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
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Archive for photo restoring – Page 6
Here is an example of a good gift idea – portraits of the family pets.
This example of the history of the family cats, the portraits were made as a gift for the owner from existing snapshots. The scale of the cats’ heads were matched and the busy backgrounds eliminated so that their faces could be seen clearly.
Restored Cat Portraits
A few days ago I received this touching story from Jane H following my restoring this photograph
Photographs Forever photograph restoration
“Our daughter said that as soon as my husband saw the photo of his mother that you managed to create from the old somewhat dilapidated little old photo, he would probably cry. I wondered if I ought to give it to him on some other day rather than his 86th birthday if it would upset him. However I did eventually give it to him yesterday on his birthday.
With my help he unwrapped it as he only has the use of one hand. He said nothing at all just kept staring at it. At last I realized he had tears in his eyes as he hadn’t realized there was any kind of photo of his mother who died many years ago. He put it on the table next to his chair and just kept picking it up and putting it down still unable to say anything. However as soon as other people begun to arrive to celebrate his birthday he insisted they come and look at the photo he is so proud of.
As he is disabled in a wheelchair he has carers twice a day to help. The first thing he did was to hand them the framed photo explaining in his own way that it is his mother. Our daughter was also quite emotional when she saw it remembering her old cockney grandma. I told her she was right her father had cried but only with emotion and happiness.
He is amazed that you were able to restore such a small, damaged picture into a perfect photo of his mother who he was so close to as she brought him up alone. He now has the picture on a table where he can see it at all times. We have numerous framed photos of family but until now he had nothing. I just wanted to thank you so much for the trouble you took in restoring the photo and giving him such pleasure.
Thank you again. I have told everyone who has seen it who restored the photo so don’t be surprised if you hear from a few next year!!”
This is a letter I received from Maurice after I had carried out some work and the story behind his photographs
“I was delighted with the work you did for me. You took old faded, a bit ragged looking photos, some showing cracks, and restored them to original condition. Your manipulation, to achieve a full length photo showing only my late wife, from two separate group photos, was unbelievable. I get the feeling that if it can be done, you have the skill and the patience to do it.
There is a saying, “Love the work you do and you will never work again”. I suspect this applies to you. I assume most people having photos restored, are rekindling memories, or trying to extend memories, and the fact that you can help them do that must give you great satisfaction.
My reason? My first wife, the mother of my four sons, died 1981. My second wife died 2015, I was married for approximately 30 years to each of them. Two very special ladies. I feel like I have had two lives. So photos have been resurrected and restored, and photos have been enhanced, and thanks to you are now on display. Thanks once again Richard, I wish you well for the future. Yours sincerely Maurice.”
Here are the photographs Maurice is referring to
Example of Photograph Restoration
Photograph Manipulation Example
Photograph Manipulation Example
This is Irene’s touching story
“I first came in contact with Richard earlier this year when he restored a badly damaged photograph that I wanted to include in my autobiography. Over the years it had been folded in half, ‘mended’ with sticky tape and was in a really bad state. Richard restored it beautifully and it is now scanned onto my writing.
Later, while reading Richard’s blog, I came across Lucy’s story, how she had asked him to restore and combine two photographs in order to create one of her parents and grandparents. This started me thinking of my own parents and the fact that I had never seen a photograph of them together. My father was in the Royal Navy serving on HMS Achates on the Russian Arctic Convoys. He was lost at sea during the Battle of the Barents’ Sea when I was two and my brother just six months old. Sadly, my parents had just over three years together and my brother and I never had the chance to know our father. We always wanted a photograph of our parents together and over the years did everything we could to find one, even trawling the Internet but to no avail. I really wanted one not just for my dedication page but also to hang on the wall at home.
I had a photograph of Dad in his uniform and a rather blurry snap of Mum taken with my gran, aunty and grandad. The two photographs were taken 13 years apart but I asked Richard if he could somehow create a photograph of my parents together, not knowing if this would be possible. Well, his expertise took over and soon I experienced the absolute thrill of seeing my parents together in the same frame. The time difference didn’t matter as seeing my parents together was priceless and very emotional. I’m not usually lost for words but I was when I saw the photograph for the first time. Richard set it in a beautiful black frame and I ordered another one for my brother as a surprise gift.
Dad and Mum Together At Last
When he saw the photograph, my brother, too, was absolutely delighted. Thanks to Richard’s skill and expertise, we have something we always wanted but never really thought possible. My children are so pleased, calling it spectacular and special. Now, when I arrive home and open the door, I see my parents – together again. Thank you so much, Richard, for making a dream into a reality and for your dedication, professionalism and kindness.”
