A common problem with old photos is that they often have un-desirable cracks and creases.

These can be removed quite easily using the Clone, Healing and Patch tools found in Adobe Photoshop.

The problem is that this can become a very time consuming activity if the photo in question is severely damaged.

This article describes a correction method using a free Action for Adobe Photoshop that can take less than five minutes to correct the majority of cracks and creases in an old photo

For several months now I have been using a Photoshop Action called de-crack, developed by Tim J. Edwards, with very effective results.

The original example image (Image 1) on our web-site page is typical of the sort of damaged photos we encounter on a daily basis.

As mentioned, correcting these flaws in Photoshop is actually not difficult but can take a lot of time.

Using Tim’s excellent de-crack Photoshop Action will not necessarily result in a perfect “de-cracked” photo.

Having said that, it certainly eliminates the more obvious cracks and creases resulting in you then needing to “tidy up” the outstanding cracks and creases manually with the Clone, Healing and Patch tools.

Now before we get started, you will need to get a hold of a copy of Tim’s de-crack Photoshop Action which you can download for free from the RetouchPRO web-site by searching for “de-crack” at the following link:-

“http://www.retouchpro.com/pages/search.html”

You will have to download a very small .ZIP file which will contain the single Photoshop .ATN action file.

After you uncompress the de-crack.zip file you will need to save decrack.atn in Photoshop’s “Photoshop Actions” folder and then “load” the de-crack action into your current action list.

You’re now ready to give it a try …

Step - 1

Open up your damaged image in Photoshop

Step - 2

Run the De-crack Action with a high-pass value of 0.3.
Run the De-crack Action with a high-pass value of 0.3 again.

Run the De-crack Action with a high-pass value of 1.5.

Each steps takes only a few seconds and should result in three new layers which collectively mask out the majority of image damage.

Step - 3

The end result is the elimination of most of the cracking damage, which will then allow you time to spend on the remaining cracks and creases, which are usually quite easy to correct manually.

If you find that the de-crack action has in-advertently lost some of the detail of parts of the image, you can easily go to the offending “de-crack” layer in question and erase the de-crack effect selectively using the eraser tool, bringing back wanted detail.

And there you have it!!

Less than five minutes of digital image manipulation to remove cracks and creases from old photos.

If you find the steps taking are a little hard to understand in this text based article, you can click on the link at the end of this article to see the same method explained on our website with the aid of example graphical images.

© Gary Wilkinson 2005 - All Rights Reserved

You can see this removal method complete with example images at Removing cracks and creases in photos

Feel free to re-print this article provided that all hyperlinks and author biography are retained as-is.

Gary Wilkinson is a photographer, photographic restorer and the owner of a photographic retail business.

He is also the publisher of the http://www.restoring-photos-made-easy.com website, where other methods of correcting common photographic restoration problems are discussed.

Digital photo printing is the process of developing digital photos into prints. Online digital printing first uploads images to a photo service provider’s website. Prints are ordered stating your preferences. Online printers use huge professional photo printers such as Fuji Frontier Digital Minilab or machines of similar type. A relatively new process of developing prints is known as giclee printing; this is quite a color-accurate way to develop digital prints. The prints are instantly delivered through email. Shipping costs are charged if delivered by other means.

As digital printers are cheaper, printing can be done at home using a printer of your own choice but can be quite expensive. Online Digital Photo Printing is a viable alternative. Online printing is faster, reliable and free from risks.

In order to get better prints, most of the online print services use high quality Kodak paper or comparable paper. For a large number of prints, it is better to go use a high-speed Internet connection such as a DSL (Digital Subscriber Line.) That way, you will not spend all day walking around your computer while your photo files upload.

Nowadays, online digital photo printing is becoming more and more popular. The growth in technology and the wide use of the Internet have made many improvements in the printing techniques. There are a number of online print services. Based in San Francisco, Snapfish is one of the most commonly used sites, and Shutterfly, Kodak Easyshare Gallery, Agfanet, Ez Prints, and Fujifilm.net are some of the other popular print services.

Your pets can make great photographic subjects. They are often cute and cuddly and never camera shy! But take your time to get the right shots.

- get your pet active - they exude energy and do daft things - perfect for photography

- catch the cute expression - the “ahhhhhhh” factor always wins!

