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p.2 #1 · p.2 #1 · Seeking guidance with old family negatives | |
Apologies for not replying before now to all this great responses (bathroom reno). I really appreciate all the contributions!
I can see I omitted two important points: a) some of the negatives are black and white and b) there are no slides.
Phil, I am probably missing something obvious here, but with regards to your 4th option, how do I get scans of the most valuable negatives if I don't know what is on the negatives (and holding them up to a light doesn't work very well)?
"Wow, that must be equal parts exciting and daunting." Msalvetti, you sure nailed it in one simple sentence. I was a little emotionally drained from being the executor and now going through about 10 cubic feet of photos is additionally draining. Dealing with the negatives will feel like the third marathon but I can't bring myself not to do something with these negatives.
Dave, that is quite the process. Thanks for documenting it so thoroughly. One challenge may be the negative preservers. I have at least four, but I think five, different sized negatives; some being from the 30s. I can probably get contact sheets for some of the sizes and then figure out a way to improvise for the other(s). A lot to digest in your post Dave!
tcphoto, I'm beginning to think some kind of two step process may be required. The first step would be something that lets me know what each negative is, even if it isn't a representation of the highest quality. There are many, many negatives and most will be of things not too important or will be unusable (my mom had a special talent for cutting heads off, putting a thumb over part of the lens or having the people be really small in the image because she also liked the background, ). Experimenting with the two flatbed scanners I have access to could be a good starting point.
My last paragraph speaks to how few negatives I will want to have high quality representations of. Perhaps it is like mining for gold - I will go through tons of rock to get ounces of gold. Even with the "gold", it is unlikely that I will print much of it. I have a small family but they are scattered all over the place. I am more likely to share electronic images than physical prints, so at least that is one thing I won't have to worry about (printing, black ink waste, etc)!
John Wheeler, I am going to look at the digital conversion service as an option, but I will restrict myself to the local market as I just wouldn't be comfortable sending such treasures somewhere by mail, especially with mail service problems being exasperated by Covid.
Taperwing, the more I think about this, the more I tend to agree that a two step approach will be required. First, identify the "rocks" with gold in them through some quick/easy/cheap approach. Second, get high quality representations of the negatives that are "gold", by whatever means appropriate.
Allen, I get what you mean by no Nat Geo images, . I don't expect any either. But if there are photos (with heads intact!) of my military uncle, my grandparents, great uncles, my parents as youngins, etc that are "good", they would be emotionally priceless to me.
Again, thanks to all that replied. This has been very informative and helpful!
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