My customer John G wanted to get his grandfather with his two brothers together in a single photograph with a Scottish background.
Here are the three individual photographs and below the final result
Here’s the review John left for me on Yell.com
“Please accept my wonderful thanks for the restored colour job you did to the photo of my late grandfather and his two brothers.
I often get asked to reproduce family photograph albums so that various members of the family can share the family history.
I was asked by Moira to recreate an important family photo album so that both she and her sister could have a copy of the book with the historic photographs and handwritten descriptions.
Below is the original and the new lay-flat photobook I created.
Moira said “My sister and I are just glad that we have this marvelous record to share and that you could bring it back to life for us”
Old album and new photobook
Moira told me
“My father signed up for his national service because the Essex Regiment were going to be posted to India. He had a place a medical school but deferred it to go to India. He loved it there, a complete culture shock from Chingford. The army taught him to drive, allowed him to play hockey and he was upset to leave India having fostered a dog there that he had to leave. My father was a doctor so army life was far from ideal but he appreciated the opportunity he was given and never forgot his time there. He was a keen photographer and you can see the care he took to display each photograph and carefully write an inscription.”
I found a very small framed old photograph of one of my family members with his family and wanted to see the man more clearly so I restored that section of the photograph that is just (1.5cm x 2.5cm) which I’ve printed A4 and it looks very good! Above is a photograph of the original photo alongside the A4 print. Below is the restored file.
Over recent months I have been restoring photographs for my customer Irene Boocock. It soon became clear that Irene was working on her memoir for her family and she got in touch when she had finished it by the Christmas deadline to let me have the reactions from the family and herself when it was completed.
Here’s what she sent me:
I have always thought of writing about my early life as a legacy for my children. I regret not asking my mother more questions about her childhood and that I didn’t find out more about the short time my parents had together before he was lost at sea while serving on the Arctic Convoys. Like others considering writing about their life, there were always reasons for me to put this off. However, I finally began preparing notes and tentatively made a start on the first draft. After gathering lots of photographs together to scan onto my writing, I realised I would need help as many were damaged and faded. This is where Richard came into the project, employing his expertise and restoring treasured photographs beautifully. The first one he restored was a very early photograph of myself which had suffered much damage over the years having been folded in half, sellotaped together and with several tears and scratches. I couldn’t believe the transformation Richard achieved and over the next months, there followed more restorations, each one securing a place in the memoir. A very special one was the photograph he created, from two separate images, of my parents as we had never seen one of them together.
I am so pleased with my completed book, happy in the knowledge that my early life is preserved for my children and grandchildren and in the process, I have paid tribute to my parents. There is no doubt that the restored photographs – courtesy of Richard’s dedication and undoubted expertise – add so much to the story of my early life. To anyone thinking about writing a memoir, I would encourage you to make a start as the rewards are so worth the time and effort. At Christmas I gave out copies of my memoir to my family and the response was truly overwhelming. I would also wholeheartedly recommend asking Richard to restore your faded/damaged photographs to enhance and safeguard those frozen precious moments from your past. Good Luck!
This was very gratifying for me to receive and I can only encourage everyone to make the time and take the effort to ask questions of relatives about family history so the stories are not lost forever. I hear this so often “If only I’d asked my parents about their early life and who is in all these old photographs” is something I hear a lot and have actually said myself.
With Christmas now on the horizon here are some ideas for a unique gift that’s ideal for those who can be tricky to find something a bit different.
Here just a few examples of the many ways I can transform your photographs….
If you have a photograph that has faded in its frame, it can be restored and re-coloured.
Two or more photographs can be combined and you can choose the people you want in the finished photo
Family groups can be ‘adjusted’ to include or exclude people!
Couples can finally be together in the same photograph.
Snapshots of pets can be made into portraits or montages
Treasured photographs that have suffered years of damage can be restored to their original state.
Combine a favourite photograph with a more interesting background.
Create a family montage from a selection of favourite photographs
Not sure which photos to use but can see the potential?
A Photographs Forever Gift Voucher of any value could be the answer.
We all have old photographs that we treasure, whether they are old family photographs passed on from previous generations, or historic photographs of the homes and towns we live in.
Photographs are the best tool we have to relive our cherished memories and remember loved ones who are no longer with us. Unfortunately photographs don’t age well and over time their quality diminishes.