- use props if you need to - toys, sticks, string - try to interest your pet

- action shots work well - put your pet to work

- don’t shoot immediately after your pet has slept …..

…… or after it has had a heavy meal

- use a fast shutter speed to freeze movement (use flash if necessary)

- try different angles - full face, profiles, angled up and down

- have pet food at hand - bribery always works

- move back to show the immediate environment; move in to show individual features

- be patient - watch your pet and wait for the right moment

- have a friend to help - they can distract and interest your pet

- a sharp noise (e.g. from a clap or a squeaky toy) will grab immediate attention (and is certain to get a cute shot)

- de-clutter the background - let your images focus on your pet

Cats and dogs are obvious subjects for photography. Don’t forget other pets - snakes, rabbits, hamsters, tortoises - can make great images too. Use your imagination.

Eric Hartwell runs the photography resource site http://www.theshutter.co.uk and the associated discussion forums as well as the regular weblog at http://thephotographysite.blogspot.com

Contrary to popular belief stunning photographs can be taken when shooting into the light. Whilst this may contradict advice given to beginners to always shoot with the light coming from behind the camera the art of backlighting is a technique that can produce wonderful images. However, many nature photographers are intimidated by the idea of pointing the camera towards the light and shy away from many worthwhile opportunities.

There is much to consider when using this technique if frustration and disappointment are to be avoided. However, once mastered there is little doubt that backlighting can be magical and will add both drama and visual impact to your photographs and diversity and interest to your portfolio. There are many subjects to try, my favourites are translucent flowers and foliage or rim lighting of animals and birds. Backlighting will enhance mist, rain and haze adding creativity and atmosphere to landscape images.

The two most challenging aspects of photographing backlit subjects are to adequately eliminate flare and ensure correct exposure. These concerns can be allayed with a little practice, good technique and an understanding of the exposure process.

Flare gives rise to a loss of definition and is probably the most significant area requiring attention, so a measured and methodical approach is needed. It is produced when intense rays of light hit the front element of the lens causing excessive lens refraction, this leads to specula highlights, image softening and loss of definition. Clearly this is to be avoided and there are several ways to overcome this undesirable effect.

Lenses show individual characteristics but in general the more lens elements used in their construction the more vulnerable they will be to flare. With this in mind zoom lenses are more likely to be flare susceptible that prime fixed focal length lenses. Lens coatings also have an impact on flare, modern multi coated lenses consistently outperform earlier models and this alone can significantly reduce most potential flare problems.

In many backlighting situations using a designated lens hood will greatly improve the chances of eliminating flare by keeping stray light from striking the front element of the lens. Indeed, the use of a good quality lens hood can improve saturation in all images.

Having taken the above precautions a final visual inspection of the image through the viewfinder, preferably with the lens stopped down, will show any remaining areas of softness or highlights resulting from flare. This may only require a slight repositioning of the camera to eliminate.

The other challenge in photographing backlit subjects is how best to handle exposure. Overexposure is a common problem in backlighting, as the brightly-lit background will overly influence the camera’s meter; this will turn the subject very dark, indeed almost silhouette like.

Exposure compensation is the answer and it is best to give between one and two stops extra exposure from the ‘normal’ exposure suggested by the camera. Alternatively, take a spot meter reading from the shadow area and expose at the camera’s reading this should require no compensation. As exposure for backlit subjects is tricky it is best to practice various exposure metering patterns and overrides until you are comfortable in approaching various back lighting opportunities that present themselves.

So, nature photographers, there really is no excuse for not getting out there, there is an endless variety of subjects waiting to be found and with care they can become some of your most creative and satisfying images.

Redstart Photography
Redstart photography by Phil McDermott based on the Isle of Mull in the west of Scotland specialising in nature and environmental photography.

There are lots of options available for getting your digital photos printed, but which method is the best and most economical choice for you? Let’s look at some of the options and the pros and cons of each.

PRINTING YOUR DIGITAL PHOTOS AT HOME

Convenience and instant gratification are two popular reasons for printing your digital photos at home. Depending on your printer, you can print directly from your camera or from your memory card in most cases. Or if you want to touch up your photos first you can copy them to your computer, use your photo editing software (I like Photoshop Elements 3.0) to enhance your images, and then print right from your graphics program. You don’t have to make an extra stop to drop off your photo memory card at the photofinisher or drugstore and then return to pick up your prints, and you save the shipping fees the online photo services charge.

