History Studios

09/05/2026

1907 view of Clinton Street at Second Street, looking west from the court house lawn. Once again I used Ai to get the base color laid out, overlaid it with the real image, then made the corrections/adjustments. I also cleaned up the original image as well (by hand, not with Ai). Might make a nice post card!

09/04/2026

GREAT Ai DETECTION!
I've been working with historic photos for 20 years (started my core business in 2006... how time flies!) and have a long history in photo restoration/colorization, etc. Maintaining the factual integrity of an image has always been very important to me. Obviously the advent of Ai has been a big game-changer in this regard. While I use Ai myself and consider it a wonderful tool, retaining the authenticity of the altered photograph is also a concern.

I feel I am not alone in this regard, which is why I am sharing the link below. It is a very simple and effective way to detect Ai images, and it is surprisingly accurate! I just ran dozens of my own photos through it... some altered with Ai, some genuine photos... and it was spot-on with its analysis every time. I highly recommend it if you want to know if you're looking at a real photograph or something generated by Ai.

Use our free AI Image Detector to check if an image was generated by AI. Detect AI images, deepfakes, and manipulated photos easily.

09/03/2026

We will open at 3pm today

Sorry for the inconvenience

09/02/2026

This big guy is one of two large pieces heading for their new home at Glenn Park. I love the old Defiance scenes they picked out! Handling glass sheets of this size is always a bit nerve-racking, but the guys at Leever Glass Sales, Inc. give great advice and have never steered me wrong. Their help is much appreciated. It turned out great!

09/01/2026

Was very honored to put together these shadow boxes in memory of Jarod Kammeyer, assistant fire chief of the Noble township fire department who tragically passed away in 2023. We offer a lot of different services here at History Studios, but preserving the memories of our fallen heroes is one of the things closest to my heart. Rest in peace, and thank you for your service. 🇺🇸🧑‍🚒❤

08/31/2026

We had one you might not remember, but here's one you might. That carriage always fascinated me! Does anyone know what happened to it? Just curious.
Thanks to Laurie Weaver for bringing in more great stuff!

08/31/2026

Happy Monday! Here's one for the die-hard Defiance history buffs: Where was this??? Defiance Mills... I've never heard of this before. Any ideas?

08/28/2026

Tenzer Lumber in 1975. Located at 631 Perry Street in Defiance. Anyone remember this? I remember Carter Lumber and Wolohan Lumber, but not this.
**Ai free

08/27/2026

With the Defiance County Fair in full swing, I thought it would be fun to colorize an old fair photo from around the turn of the last century. Thanks to Dianne Grimm for supplying the photo!
I restored this (by hand, the old fashioned way) a while back. But I did use a bit of Ai to lay down some color in it now, which I then corrected and adjusted to my own liking. It turned out nice!

08/26/2026

The last of the ornate architecture being removed from the old Citizen's Opera House (aka the Valentine Theater) in 1959. I cringe at what was done to these beautiful old buildings during the Midcentury Modern era. But on the other hand, the Victorian stuff probably seemed very cringy and out-of-date to the people who lived in the MCM era! Such is life.
**Ai free