Because photos are printed on paper things such as handling, light, moisture, dust, and scratches often affect them. Regrettably, these things can ruin our photos and prevent them from lasting through the generations.
Most of the photo papers and inks used up until recently have not been archival quality, and as a result, many photo prints show signs of fading and colour shifts after only a few years.
Poor storage practices such as keeping photos in attics or basements or allowing photos to be exposed to sunlight, have also contributed to the poor condition of most photo collections.
People don’t realize there is a problem until they take a look at their photo collection after many years of storage. Our precious photo collections are in fact fading away and in time many will be beyond recovery. There is also the possibility of their demise in the case of fire or flood.
It is a good idea to restore your special photographs or even entire photo collection in order to stop the unavoidable destruction that will take place no matter how carefully the photos are stored. Once restored, the photos can be copied to CD or DVD for long-term storage and safekeeping. Once you have digital copies you needn’t worry about further damage because digital images do not change at all. You can use these digital images to make a set of prints on archival paper, which will last over 100 years in an album with no signs of degradation or twenty years exposed to daylight for framed prints. Additional prints can be made at any time in the future should disaster strike. You can also share the images with other members of your family and friends.
During the restoration process it is also possible to improve the quality of the original photograph – for example removal of spots, stains, marks, tears as well as improving contrast, brightness, colour balance and enhance detail, focus and sharpness.
It is also possible to add colour to black and white photographs, as well as being able to make quality enlargements for framing.
Many of my customers have told me how they’d had difficulty confronting the task of sorting out their photographs which have piled up over the years, so I hope you find this helpful.
I’ve found that once I actually start a job that has been difficult to face, it’s always much easier and quicker that I thought it would be and invariably I actually enjoy the process, getting a good sense of satisfaction when it’s all done.
For example if you like the idea of having modern photo-books that will last forever with no deterioration, no loose photographs falling out and also a book of the family photographs that your relatives can easily have their own copy of then read on…..
It’s easiest to break the project into smaller manageable stages….
If there are various family members interested in your project, it is often the case that the overall cost can be shared so each person gets a finished photo-book and the cost of production of the book split several ways.
I hope this is helpful – don’t hesitate to get in touch to discuss any aspect further or if you need any further information – I can help you at every stage.
I can also assure you that the final photo-book will be something that you’ll truly treasure and you’ll be so glad you went to the effort to get it made.
Here is the original photograph, then the restored and colourised version. I knew what colour the Union Jacks were – all the rest were my best guess!
Photograph Before Restoration
Photograph After Restoration and Colourising
Here is an interesting story from Graham Jones who has carried out a massive amount of research on his family history with great results to show for his hard work. Here it is in his own words:
“Recently I have been working with Richard to create a set of some 20 framed photographs that now form a complete record of my family back to 1850. The initial idea came from a very battered, postcard size photograph dated 1895 that showed my great-grandparents and their eight children. I asked Richard to scan, restore, enlarge to A3 size, title and frame the photograph. The result caused so much interest in my family that apart from ordering a further three copies, the wider project was born. Collectively, the family has pooled our best photographs of parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and even two great great grandparents. Apart from normal restoration and enlargement, Richard has also prepared several composites to splice together the various groupings that we requested. The complete set now forms its own “gallery” in my home and the whole family is delighted with the result”
Here are some of the photographs in question and the gallery Graham has created
Photograph Restoration/Montage
Photograph Restoration/Montage
Restored Photograph Gallery
Shirley T brought a small but high quality print to me and asked for it to be scanned and enlarged. The original print is about 8cm (3 inches) square. The final enlargement I supplied was 76cm (30 inches) square. Here is the before, after and the close up of a detail of the tree.
The Speich family formed a significant presence in the Sernf Valley of Switzerland in the 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th Centuries but during the latter part of the period economic depression and repeated plagues drastically reduced the population and of course the Speichs.
The difference between the format used by the professional company that compiled the Speich Tree and that found in this Country is that it starts at the centre with the latest members of the family and expands outwards to include the earliest members of the family that could be traced including, where possible, their dates of birth and death, their occupations and their coats of arms.
Shirley’s dad’s uncle commissioned the work which is all hand painted we think about 70 years ago. The tree detail goes back to 14th century!