However, printing your photos on your home printer may be more expensive than you realized. The per-print price can approach $1 per picture when you factor in the cost of buying a photo printer, high quality photo paper and lots of color ink cartridges. If you print a lot of photos you’ll go through ink cartridges and paper rather quickly, which gets expensive, especially if you make mistakes and have to reprint. If you use inexpensive or off-brand paper, you will likely find that your photos may start to fade or discolor within a few months. According to industry experts, if you print at home, use the same brand name paper as your printer manufacturer (i.e. if you have a Canon printer, use Canon photo paper). Your prints will be better quality and last longer.

USING AN ONLINE DIGITAL PHOTOFINISHER

Online digital photofinishers like Ofoto and the new PhotoWorks make the process of printing your photos very easy. You can edit your photos either using your own photo editing software or download free software from the online line printing service to crop, fix red-eye, and add special effects or borders to your images. Then simply select the images you want to print, click to upload to the photo site, and you will receive your order, printed on high quality photo paper, in your mailbox in approx. 2-5 days. In addition to prints you can order customized photo calendars, photo cards, photo books, mugs, and other photo items. With some online services, like Shutterfly, you can even try out and order frames for your photos.

The downside: you do pay a shipping charge, so you may want to wait and order a number of photos or photo products at one time to make it more economical. Print costs for 4×6 inch photos range from about 19 cents to 29 cents, depending on the company.

Wal-Mart.com’s prints are inexpensive and the bonus is you can upload your photos to their website and then pick them up at your local store and avoid shipping charges. Photo stores like RitzCamera.com or WolfCamera.com are also good options because you can either upload your photos to their website and pick them up at a local store in as little as an hour, or you can drop off your memory card at the store and pick up your prints later.

PRINT YOUR PHOTOS AT THE DRUGSTORE

Digital printing is now available at drugstore chains such as Walgreens and Longs. You can bring in your memory stick and use their photo kiosk to crop and edit your images and then print them. The cost is about the same as an online printing service, but you have to stand there at the kiosk and edit/upload your photos. Not something I really want to do, nor do I want to wait in line while someone else finishes their photo order. The good news is these drugstores also offer online photo services so you can upload your photos to their website and you can pick up your prints at their store usually the next day.

The other option is you can drop off your memory card or CD at the drugstore’s photo department and pick up your prints anywhere from an hour later to a day later, depending on the service selected, just like the “old days” of 35mm film. The print cost is about the same as full service online photo finishers (less the shipping fee). There are frequent sales, so the per-print cost can be relatively low if you hit a sale, but you don’t have the option of cropping or enhancing your images unless you edit your photos then burn them to a CD first.

My suggestion is to experiment with several methods and find the best one that works for you. Whatever you do, don’t just let all those digital photos pile up in your memory card or on your computer, get them printed so you can show them off. Of course you can also share them online with family and friends, but that’s another article.

Valerie Goettsch publishes the digital photography website http://www.digitalphotos101.com featuring reviews of photo editing and album software and digital photo printing services.

Of all the pictures taken at a wedding, the one most important is the portrait of the bride and groom. Some wedding couples depend on a relative or a friend to take a few good photos for their album and others reserve a professional photographer to do the honors. This article is for both the real and wanna-be photographers at the wedding.

A good time to photograph the bride and groom is after the ceremony and before the reception. Ideal is an open lawn away from any building. Other photogenic locations are at the edge of a treed area, under an arcade or
at home in the backyard. Important is to choose an evenly lit background: one that does not contain light and dark areas. Place the couple in the shade at least thirty feet away from any background objects with their faces toward the main source of light.

Turn the bride thirty degrees away from the camera and fluff the train behind her so that only half of the train is visible from the camera position. Never pull the train around to the front of the bride since this is most unnatural and would never occur in real life. Pose the groom slightly facing the bride and have him offer his arm for her to pass her through. Make sure her ring is visible. The groom’s outside hand can be in his pocket or touching the bride’s hand. The bride should shift most of her weight to the foot furthest from the camera and the groom should have his weight evenly distributed on slightly spread feet. Never let his hand drop straight down at his side. The bride may hold her bouquet in her outside hand at a level below her waist with some daylight or background showing between her elbow and her waist. An alternate place for the bouquet is on the ground next to the groom’s feet. Turn their faces toward the camera but not fully straight on, but at a slight angle toward each other. Their expressions should show their happiness, but not laughing.

