Photo gallery: Is Hampton Roads the same as it ever was?

TRY THIS AT HOME: Photographer Preston Gannaway offers these tips to anyone wanting to merge an old photo with its current-day surroundings:

Old black-and-white photos work best because they contrast nicely with the color of the new image.

Use photos that include locations that have at least a few unchanged architectural features - that helps you line the images up convincingly. If there are people in the old photos, use their size to compare to the size of people in the new images. Use horizon lines and vanishing points to help determine the correct angle.

When photographing buildings, use only a portion of the original photo (leaving half of the building in its current state) and that can help you line up images properly.

Have a friend help hold the old photo as you shoot the new image so you can move as you need to. Windy days can be challenging; skip them or bring along some cardboard and tape to add stability to the back of your photo.

Pay attention to the light falling on the subjects of the old photo and try to keep that consistent in the new photo. On overcast days, that is less of an issue.

Be careful. Though it may have been safe to shoot from the middle of 21st Street in Norfolk in 1947, it is not today. Medians are your friends.

For more advanced shooters, aim for the most depth of field possible. This means the widest lens focal length, highest number aperture and a high ISO setting. (For most of these images, I was shooting at 24mm, f/22 and 640 ISO).

You can order copies of these and other Pilot photos and pages through the online service MyCapture. The pictures are available framed or unframed, or printed on gifts. You can request any photo seen online or in print. Make your requests here or browse here.