The fresco is located in the city of Caesarea Maritima in the western part of Israel on the Mediterranean coast. Andy explained the history of the city, now a resort town. Dr. Bull led a research expedition to the city in 1972. Excavation uncovered a statue and a stone structure containing a fresco. The Vault #1 structure containing the fresco is a Mithraeum, a meeting site for members of the cult of Mithras. The original research is described in book entitled King Herod’s Dream.
A photograph was taken of the fresco but it was not clear enough for analysis. Andy showed in his talk how he used digital editing software to bring a laser print of the fresco photo to life. Using a scanner, he created a digital photo and applied descreening to eliminate the laser-generated lines. He explained the photographic histogram (available on most digital cameras) and how it is used to edit digital images. The edited images were much clearer than the original, as everyone in the audience could see in the images projected during Andy’s talk.
As a bonus, at the end of his talk, Andy showed how he created photographic prints that look like an artist’s painting. He starts with five RAW images shot with a range of exposures. Files from these images are blended using special High Dynamic Range imaging (HDRi) software (e.g. Photomatix). HDRi adds detail to very dark and very bright areas of a photo taken in a wide range of lighting. He prints the photo, using an ink-jet printer, onto a canvas sheet. The print is sealed with acrylic and then bonded to glass with Gesso. He showed a framed photo of the center of Madison, NJ. Everyone in the audience thought it looked very nice. Samples of Andy’s work can be viewed at the Art League show now running at the Chatham Township Municipal Building.
The audience loudly applauded the very informative and helpful talk. Many of the Kiwanis members stayed afterward to talk with Andy.
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