Angles other than the view straight on without changing their positions often present another good composition for a portrait. Consider also a view from behind the couple, requesting them to turn their heads directly toward each other, giving the photographer a profile of their faces. A variety of shots are possible with this pose. A medium shot (at the knees) with their faces closer together and an even closer pose with the cheeks almost touching make wonderful portraits. Try having them look into each other’s eyes with his arms around her. Natural light from the side is the most beautiful source as long as the reflector of some sort balances the light. Watch your cropping in the viewfinder carefully and leave some space over their heads. Pay attention to the position of the feet (no soles showing) and be sure only the sides of the bride’s hands are presented to the camera. The groom’s coat collar should fit snug to the neck.

A beautiful portrait of the bride and groom can be their most treasured reminder of the most important day in their lives. You can make it happen.

Comments Welcome.

A lot of fuss is made over exposure and it can get really complicated. No more … read on!

Put bluntly, exposure is just the right combination of factors needed to make a decent image. A correctly exposed image needs just the right amount of light to fall on the sensor.

The amount of light falling on the sensor is determined by the shutter speed and the aperture.

The shutter speed can be seen as the amount of time the sensor is exposed to light (the faster the shutter speed the less light falls on the sensor). The aperture can be seen as the amount of light that can be let in through the lens (the bigger the aperture the more light comes in).

In average conditions, the faster the shutter speed the bigger the aperture that is needed to let light in. Conversely, the slower the shutter speed the smaller the aperture needs to be.

You can put this the other way around - for a big aperture you need a fast shutter speed and for a small aperture you need a slow shutter speed,.

If too much light comes in the image is “overexposed” - whited out. If too little light comes in then the image is very dark.

Don’t worry - your camera will do all this work for you if you put it on automatic mode (program mode). But sometimes the camera will be fooled into giving the wrong exposure (especially in very bright or very dark condition). In this case you can override the exposure by using aperture priority, shutter priority or manual mode. Check your camera instruction manual for further details and experiment.

Eric Hartwell runs the photography resource site http://www.theshutter.co.uk and the associated discussion forums as well as the regular weblog at http://thephotographysite.blogspot.com

Summer is here and it’s a great time for outdoors action and adventure. Many photographers will travel great distances this season to find the perfect shot. For all photographers, just as important as the camera, is the camera bag. If you’re travels find you hiking in the Grand Tetons, or cycling in Moab, travel with a quality small camera bag like those made by M-Rock to ensure your camera is safe. M-Rock is leading the way for small camera bags with unsurpassed quality and attention to detail.

M-Rock small camera bags offer lots of advantages to the active traveler. Many times stories are told of a trip put on hold when a camera was lost or destroyed. A quality camera bag like those made by M-Rock keeps this from happening. M-Rock small camera bags have comfortable shoulder straps and belt loops to keep the camera at your side where you need it, or on your back for comfort. The camera inside is protected by thick foam and durable water resistant material. Plus, the small bags offer triple protection from the elements with a rain-flap, zipper, and front buckle. And all M-Rock camera bags come with a weather jacket that acts as a dry bag when the weather acts up.

M-Rock offers several sizes and styles of small camera bags, as well as medium and large bags. The smallest bag is the Mesa Verde, and it holds a great number of digital cameras and camcorders models. The Niagara is a vertical bag that holds cameras with lenses up to seven inches. The bags come with two additional side pockets for storing accessories, and rubber straps to hold water bottles.

The greatest advantage to M-Rock camera bags is their modularity. All small M-Rock camera bag products can attach to the sides of M-Rocks medium and larger camera bags. The modular bags allow an active traveler to gear up when necessary, or reduce bag size when less equipment is needed.

So, no matter what this summer season holds for you, enjoy your adventure and take along a great small camera bag to protect your gear. Visit M-Rock.com today to see the products they have available and see why everyone is switching to M-Rock.

Angela Oliver is an author for www.M-Rock.com, maker of the most functional and user-friendly camera bags. Visit M-Rock.com today check out their complete line of unique and high quality camera bags.

