Archiving old family photos and film

[Meadbh]

Here's an interesting video from the BBC. I don't have any old films, but there are a lot of photographic memories that I would like to preserve.

BBC News - Keeping analogue memories in a digital age

 

[Walt34]

I bought one of the scanners shown for exactly the same reason after spending considerable time reading about restoring old photos and slides.

It's a Canon Canoscan 9000F ~$175 wherever good photographic equipment is sold. I hate to sound like an advertisement for Canon but the thing is amazing.

This is from a 35mm slide, color-corrected for fading and reduced resolution for posting here. But otherwise it'd still be good for an 8x10 print. That's me in the photo about 1965. My hair was brown then, and there was a lot more of it.

A good book for photos and slides is Amazon.com: Digital Restoration from Start to Finish, Second Edition: How to repair old and damaged photographs (9780240812083): Ctein: Books

He doesn't cover video, that's a whole different ball game.

 

[FIREd]

It's a Canon Canoscan 9000F ~$175 wherever good photographic equipment is sold. I hate to sound like an advertisement for Canon but the thing is amazing.

I have been using the Canon CanoScan 8800F to archive my 35mm film, 35mm slides and even 120mm film. The results are fantastic.

 

[Walt34]

I have been using the Canon CanoScan 8800F to archive my 35mm film, 35mm slides and even 120mm film. The results are fantastic.

I think that's the model immediately prior to the 9000F, probably not significantly different. I read good reviews of both.

Here's one of of my mother well before I was even thought of, the original untouched scan and then with some adjustments made in both the scanner software and Photoshop Elements:

 

[TromboneAl]

You mowed the lawn in bare feet?

 

[Walt34]

You mowed the lawn in bare feet?

I don't remember ever doing so but it sure looks that way in the photo. We had just assembled it and started it up for the first time.

It may have been done simply because the mower was brand new and having a gas-powered mower was a big deal at the time. It replaced a hand powered reel mower. What luxury! So I may have done that simply for the photo op.

Besides, 15-year-olds are immune from injury.

 

[GrayHare]

I've digitized family photos spanning four generations but have found few relatives are interested in seeing them. I've located only a few pictures of my great-grandparents, and wish I could complete the set. Since but one cousin shares my level of interest in such photos I've decreased the amount of time spent digitizing.

 

[yakers]

I've digitized family photos spanning four generations but have found few relatives are interested in seeing them. I've located only a few pictures of my great-grandparents, and wish I could complete the set. Since but one cousin shares my level of interest in such photos I've decreased the amount of time spent digitizing.

Same here. My first project after retirement was to scan about 1,000 slides, 800 from DWs family trips and events. Made a DVD of all of them and set some into a slideshow. Sent copies to all siblings, cousin 1st & 2nd and other family & friends. Never got a comment from one of them. Only know MIL saw them as I showed them to her.
Never got into scanning paper photos, much more work. My Mom dies this summer and the kids went through her very large family photo albums. A lot of folks no one in the room knew. So I have come to believe that a few good photos and videos are a good idea and more is not better.

 

[Major Tom]

I've digitized family photos spanning four generations but have found few relatives are interested in seeing them. I've located only a few pictures of my great-grandparents, and wish I could complete the set. Since but one cousin shares my level of interest in such photos I've decreased the amount of time spent digitizing.

My experience with this is that other family members are interested in seeing the photos, but I don't think that the effort spent digitizing a large archive of family photos is justified, as most people would look at them very occasionally, and not again for a long time.

My brother has a large metal trunk full of family photos dating back to the very early part of the 20th century. One of my grandfathers on one side worked for the British Civil Service in India in the 1920's and the photos from that era are fascinating. However, there are so very many photos in that trunk that a thorough digitization and documenting project could take years. It's a great thought, and we all loved the idea of having those photos available online for all family members to look, but when push came to shove, none of us actually wanted to do it once we realized how much work it would entail.

 

[Leonidas]

While I like the work of scanning photos and negatives, I didn't have the expertise or equipment to do film restoration so I shipped it all out to a lab. When all the work was completed I had a movie party at my house. There were three generations of family in my living room watching movies of their parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and great, great-grandparents. Everybody got goodie bags (containing copies of the films and photos) just like Hollywood celebrities.

 

[kcowan]

Here's an interesting video from the BBC. I don't have any old films, but there are a lot of photographic memories that I would like to preserve.
BBC News - Keeping analogue memories in a digital age

Here is one memory from 1964: