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Archive for photograph repair – Page 6

12 Ways To Make The Most of Your Photos

I don’t know about you, but I love this time of year. Longer days, sunny mornings, colour reappearing in the garden. And then there is the spring cleaning of course…   

 

You’d be surprised (or perhaps not) at how often this leads to new conversations around old photos; a box recovered from the back of a dusty cupboard or the damp corner of a loft often leads to the rediscovery of old pictures and memories. With spring being all about new starts and rejuvenation, what better time to breathe new life into something so valuable?   


This is why I’ve created a new brochure to share with you. It’s a light read – with photographs designed to show you not only how your pictures can be saved; but what we can do to enhance them or turn them into new forms of enjoyment, such as our new seamless lay-flat Photobooks or large sized canvasses.

 

                                  Click here to look at, or download the new brochure

I’d love to hear what you think of the brochure and invite you to get in touch if you need help with saving your precious photographs. The brochure covers a lot but not all of what we can do, so feel free to give me a call anytime even if it is simply for some advice.   

Here’s to spring (and not so much cleaning) 

4 Photo Panoramic Scene Merged and Restored

I received this photograph as four photographs stuck together and folded as that was the best way with the technology of the time. When it was restored I printed a 40inch wide print.

Panorama-Comparison

Here’s the story….

“The Cuillins is a range of rocky mountains located on the Isle of Skye, we spent many happy family holidays on Skye when I was a child and my Dad, George Smith who was a very talented amateur photographer, spent years perfecting his panorama of “the Cuillins” as we used to call them, he unfortunately passed away in 2015 and we recently went through some of the many images he had painstakingly crafted over the years, including this one which was in fairly bad condition having been folded up & stored in a box in a damp sitting room in a French Farmhouse for the last 10 years; I love this image as it brings back so many wonderful memories of my Dad and the fun we used to have on Skye in the shadow of the Cuillin, I am so grateful to Richard for the amazing restoration and for enabling such a precious memory to be recovered and displayed once again in its full glory.”

Fascinating Photograph During the Blitz – London 1940

My customer Karen E tells the story of this (now restored) photograph

“This photograph was taken on a day when King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visited Poplar during the Blitz. My father as a boy is standing in the right upper window with his mum on his right and his best friend beside him.

My father remained in Poplar throughout the war with his father who was a stevedore in the docks and his mother who was a seamstress. Their house suffered damage in the war when an incendiary device came through the roof and landed on his parent’s bed, luckily it did not ignite and they managed to wrap it in the bedding and throw it out of the window!”

Here’s the original photograph I received:

KE

Disintegrating Photograph Restored

I recently received this photograph which had been kept in a photo frame and the entire top surface of the photo had come away from its paper backing and so the image consisted of a large number of very frail flakes that would have blown away in the slightest draught!

It was an important photo and so I was able to digitally painstakingly put it back together and with the help of two other photographs from the same customer I as able to use the persons eyes and add a complete dog! 

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GF1_0005 GF1_0004 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s the finished photo:

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One of the Best Ways to Enjoy Your Precious Photographs

Photographs are by far the best way you have to remember your own special times and your family history. Have you got a collection of really special photographs that stay tucked away and that you never look at?

Photographs in a shoe box - make the most of them!

Here’s a perfect way for you to easily change that. Let me put together for you your own personalised lay-flat photo book album and create for you a unique keepsake that you will treasure forever!

I can help you at every stage of the process, including scanning your photographs, optimising them to reduce fading and correct the colours, putting the photo book together with titles and captions if required and even sending you an online virtual proof of the book, for you to approve before it’s printed.

LayFlat-Album-1-wwwLayFlat-Album-3-www

 

Our new lay-flat premium photo book offers a truly professional finish. The photo books are digitally printed on heavy weight 216gsm premium silk paper and then sewn bound for added permanence. The outer cover can also be printed and then gloss laminated for protection. This is a substantial book that far superior to many other photobooks you may have seen.


LayFlat-Album-4-www

The lay-flat albums use a unique hinge which allows for the continuous flow of images over a spread, with almost no central image loss.

 

Also available is a black tissue-lined presentation box, ideal if the photo book is being given as a gift.

Presentation-Box-www

 

You will then have a wonderful photographic record of all your memories to enjoy and share with others as well as something that will last forever.

So take the first step now! Look out those precious photographs and select the ones that will go in your photo book and get in touch with me by phone or email if you have any queries or anything you’d like to discuss in more detail. 

Merry Christmas To All

 

christmas-2016-before-after

Merry Christmas to everyone – before and after! Here’s looking forward to 2017 being a great year.

Iain Anderson’s Theatrical Performances as Canvas Montage

I recently received an order from Iain Anderson from Renfrewshire as he wanted me to produce a montage on canvas of some his photographs taken when he was in various dramatic stage roles.

iain-anderson-montage

 

During our conversations I found that Iain has his own radio show on BBC Scotland and he plays some really great music, much of which you may not have heard before and is well worth hearing, which you can hear again on the BBC iPlayer.

Click on his photograph below for the link to listen

iain-anderson

Iain Anderson – BBC Radio Scotland

9 Great Ways To Transform Your Photographs

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.

Sentimental Framed Photograph After Restoration

I received this message from Irene after I has restored her photograph and I was quite touched –

“Thank you so much for your recent work which was excellent as usual. The photograph you restored fits beautifully into the frame and looks wonderful surrounded by a verse from one of my favourite songs.  No apologies for the sentimental nature of the words!  I’ve sent you a copy so you can see the end result.

irene-photo-framedr-web

There were some lovely surprises with the negatives. Some photographs I have never seen before and others have not been seen by the family for years.  I have no idea who the people playing football are!  I have included several of the photographs in my writing –  which is nearly finished by the way.”

Always very gratifying to receive this kind of message.

8 Great Tips to Help You Make The Most of Your Photographs

There is no better way to remember all the great times in life than through the photographs you have from the past, present and future. Previous generations have very few photographs compared with the number we have today. Photographs are so important yet they often remain locked inside our phones or packed away in a box.

So make the most of your photographs.  Here are 8 tips….

8 TIPS TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR PHOTOS

  1. Download the photos from your phone – either onto your computer or a cloud-based storage site such as MyKnowHowCloud.com where you can store all your photographs and any other important files.
  2. Make prints and enlargements of the best photographs, frame them and get them out on display so you can enjoy them.
  3. Photographs are a great way to remind you of good times that you’ve had and important events in your life.
  4. Photographs are the best way to remember parents, grandparents and past generations. In many really old photographs the people in them often look very serious in formal poses in studios. These were sometimes the only photographs that existed and they have a special charm and look great when enlarged and framed.
  5. Create a photo book of your favourite memories. Your photos are the record of your life so far. A photo book of your family life in pictures is a wonderful thing to have and will give you and others a huge amount of pleasure.
  6. Taking photographs today is a fantastic way of spending time that costs virtually nothing. It’s creative, social and rewarding. We take as many photos each day now as in the first 74 years of photography. It’s important to remember to do something positive with the photos you take.
  7. If they’re not right, fix them! With the fantastic technology available today virtually any photo that is is in some way not as good as you’d like it to be can be resolved with digital software. You can fix lots of elements yourself with free programs such as Google Picasa.
  8. Use Photographs Forever as a resource for any advice you may need with your photographs. You can call me any time. It is my passion that you make the most of your photographs. Get them on display, and get them scanned so you have digital copies in case the original prints get lost or damaged.  If they need improving either do it yourself or let me do it for you. Let there be photographs!