I’ve been shooting with digital cameras in my portrait and wedding photography studio for about five years now, and in that time I’ve taken well over 50,000 exposures. Our studio has been around for about twenty five years, and it is busy, so creating a digital workflow that made sense was essential to not only our sanity, but our bottom line as well. After all, we’re in business to turn a profit, and time is money.

One of the reasons this is so important is because so many photographers get bogged down and stuck in time wasting systems, systems that are over complicated and too “perfect’. In the real world, where real clients pay the bills, and making them happy on a consistent daily basis is critical, getting the job done as fast as possible is essential.

Let give you a “snapshot” overview of our digital workflow. You should know that all the stratgies we’ve created in our studio are not new. They are essentially the same as when we shot film. Nothing has changed, except the media, the turnaround times (faster, much faster!), and, of course, the huge learning curve. Which we’ve over-complicated beyond anything that makes sense.

Funny thing is, I’ve come to realize that the learning curve is quite small when you do only the things required and when you use only the essential tools.

Here are the seven steps to digital photography workflow:

Good capture: This is the starting point. Without a properly exposed file and good color balance, you are in the “taking corrective measures” mode. You don’t want to be there. In time you would go crazy if you had to “fix” every file, so you need to master these two basics. Good photography and fast, painless workflow starts with good exposure and good white balance. A good exposure means you have as many of the tones, from the blacks all the way to the whites, in the image. The middle tones are exactly where you want them to be, in the middle. How can you check this? Shoot a grey card, and check your histogram of that grey card image in Photoshop. The levels should show you most of the data in the middle, or very close. If you are off, you are either over or under exposing your files and you are asking for trouble. Your white balance should be neutral, with no color cast. How can you verify? You should first of all should be creating a custom white balance for each lighting scenario. In our studio I created a custom white balance and never change it. It works all the time because the lights and the studio setting is consistent. On location each scenario requires a custom white balance. It’s very easy when you get the hang of it. To check that you are getting a fairly neutral image from you custom white balance, again, shoot a grey card, in Photoshop use the color picker, and the RGB numbers should all be very close together. This means your image is neutral. If any of the RGB numbers are way off, you have a color cast in that direction. Master this and you are 90% of the way to success.

Adjust contrast: For many images we hardly do much contrast adjusting. Sometimes we slightly “tweak” the file in levels, but you can easily get carried away here and ‘over process’ the image. When you do that, there’s no turning back. It’s like over-cooking a steak. Too late, once it’s cooked. So be careful here. My rule of thumb? Less is more. If you have to ask yourself “Does this need more contrast?,” then you’re done. STOP! But I do a step before anything else, and it does adjust the contrast as a side effect. You will never hear about this in any digital photography course or book. As a matter of fact, they will (”they”, being the “experts”) likely frown upon this step. Try it anyhow. We do, on every sinlgle image we work on. And that’s a lot of images. Here it is: In Photoshop go to Filter/Sharpen/Unsharp mask. Apply the following settings: Amount 60 Radius 20 Threshold 0. See how it removes the haze? Cool uh? And it just beefs the image up a bit. Now this filter is also used to sharpen image, but this step is not a sharpening step. We call it the de-fog step.

Enhance the skin tones: For all you nature and scenic photographers this step may not apply. But try it anyhow, it may help. The idea behind it is to bring out the reds in our skin tones, for all skin types. In the good old days of retouching by hand, we used to finish the print off with a layer of red. This always brought the final steps of those long tedious retouching by hand steps together just nicely. How do we do this? Simple. In Photoshop go to Image/Adjustements/Selective Color. You will notice that the red channel is the default chanel. This is the one we want so don’t switch. Pull the top slider, Cyan, over to the left, and watch the colors, especially in the skin, warm up. Adjust it to your taste. We find that most images are within the -20 to- 40 range. That’s it! Assuming you have a good exposure and good white balance, this is the only color “enhancing” you will need to do.

Adjust the saturation: When I shoot I turn the cameras’ sharpening, contrast and saturation features off. I don’t want the camera doing any of these important steps for me, since every image requires a different amount in order for it to be optimum. The images that come off the camera tend to look a little flat, dull and sometimes not sharp. But that’s good! I get to adjust these myself. The saturation will add a whole lot of life to your images, if done properly. Again, less is more. Here’s how: In Photoshop go to Image/Adjustements/HueSaturation and pull the middle saturation slider over to the right. It helps if you enlarge your image so you can really see this effect and not over do it. This works very well on scenics and underwater images as well. But be careful not to over process. Remember, less is more.

