That was really clever mum

[Bercy]

First she sells an heirloom Zeizz Ikon for about nothing to the used photo gear dealer who just wanted to "help her out" - now I wanted to set up a slide show for the elder's 80th. Mum's made some albums - the B+W's from the 30's and 40's are starting to lose it but I can scan them. But the colour photos from the 1960 until, frankly, the start of the digital era are shades of orange. The next step will be nothing on the paper.

So I ask Mum - "Where are the negatives?" and she says,

"What would I want them for - I've got the pictures"

Yes she trashed the negs in the bin decades ago because they were taking up a bit of cupboard space.

Some things can't be resurrected. Timely reminder to check the shoe box and consider stealing it.

[JohnB5319]

Well, at least you have the photos! My side of the family has had a poor history of taking photos at significant events. My wife's family, on the other hand, have taken them for generations (and my Mother-In-Law kept them, bless her!!). For her 90th birthday, a lovely photobook. For my mother's 90th birthday - ziltch! On the issue of faded and discoloured colour prints, auto-levels adjustments can work wonders at times!

[Bercy]

Now that would be clever - I am pretty convinced that some of the print media must have been fundamental crap - and resurrecting these pictures from the faded pictures would be wonderful. It looks like a lot of the prints were not done on archival paper. I'm going to give the auto levels a go after I do some scanning - thanks for the tip.

[ricktas]

Depending on the age of the negatives and the storage manner, it would not have surprised me if they still existed, if they had not deteriorated as well. I have seen many a shoe box that had negatives that were no longer usable.

[Bercy]

Thanks Rick - I guess some of the legacy of pictures suffer the same mortality we do. However what a wonderful age we are entering - with infinite digital sotrage, back ups and now that I have my Epson 3880 (what a beast) with archival paper and genuine ink - these photos should outlast my grandchildren!

[JohnB5319]

I've got a 3880 as well. Fantastic machine!!

[Bercy]

said parents have some framed pictures on the lounge room wall, an they must be 100 years old. Sadly whatever folk did in the last 50 years (colour) was pretty ordinary, but now with the 3880 we could argue we're back to we're we were 100 years ago, only in colour!

[fabian628]

I got some old negatives from about the early 80s and they are all scanning in strong shades of blue yellow or purple Most probably poor storage conditions.

Maybe you can scan the pictures and try to recover some of the colour in photoshop. Although this process is very time consuming

[Tikira]

Photo's taken 100+ years ago, and the negatives that go with them have stood the test of time really well- if they were kept. We have seen photo's kept in a chookpen, or under a house surrvive. Others get thrown out, or burnt. One old fellow agreed to allow our family history group to copy a stunning framed portrait, and we caught him just as he was about to hose it down, as it was dusty in the leaky shed it had been housed in for generations. Yet a photo taken 40 years ago is almost beyond repair? It is just wrong.

Good on you for trying to restore what you can of your family photo's. Scanning and playing around with them will really help. The problem with digital storage these days, is will you be able to access them in future years, as technology advances? You need to be vigilant, and redo them occasionally, to keep pace with it, and ensure future generations will be able to access them.
Identify them where you can, as the other big problem is a shoebox full of photo's, and you have no idea who they are, and make sure someone from the next generation is willing to act as custodian for these pieces of history.

Good luck.

Di

[robz]

I got some old negatives from about the early 80s and they are all scanning in strong shades of blue yellow or purple Most probably poor storage conditions.

Maybe you can scan the pictures and try to recover some of the colour in photoshop. Although this process is very time consuming

Don't be put off by the seeming difficulty of dealing with colour casts.
A simple way to start in photoshop is to create layers of 'levels adjustment' and adjust the levels of each of the r g and b separately.

Its surprising how many old photos come up well with this technique and you can spend the time on the more difficult restorations later.