This picture was taken in 1967. It was taken in Connecticut. I’m not sure if the foliage is different from here in NYC. Or if it’s the photo’s colors that are off. I’m trying to figure out around what month in 1967 it may have been taken. I know it was taken after June:
Screencap from a home movie shot the same day:
Assuming the colors are accurate, looking at the brownish-colored tree behind the flagpole makes me think early Fall, maybe September? And the grass would match – some brown patches, but that might not be season-related. Some of the trees are evergreens, so they are no help. September would also explain the lack of coats on the figures.
I’d think the dormant brown grass would be early July through late August. Depending on the type it may not be able to handle the summer heat and go dormant until late August. In September and even October it would be green and growing.
It did recently rain if that is a water puddle in front of the car. Thus it might be a bit cooler that day so the long sleeves aren’t as intolerable.
Did you photoshop the flagpole in? It’s not casting a noticeable shadow.
Younger dude looks to be wearing a graduation gown in the first pic, when does that normally happen.
That’s a Nun’s outfit.
Nope, the flagpole is on both the original print (which was a Kodak Instant photo) and the home movie. It’s one of the markers (besides my aunt wearing the same clothes, my grandfather accidentally catching himself shooting and wearing the same clothes, and the general layout of the areas including the three cars) to determine both the film and the photo were taken the same day.
The grass has lines in it as if it has been recently mowed. Those usually disappear in 2-3 days.
Do you know the location? Maybe you can correlate it to google maps and determine the direction the photographer is facing, and from that determine the sun’s position. Then it’s an “easy” matter of matching that to time of year.
Yep. Since the trees are beginning to change, somewhere between early and late September. Peak foliage begins in CT in early October, so it’s earlier than that.
Yes, I thought late August, early Sept also, from the tree just starting to change.
Since this appears to have been taken rather late in the day, I thought some of the apparent brownish-ness of some of the foliage in the deep background might be just the effect of a “golden” late-day sunshine. Anyway, my guess is a little earlier, like August.
The colors almost certainly are NOT accurate. Chromomeric prints are made by layering three color dyes - magenta, cyan and yellow - to replicate what our eyes see. The big drawback is that, unless stored in a cold, dark place (like my heart), they all fade dramatically over time. The rate and pattern of fade is determined by how the print was stored:
The trees and grass could have been vibrantly green at the time of the photo and the brown tints nothing more than how the photo faded. It’s very difficult to say for sure. If the photo has ever been retouched, it’s even more difficult to say for sure.
I think all there is to definitively go by is that the shadows are long, indicating early morning or late evening, and the gentleman is wearing short sleeves, indicating the warmer part of the year. In Connecticut, doesn’t summer happen on July 28? 
The colors on the flag could be used as a reference in an attempt to correct the color. With a little more effort, if you knew the model of the cars maybe you could find out the standard colors of paint jobs for them.
Looks like late summer to me. The brown is dryness not fall foliage I think.
ETA: The graduation gown, if that’s what it is, makes me think June but maybe a particularly dry June.
FWIW, there is a puddle in front of the closer car.
(Also, I notice, there are blooming flowers around the statue in the right background.)
That was a habit of her.
It’s a religious habit – the statue of Mary over the right is a clue that they are at a convent or church grounds.
Late September. I am guessing based on the temps in Hartford for that year.
as a place to start
To me, that looks more like an iron sewer grate in a rectangle of concrete.
I’d like to know the name of the institution. It would be fun to see what the site looks like 40 years later – and maybe an ambitious person could analysis the geometry of the shadows.
Ok, spit balling here, but looking at the gentleman’s watch and playing with contrast, it looks to be a little after 5:00. If it’s after June, then sunrise doesn’t appear to occur earlier than 5:30, so it must be early evening in Connecticut in 1967.
Now, the young woman’s shadow appears to be about half the width of the road. If the road is 20’, then call it a 10’ shadow to the curb, plus if she’s standing in the middle of a 3’ side walk, another 1.5’. 11.5’ overall then. We don’t know how tall the woman is, but since she appears to be as tall as the man (or heels), call it above average say 5’6". 11.5’/5.5’ works out to 2.1. This site, http://www.findmyshadow.com/ lets you plug in some numbers and locations and the sun position table gives you the height factor. 2.1 comes in at 5:00 around the first week of September.
Lastly, “convent in Connecticut” Google search will come up with several hits, but I found: Convent of the Sacred Heart in Greenwich, Connecticut. What’s interesting about it, is that there is a circular drive in front of the main building similar to what is in the photo. Google Street View. Unfortunately, that particular view isn’t quite right for the above analysis, and street view doesn’t go on around the circle drive. At any rate, if all of that follows, I think they’re taking a picture on the SW corner of the circle drive, with the main building obscured by the trees in the upper right. Uniforms then, instead of habits? So maybe the start of the fall term in 1967. September 5th, since September 4th was Labor Day in 1967.
I could be completely wrong though.