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
This is Jennifer and Frank’s Story as told by Jennifer
“I first contacted Richard at Photographs Forever to see if there was anything he could do with a photograph that had huge sentimental value to my partner Frank as it was the only one he had of his two daughters at that age. The photograph had accidentally been very badly damaged by falling from a car window in the rain and being repeatedly run over by several cars, here’s the photograph in question.
Richard said that unfortunately there was nothing he could do as the photograph was too badly damaged to restore.
I knew there was one other photograph of the two girls that was one of those tiny photographs in a key ring fob.
So I sent this to Richard to restore and also to ask if there was anything he could do to recreate the original photograph of the two girls with hi-vis waistcoats and hard hats. This is the resulting photograph that Richard created and sent to me
Richard sent this photo of the girls, to be signed for, and as I am at work, I missed the postie, got a card through the door to pick it up from the sorting office in West Bromwich. I did not know where it was so I asked Frank to take me. (I have not lived in West Bromwich very long). When I collected it he could see it was photos by the packaging, I told him that I had got you to do “something” to the picture of his girls but I would not tell him what because it was to be a surprise for his birthday, he seemed quite uninterested. He has since told me that he thought you had just made the photo bigger and made it oval, why he thought that I will never know! ANYWAY, when we got back home I opened it, I got goose pimples!
I said “You have got to see this, I cannot wait for your birthday”
He replied “No, put it away somewhere and I will have it for my birthday”.
I pulled it out the envelope again and said “No I cannot do it, you have to see this”.
When he saw it, well……………….. He is SO HAPPY, his bottom lip started to quiver and I have never seen him like that, he was astounded. I was afraid that he may not like it as it has been manipulated, it is not actually a memory, as photos normally are but no – he LOVES IT! We cannot believe the attention to detail, I thought that the girls were wearing hi-vis COATS on the original photo but they were not, they were actually waistcoat hi-vis’s, and the hard hats -on the original – the oldest girl has a blue hat and the youngest a white one, Richard is SO GOOD. AND the pen in the hi-vis on the youngest, AMAZING. WHAT MORE CAN I SAY……….. WE ARE SPEECHLESS, totally, I cannot thank Richard enough, he has made Frank’s day, his year, his birthday! I told Frank I would buy him a frame for it for his birthday, he said “No way, we are getting a frame on Saturday”.
Any ideas what I can get him for his birthday now please Richard??????????????????”
Last week I sent out an email to my customers and this was seen by Sam Satchell of the East Grinstead Courier and he thought the story of Lucy Dixon’s photographs was a very interesting one and consequently called me for more details. The full page article was published today!
Take a look at the new 1 minute video showing some examples of photograph restoration and how to make the most of your precious photographs
I recently received a photograph from Bridie F asking if I could remove the extra person from the photograph of her Mum and Dad. This I did and created her Mum’s right arm at the same time! When this was done Bridie asked if I could gently colourise it in a way similar to those hand coloured at the time of the original photograph. Here is the original photograph, the manipulated version, the colourised version and finally the framed print in situ.
Photographs Forever – Photograph Restoration Example
Here’s Bridie’s story of the photograph:
“This photograph taken in rural Ireland on a sunny afternoon in 1935 shows a happy, smiling young couple, full of the joy of young love and the happiness of youth. In this photo Richard has created the picture of my parents that I have always wished existed, and that now holds pride of place in my sideboard family gallery.
The original, taken by my mother’s sister on an outing as a foursome, also has another young man standing beside my mother. Within weeks of the outing my aunt had sailed off to America to begin a new life, like so many Irish before her, and her young man went on to marry another local girl. The blossoming romance between my mother and father was forbidden on the grounds that she, as the daughter of a respectable but peasant farmer, was an unsuitable match for this young man from a well to do land owning family. Their relationship continued punctuated by meetings at the local dances and later by clandestine meetings in neighbouring towns for a few short hours at a time. It was to be eleven long years before they were eventually to marry in May 1946, and even then it was against his family’s wishes and without their blessing. Only my mother’s father, her friend and my father’s friend who had driven them over to the next town attended the ceremony. After a few days in Dublin by way of a honeymoon, my mother returned home and her new husband, unable to return to his family, travelled to England and began to build a new life for them both. He quickly saved enough to put a deposit on a small run down cottage, where they were reunited and spent the next fifty years together making a home and raising five daughters. Only the death of my mother was to separate them again in all those years, and even then only for a short time.
Virtually no photographic evidence of this period of their lives exists, and although I am happy to have the original photo to record the day it is impossible to express how wonderful it is to have this lovely gently coloured picture showing a time in their romance that I have only been able to imagine. This has only been made possible by Richards’s patience and skill for which I shall be forever grateful.”
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