; it is a suggestion I have now incorporated into the Sepia Saturday Rulebook. As Old Sepians will know, that will make a grand total of two rules - the first one was "There shall be no rules". One of the potential drawbacks of such an anarchic community is that new members might want some guidance on how Sepia Saturday works, and for this reason I have asked Auntie Miriam to try her hand at answering some of the more common questions we frequently get asked:

How can I become a member of Sepia Saturday? You don't need to ask, you don't need to apply. Just post an old photograph and add a few words of explanation. Once you have your post up, add a link to that specific post to the weekly Linky List on the Sepia Sarturday Blog.

What is "old" and do the photographs have to be in sepia?  "Old" is what you want it to be. For someone who is still young, "old" might be just 20 years ago, whereas for me, "old" is when I could still do a decent waltz with my husband Frank. And sepia is merely an adjective rather than a precise definition - sepia, black, white, stunning Technicolour, the choice is yours.

Do they have to be family photographs?  Certainly not. They can be family photographs, other old photographs you may have, or archive photographs you have seen on-line and want to share. 

When should I post my posts?  Sepia Saturday is a weekly meme, with the focus, as the name suggests, on a Saturday. However, Saturdays are not always convenient times for people to post and therefore all we say is that the weekly posts should be "on or around" the Saturday in question. You might want to bare in mind, that if your posts are late, you might not get as many visitors.

How can we protect against Sepia Spammers? Some people still use the Word Verification system that is available on Blogger, but most of us have abandoned this as Bloggers' residual spam filters have improved considerably over the years. We will try and spot silly spam posts to the Sepia Saturday Blog and get rid of them, but sometimes my poor nephew Alan is a little slow off the mark on a Saturday morning after a Friday night in the pub.

How can I get my blog added to the list of Sepia Saturday Participants that appears on the side-bar of the Sepia Saturday Blog?  Just send a message to Alan and as soon as his hang-over has cleared he will add a link for you.

Who chooses the archive theme images?  It's that Alan again. He normally picks an old image from a site like Flickr Commons, as these tend to be free of any copyright issues. The whole idea is that the theme is not a specific subject, but an image open to all sorts of different interpretations. I know Alan would welcome suggestions for theme images that can be used in the future, if you have any ideas, just let him know.

Do I have to follow the theme?  No, you can go off-theme whenever you want. As it says on the tin, all we ask for is an old image and some new reflections.

What should I do about commenting on other posts?  There is no easy answer to this question. As experienced bloggers will know, commenting has always been a bit of an "elephant in the room" as far as the blogging community is concerned. Back in the days when Sepia Saturday was young and there were only ten or twelve participants, it was easy to get around to everyones' blogs and add a comment. Such an approach is not so easy when there are 50 participants. Some people will always try to visit and comment on the blogs of people who visit and comment on their posts. Some will try and spread their visits over a number of weeks so that they get around everybody over a period of time. Most bloggers welcome the fact that people visit their blogs and take the trouble to leave a comment, even if it is just a brief few words, the equivalent to the "Like" button on Facebook. The important thing to remember is that there are no hard and fast rules. All bloggers have lives outside their blogs and will, at time, find it difficult to regularly visit all the blogs they follow.

When will the Sepia Saturday T Shirt be available?  Soon.

That is enough from Auntie Miriam, I will put her back in the cupboard now until next January. The weekly Sepia Saturday call will be up at midnight tonight.

Alan

Sepia Saturday 159 : 12 January 2013

We may be in the middle of winter here in the Northern hemisphere, but Sepia Saturday is a global phenomenon. So, if you come from the Southern hemisphere, it is time to get those bathing costumes out and take to the seaside sands. And if, like me, you come from the frozen north you can get a little vicarious sun by hunting out all those all photographs of seaside beaches and bathing suits. You can, as always, search for any other theme within the prompt photograph, and if you can't find a suitable one, you can always just invent one. Just post your posts on or around Saturday 12th January 2013 and link to the list below. The prompt image, by the way, is from my own collection, and that is my Auntie Miriam enjoying the seaside sands.

As usual, here is a sneak preview of the next two Sepia Saturday prompts;

160 19 January : There are all sorts of potential themes here : pictures without a subject, left and right, old trucks.

161 26 January : Old store fronts, oysters, fruit and veg, barrels, odd machines on curved legs - take your pick.

All that is for the future. For the moment just sit back and soak up the sun and try to keep the sand from getting in your sandwiches.

Sepia Saturday 158 : 5 January 2013

I don't know about you, but I am still a little worse for wear following a prolonged spell of seasonal over-indulgence. I have had too many encounters with flagons of alcohol, held up too many bottles of beer in mock celebration of the New Year, and heard the drone of bagpipes for far too long. I want to leave this all-too-merry feeling behind and launch a sober mood here on Sepia Saturday in keeping with the season of resolutions and reflections. With this in mind, here is your archive theme image for Sepia Saturday 158 - post your posts on or around Saturday 5th January 2013.

Our picture dates from 1915 and shows Scottish soldiers at the entrance to their hut on the Western Front. There are plenty of potential themes for you to get your teeth into here, but just in case you are crawling away with a sore head in search of a little peace and solitude, I will remind you that you don't have to be "on theme" at all, just an old photograph and some new reflections. After posting your post just add a link to the list below.

As usual, here is a preview of the next two Sepia Saturday theme images:

159 12 January : We may be in the middle of winter here in the Northern hemisphere, but Sepia Saturday is a global phenomenon. So it is time to get those bathing costumes out and take to the seaside sands.

160 19 January : There are all sorts of potential themes here : pictures without a subject, left and right, old trucks.

Those a just a few thoughts to get you started, as always with Sepia Saturday there is no Sat Nav telling you where to go. But that is for the future; for Sepia Saturday 158 let us have a final celebration before the depths of Winter surround us (except for those in the Southern Hemisphere who can have a final celebration of high summer)