Burning and Dodging: Over and over, I see it all the time. Using the right amount of good old fashioned burning or dodging and you will take your images to whole new level. It isn’t easy to master however. Way back when I started out in photography, my mentors and early instructors were well versed and skilled in the ways of this traditional application. They knew and valued the importance of an image that was properly worked. The rookie mistake I see over and over is either not using enough (or none at all), or using too much. It takes some doing but this skill is worth mastering. Here’s how: On the toolbar in Photoshop, click on the dodge/burn tool. It has both. Burning is by far the one you will use the most. When you select burn, the control bar accross the top will allow you to set the brush options. These settings are vital to your success. First, select a soft brush. The size will depend on the area you are burning. When I am burning all around an image, I generally choose a larger than the image area size. Next, choose Highlights in the range options. Next, bring your exposure down, way down to about 20. Now you are are ready to do the first step. Burn all around a few times, and stop after you notice a very slight darkening. Next, switch the Range to midtones. The first step, in highlight mode in the Range bar, gives your image some teeth for the next step. Now burn around again, careful not to over do it. The success of proper burning will depend on how well you can achieve an almost imperceptable dark vignette look to the image. If it’s too obvious, then you’ve over done it. I should point out that this is not recommended for white or very light images.

Sizing: Almost done. We size two ways. For prints smaller than 11″x14″, we use the crop tool and simply crop and save as required. For larger prints we use a technique that will magically increase your images to just about any size without any virtual deteriotion. Here’s how. In Photoshop go to Image/Image Size. In Document Size, switch the option in the drop down menu from inches to percentage. Only do this on the top “witdh” option: replace 100% with 110% and click okay. Make sure Constrain Proportions and Resample Image options on the lower left are clicked on. The image will increase in size by 10%. Do this until you have reached the size you want. It’s amazing! Virtually no deteriotion at sizes up to and beyond 40 inches. Try it.

Sharpening: This is the last step, well, almost. My sharpening approach is not something you will hear about in any course or book. Again, I figured out what works, and what works best. I was able to get tack sharp images from file sizes as small as 3.4 MP. Here’s how: Go to Filter/Sharpen/Unsharp and start with these settings: Amount 500%, Radius .2, and Threshold 0. Click on preview. Highlight the Radius number and start to increase that number (I use the “up” arrow on my keyboard) one step at a time until the image slightly “pops”. That’s when it’s done. If it pops too much, bring it back one number in the radius. I don’t even touch the other two settings. They will not recommend this technique in any course or book, but it works in the trenches. I’m sure it breaks all sorts of rules. The final step for all images is by to Filter/Noise/Add Noise, and set the amount at 1. Why do I do this? It gives the image a slight texture, a little bit of “love”.

That’s it! In a nutshell. From the trenches. There are more technical and highly advanced ways of getting these steps done, but frankly, in the end, you won’t see the difference. I know, I tried em all! Fact is the only expert in the game of portrait photography is the client. All she cares about is great looking images. She doesn’t care if I shot using RAW mode (which I don’t by the way, always JPEG). She doesn’t care how many megapixels I use. She doesn’t care what kind of lights I use, how I workflowed my images, whether I did them on a MAC or a PC (PC by the way). She ultimately is the final judge and jury.

Robert Provencher has been a professional portrait and wedding photographer for over 25 years. He has trained hundreds of professional photographers throughout North America in live workshops and through his online forum. Robert has authored several manuals on digital photography and photogaphy marketing.
http://www.nobsphotosuccess.com

It was a rainy afternoon. I had decided to take a few days of vacation. Finally, getting the kids off to school, I had some time for myself. I don’t know why I decided to tidy up the spare bedroom closet, but what a surprise awaited me. It was an old hatbox, you know, the one that just sat on the shelf for years collecting dust, but interesting enough never to toss out. It had actually belonged to my wife’s grandmother. Though I had seen it for years, I had never looked in it. Why I did this morning is still a mystery, but when I opened it, a treasure of pictures gripped my attention, inducing an almost hypnotic trance. These were my children’s heritage. It was all about their past, their roots, and the people that had shaped their lives.

