We’re pleased to begin providing articles on improving your Restoration/Throwback images. We’re also pleased to be working with Rachel LaCour-Niesen of www.SaveFamilyPhotos.com / #savefamilyphotos.
The below “conversation” begins this collaboration with a topic that is near and dear to all of our hearts – the connection to our past that photography provides. Both the images and the stories they suggest allow us to be a little closer to those no longer with us.
First – Pictures – and how the conversation began!
Rachel:
These are three photos of my grandmother – these are all scans from Kodachromes, so they haven’t been “fixed up” at all. 🙂
My grandmother was many things. Mostly, she was a force of nature. And she never let anyone call her “grandma.” She was simply Sarah Lincoln. Sarah Lincoln had a large, wood-paneled wall of family photos. As a child, I walked along that wall and stared at my family’s faces. I saw my grandparents as children; my father graduating from high school, my uncle as a student in New York City, my aunt at a swim meet, my grandparents on their wedding day. I saw faces full of hopes and dreams…before I ever existed. In those moments, I realized something powerful. My story started before me.
These vintage Kodachromes of my grandmother reflect her adventurous spirit, her classic beauty and her timeless manners. She was truly a Southern lady with a sharp wit, impeccable taste and strong opinions.
I miss her every day.
In fact, her legacy inspired me to create the Save Family Photos community, a place where we can all gather to celebrate family stories, one photo at a time!
Randy:
I was glad to have the opportunity to use RESTORE to improve the photos of Rachel’s grandmother (above). It’s great to be able to improve old pictures, and in this case, to get to know just a touch of the personality of a vivacious lady vicariously through her photos.
I couldn’t help but remember my own grandmother while working on Rachel’s pictures. I would divert up to Wausau, Wisconsin when on business trips so that I could spend time with her during her post 90 year decline. Our favorite activity was to get out the old family photo albums and wander through the pages. Although her short term memory was not great, the stories that accompanied the old photos were full of colorful details that answered the questions always raised by the pictures. Yes, I should have written them down before time blurred my own recollections.
Currently, I’ve been doing my best to make the intersection of image science and software accessible and easy to use. I want everyone to be able to easily bring their old photos back to life, without having to understand the math and science that creates the magic. And from what we’ve been able to do thus far, in many cases, it appears to be just that: Magic! Not only in the way that a dull faded image can become vivid, but in the additional view into the lives of those in the photographs.
I have used the photos of my grandmother and other family members in developing RESTORE. I think Grammie would be pleased.