Historical photography of San Francisco
Each images has been digitally mastered by Bennett Hall to remove flaws, adjust contrast and refine tonalities, correct perspective at high resolution.

You can prder these images in large sizes and canvas wrap with complete confidence int he resolution and fidelity of the content

Contemporary photography by Bennett Hall; primarily made with large format 6 x 7 through 8 x 10" view cameras as indicated

Suitable for exhibition in your workspace or enterprise facilities, hospitals, restaurants, hotels, offices, public space and private collections. 

We are adding to the collection regularly, please check back often to see new images

All images are available in sepia (See Sepia Collection) or black and white. If you do to see the version that what you want, let me know which piece you would like and I will upload it for you.  Custom hand-tintined is available by commission.  Special orders, caption cards and narratives, and quantity rates area available by request.   

direct: 4150-434-8745 or   bennett (at) businessimagegroup.com

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Print: Quality:
We strive to produce the highest quality reproductions of vintage photography available today. Our process includes high-resolution scanning of originals and retouching according to our certification standards.

Image Quality
The images in our galleries scanned at high resolution from photographic prints, transparencies and negatives. Images are then digitally mastered from these scans to improve contrast, color balance, and correct defects in the originals, especially important with old photographs that may be faded or heavily denigrated.  This can take several hours per image, even up to 20 hours in the case of the more detail hand-tinted pieces.

Print Size
I am reviewing the collections presently to offer suggestions on suitability for enlargement size.  In some cases, such a an original from a glass plate negative or albumen print, it may be possible to make prints up to 60 x 40".  One way to research this is to check the stats page in the normal Imagekind viewer environment. Typically pieces are technically managed for print sizes to about 24 x 20" comfortably - however, by all means send me an email, ask questions, especially for sizes greater than 24 x 20" so I can personally check the file and make sure you will be happy with the order.

Retouching Practices for Historical Photographs:
Our policy for image restoration is that nothing is to be removed from this image during the process of digital mastering that denigrates or obscures the historical value of the content. We do/may remove or correct scratches, cracks or defects that were related to the age of the original, deterioration, or other damage. In the case of architectural photography, we may also correct the perspective of the image or adjust the horizon line. We seek to make a print that is aligned with the intent of the photographer.

Hand-tinting & Coloring:
Our signature hand-tinted process by Bennett Hall goes back to 1975 when Hall produces a range of eclectic colorized views of America, some of which are available here as limited edition prints and a few originals.  This process was refined over the years through making Album covers for Huey Lewis and the News, Tom Petty, commercial and editorial work and other creative projects. 

Hand-tinting refers to the method of manually adding color to a black-and-white photograph to heighten its realism. Transparent aniline dyes are applied to the image surface using brushes by hand with the use of a magnifying glass.  Originals are then scanned and refined in Photoshop to enable the production of our limited edition prints.


Bennett Hall Photography

Photographs taken by Bennett Hall are shot with film cameras ranging from 35mm, 6x7cm through 8x10" view - images are professionally scanned and digitally refined, suitable for exhibition.  Through 1997, Hall printed from black and white materials in a custom mural lab he operated in San Francisco, using a Durst 8x 10" enlarger to make silver gelatin prints.  These prints were additional refined using darkroom processes and special effects and subsequently hand-tinted for special portfolios.
Bennett with 8x10 view camera on Bay Bridge