The inspiration isn't flowing this week. When I have those moments, it always seems like a good time to take a step back and reflect on what's important in life.
Our pastor sends an e-devotional that I read on an almost daily basis, and he included this quote in a recent email. It's a powerful statement that applies to everyone. I hope it inspires you today.
Since we launched our film preservation services last fall, we've talked a lot about preserving family photographs and film slides. Today we wanted to spotlight the editing process of our film preservation services, so we used a photograph of our namesake Gerald from the late 1950s to demonstrate how it works.
The top image is the raw image after it was scanned and digitized. The second image is after some minor edits -- we cleaned up the dust and rust spots. We went a step further on the bottom image and edited it using color retouching and cropping tools.
Some customers might like to have all three images digitized for their personal collections. It is nice to have options when displaying family photographs, and it's even better to have these images archived for future generations to treasure and enjoy.
If you are interested in our film preservation services, our basic scanning and editing package starts at $75 for 50 photographs. We also offer custom heritage photo books if you'd like to preserve your family memories.
Ready for us to get started on your film preservation project? Contact us here.
Raw photograph after initial scan.
Basic editing.
Advanced editing.
The Meridian Star, 1949
Following the war, my grandparents moved from Italy to Meridian, Mississippi.
Modern day Italy and Mississippi couldn't be more different, so I can only imagine what a transatlantic move from Naples to Meridian would have been like in the late 1940s. It sounds incredibly romantic, but I'm sure it was also really, really difficult.
If my grandmother struggled, she didn't let it show. She and my grandfather lived in Meridian until 1954, and then they spent the next 36 years in Naples. In 1990, they retired to Booneville, Mississippi, where they lived until my grandfather's death in 2002. After his passing, my grandmother returned to Naples, where she is spending her retirement surrounded by family, friends, books and her memories.
To this day, she only talks about her years in Mississippi with fondness.
If you're curious as to what life was like in Meridian during that time, then you'll enjoy these articles from the Meridian Star that were written when my great-grandmother visited from Naples in 1949. At that time, my grandparents were pregnant with my father, their first child and my great-grandmother's first grandchild.
The Meridian Star, 1949
Weren't they stylish? It's hard to believe these photos are more than 60 years old! My grandmother was (and still is) her mother's daughter. They look so happy to be together.
I wonder if my great-grandmother wrote about her trip....I must ask my aunt about that!
We just started our latest film and photo preservation project for Jonathan's grandmother, Sadie -- the very same Sadie who inspired the Sadie Wedding Invitation Suite!
Right now we're digitizing all of her old photographs. Most of them are in excellent condition, and they will only need a little cropping and retouching. Once they are all digitized and edited, we'll make CDs for her to give to family members, and then we'll use all of her favorite images to create a custom 100-page heritage photo book that she'll be able to keep on her coffee table.
One of the great things about digitizing old images is that our clients are able to enjoy the copies every day -- on a gallery wall, in frames, in a photo book, tacked on a bulletin board, etc. They are constantly surrounded by precious memories and family heirlooms, while also preserving the original images for future generations.
Curious about how to care for your images? We recommend keeping a copy of the digital images on a DVD at the bank and storing all of the original images in acid-free photo albums or photo boxes in a climate-controlled space.
We are currently accepting large and small film and photo preservation projects. You can contact us here to learn more about the process.