I had always wondered where Alex, my 18 year old, had gotten his deep, penetrating brown eyes; certainly it wasn’t my side of the family. But it certainly was similar to the photo of the attractive young woman in the picture. The sepia photograph was definitely old, very old. It was worn and needed some attention - if it was going to last much longer. The family portrait of what later proved to be my children’s Great-Great-Great Grandfather and Grandmother, and their three children, was priceless.

As I gazed upon each picture, searching for similarities, attributes and features of my wife and children, I realized that this assortment of pictures told a story of our family, our heritage, the old farm and how our relatives had looked. Imagine…this generation saw the first airplane fly overhead; they huddled around the kitchen table and listened to a radio broadcast for the first time; they cranked their car by hand to start it; they had live operators who connected them to their neighbors; and these were the people who survived the great depression. Past history? Not for us. This was history that had just come alive to our whole family; a history that we could have missed; a past that a generation may have never known existed; a history that we talked about for hours that evening and still talk about today; a history that is now being shared with my new grandchildren - the next generation.

“Travels Through Time”; that’s how many refer to the photos that often resurface to new generations; generations that want to know about their past; generations that due to age and maturity eventually begin wondering about their Great Grandparents, their Great-Great Grandparents, and even their Great-Great-Great Grandparents. Who were they? What did they look like? Do I look like them? Many of these generations who want to save a bit of their history, are often saddened if not desperate as they find the centuries of old photos in old albums, drawers, chests and hatboxes, often crumbling before their eyes.

We all know the old adage that age escapes no person. As we get older, we all become more reflective, sometimes spending time with old photos just to remember. Maybe it’s good for the soul. Maybe it’s a way to add significance to our lives. Maybe it’s a way to reflect or ponder about how others will sometimes remember us. Whatever the reason, we all have to wonder what others will see when all that is left is a picture and a memory to go with it? The least we can do is cherish the photos and assist the next generation with their “Travels Through Time”.

So why the panic? Why not just store the old photos in a safe place and let their recovery be the next generation’s fun surprise? Because it’s just not all that simple, the problem is with the photographs that were produced before 1950. You know, the black and white photos that were taken with the cameras that were held down by your waist; looking down to see the subject’s reflection; and then clicking on the lever to capture the picture. These photos were processed using silver salts -the best-known photography procession method at its time.

The silver processes used in the old black and white photography are far more stable and “thicker” than the multitude of dyes used in processing colored photos today, but the years have now hardened the photo’s emulsion that was once meant to preserve. The patina has hardened; the image looks brownish; and the cracks seem brittle - easily damaged further with even the slightest bend. Can these photos be preserved for the next generation or is history destined to eventually fade with their memories and become lost forever?

What about the “natural color” photos of today? The family gatherings, the 35mm camera pictures capturing treasured vacations, even the Wedding Photos? Will they survive the onslaught of future years, the generations of new eyes wanting to discover their own history, their own family heritage and experience their own travel through time? Probably not! The chemical dyes that create today’s foundation of photography processing make it almost impossible to maintain the color intensity that you first experience when you first see a newly developed picture. Natural ultraviolet rays fade all color photos, eventually to the point of obscurity.

What’s your history worth? What’s it worth to pass on your won legacy, or the legacy of your grandparents and the special family “characters” of the past who defined the genes of those “new characters” that comprise your family today. Don’t let them fade away. A professional can retain them forever. Memories deserve to have pictures. A picture legacy is good for the soul. It adds significance to life. After all, what greater gift can you give your loved ones than a “Travel Through Time”?

William Heroy - Owner of Old Photo Specialists - Founded in 1973

If you would like more information:

Visit Our Website
http://www.oldphotospecialists.com
or email us at
oldphotospecialists@triad.rr.com
(336) 271-6960

Old Photo Specialists is a highly specialized restoration studio. We provide a variety of services including original restoration, digital restoration, archival black and white and sepia tone printing, hand oil tinting, oils on canvas and a large variety of photography services. We educate our clients on how to take care of, preserve, and archive their precious family photos.

Or Write to Our Studio
Old Photo Specialist
320 South Elm St.
Greensboro, NC 27401