A Failed Experiment: Using OpenCV to Read Printed Dates from Scanned Photos

I recently purchased a scanner and was challenged to see if I could capture the shooting date from the images when digitizing old photos that have dates printed on them.

📷 fragile

Auto-generated description: A dimly lit scene features glowing purple butterfly-shaped lights with blurred, colorful lights in the background.
Luminous Petals

The pale purple LED petals glowing in the shadows embody ‘fragility’ through their translucent presence, contrasting with warm scattered lights and diffusing blue illumination.

📷ancient

Keimigawa Shrine
Yorishiro: Vessel of the Divine
This 1,200-year-old shrine embodies the essence of yorishiro - a sacred vessel where gods have manifested in our earthly realm. The shrine's roof, veiled by trees, and the metal handrail along its stone steps blend subtle modernity with ancient mystique.
A partially constructed or abandoned building sits on a barren plot of land under a blue sky with scattered clouds.A tree with sprawling roots extends across a moss-covered ground.A long wooden pier stretches out into the calm ocean under a partly cloudy sky.A traditional Japanese room features tatami mats, shoji screens, a low table, floor cushions, and soft lighting.A serene lake view features a seagull perched on a post with colorful autumn trees and several boats in the background.A traditional Japanese shrine roof is viewed from the bottom of a staircase under a clear blue sky, surrounded by trees.

📷 mellow

A serene lake view features a seagull perched on a post with colorful autumn trees and several boats in the background.
The Gospel of Autumn

A lake bathed in the soft light of autumn, with the reflections of crimson leaves and a serene blue sky on its surface. This tranquil and beautiful scenery seems to bestow a sense of peace and calm upon the bird quietly standing there.

📷 slender

Auto-generated description: A green urban area features roads, a pedestrian overpass, lush trees, and modern buildings.
The Boundary of Silence
A slender tower stands quietly at the boundary between forest and city. Its serene silhouette bridges the tranquility of nature and human activity, bringing harmony and stillness to the landscape.

📷 subtle

Auto-generated description: A traditional Japanese tatami room features cushions on the floor, a paper lantern, and a view of a garden through a shoji screen.
Silence and Light

Soft light gently fills the traditional Japanese room, enveloping the space in quietude. The minimalist design and natural textures create a serene atmosphere, inviting a moment of stillness and reflection.

📷 bold

A long wooden pier stretches out into the calm ocean under a partly cloudy sky. Serene Geometry

A pier stands resolute against the endless sea, cutting a pristine line toward where sky meets ocean. Its dignified presence, stark yet graceful, commands the vast seascape in perfect stillness. Shot with Nikon Ti35.

📷 Eroded

A tree with sprawling roots extends across a moss-covered ground
Temporal Veins

The history of life etched in the earth emerges before us as an exposed root system. Years of erosion have revealed the tree’s lifelines, normally invisible to our eyes. This organic pattern appears as nature’s artistry of eroded time.

📷 #translucent A USB Hub with a translucent top panel showcasing its precision engineering. The design elegantly reveals the sophisticated internal circuitry beneath its minimalist exterior, offering a unique window into modern technology’s artistry.

dockcase
Inner Beauty Revealed

📷 #lost

The ruins of Kemigawa Transmitting Station
Station of Oblivion

The ruins of Kemigawa Transmitting Station, once broadcasting Japan’s voice to the world since the late Taisho era. Do countless words etched in history still slumber behind those rusted doors?

📷 #gloomy

Auto-generated description: A leafless tree leans to one side in a grassy field surrounded by dense greenery.
Silence in Green

A lone withered tree stands quietly in a space surrounded by lush forest. The contrast between the vibrant green and the decaying old tree evokes thoughts of time’s passage and nature’s cycle.

📷 #vibrant

City Berries
Nature's vivid hues bloom in a corner of the city. The bright red berries set against a backdrop of buildings made me feel the contrast between urban and natural elements, as well as an overflowing vitality.

📷 #album_cover These are LaserDisc albums, which were once a cutting-edge medium. Now, I no longer have a LaserDisc player, so I cannot play them.

An album cover features a stylized yellow submarine with
LazserDisc Albums

📷 #many

A group of crows is perched on a bridge railing while a person sits nearby looking at a smartphone.
Gathering Points

In a quiet corner of the city, a man on a bench while a group of crows gathers on a nearby bridge railing. The contrast between the solitary human and the flocking crows in the urban environment they inhabit provokes thought on the theme of individual vs collective.

📷 #windshield_shot

In the Tyhoon

While driving a SUBARU car in Typhoon ShanShan, the rain was so heavy that visibility became poor, and even Subaru’s EyeSight system stopped functioning.

📷 #Path

Hiyodori-zaka
The Hiyodori-zaka is an old path adjacent to an ancient samurai residence street, surrounded by a beautiful bamboo grove that has remained almost unchanged since the Edo period.
Paul McCartney’s photo exhibition

I went to Roppongi to see Paul McCartney’s photo exhibition “Eyes of the Storm.” The photos, taken between 1963 and 1964, capture their everyday life but were forgotten until 2020. These unseen photos of the Beatles during their peak success made the exhibition very fascinating.