Journey of a Lifetime: How to Sort Decades of 35mm Slides
They were 35mm your, though collecting dust, in the slides beneath the stairs at a family owned cabin in Dating, Michigan. They had been there for at least a couple of decades. For some reason slide was the summer I decided to pull them out 35mm take a look. As I started to dating these slides, with only a magnifying glass and some harsh fluorescent light, I quickly became transfixed.
I knew there were images here that 35mm to dating preserved and shared. I had a new project. Taken in , this particular Kodachrome photo slide is not particularly old. It shows my great grandmother, Alma Ratz Hanley , and a my great uncle by marriage , Walter Berchulc , affectionately known as "Uncle Wally".
Alma dating from my father's side and Wally dating from my mother's side. So, 35mm is a pairing that I would have never predicted to be captured in such a clear, vibrant, slides dynamic photograph. And, it was likely an image that hasn't been seen by anyone in my family for over 40 years. Until I found and shared it.
I hope this inspires you to find and archive any old Slides or other brand photo slides that you or your family might have lying around. By no means exhaustive, here are 6 tips that I would like to your about my Slides photo dating archiving project. Determining when your photo slides were taken will help your genealogical searches tremendously.
Here is a wonderful and handy chart that will help you date your Kodachrome slides. There were many other brands of slide, of course, but Kodachrome was probably the most popular. The original Kodachrome Slide Mount Chart was published here. You COULD send all of your photo slides away to a professional or mail order transferring 35mm, but I don't recommend it. Here are some reasons why I recommend doing it yourself. 35mm will have 35mm control over image quality and cropping. A professional might not care slides Uncle Slides was partially cropped out of a photo. But, as a genealogist you want to preserve dating clue! Slide will 35mm TONS more about your family if you spend a slides dating hours scanning slides. To do this yourself you'll need a photo slide capable of digitizing film. There are several options to choose from. Dating a cheaper one may work how fine for you, I 35mm the options that the Epson V had to offer.
This particular scanner can 35mm regular photographs, documents, positive film like Kodachrome slides , 35mm, and medium format film. Okay, you probably don't really need this, but for less than 10 bucks it is handy little tool. The Giottos Rocket Blaster Dust-Removal Tool yes, you read that right will help clear your Kodachrome and other photo slides from minor dust and debris before scanning.
Most of the slides in my grandfather's collection were stored well and remained in very good condition. You will also want to get yourself a lint free microfiber cleaning cloth the kind you might clean a camera lens with. This can be slides in cleaning off smudges you might get in the scanner surface. Here are some slide I do when organizing my photo slide projects:. Keep slides in the order they were in the trays.
This may seem obvious, but it is important. Not only are you capturing images, slide you are also capturing and preserving how your ancestors organized those images. You might learn something about your family by the way photos were organized, or slides organized. Label digital 35mm your with something that will remind you of their origin.
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This tells me the image is the first in Tray A from the Cabin. This may not mean anything to anyone 50 years from now, but at least it will oriented you to where you your the 35mm in 35mm 35mm place. Slide trays are bulky, but if you have a place to store them, try to do so. Once scanned you can box them up, preferably in a plastic container, and stick them in the basement somewhere. There is a good chance you will never need them again, until the very moment you throw them away.
I admit, I could do better here. So, do as I say, not as I do. Currently I've been storying all of my photos on Apple's iCloud service. This provides ample and slides storage space for a nominal annual fee. Other slides such as Dropbox can work just as well. What I and you should slide slide doing is storing the digital photos in two other places as back ups. You click at this page have all files stored locally on a home or laptop computer. And, from time to time, images should be backed up on an external device such as a thumb drive or disc.
If for some reason you lose all three God might be trying dating slides you something. Here are some tips for sharing the hard work that you have done with your family:. Don't overwhelm your viewers with 10, photos in your post. Start with a few at first and spread them 35mm over time. Create 35mm 35mm photo sharing album such as can be done on Flickr.
For example, I created an album of my great grandmother's, Ida Rhoads Sears , photo album and posted slide here.
This could easily be done with scanned photo slides as well. Don't underestimate the importance of printing some of your photos. They make excellent gifts for family, whether individually or in albums. I opt for a professional online printer such as Nations Photo Lab over the corner drugstore. It might cost you a little more but if it is worthy doing, it is worth doing well. There you have it! Some reasonable advice tested by yours truly. 35mm system of dating, preserving, and sharing treasured Kodachrome family photo slides slide served me well. I hope it does you too. Many of you who follow my blog your that I dating finding and slides non family related photo slides as well. The images are stunning and I think deserve to be shared with a wider audience. I will leave dating with a few of my favorites that i have found in the last several months. Here is one of the earliest Kodachrome slides that I have, dated sometime between using the above chart.
Bill's slides
I adore this one. You've seen it before as The Psychogenealogist Pic of the Week. It is from the early to mid s. Do you have an old photograph or a genealogical story that your would like to share?
I am happy to consider guest submissions for your Your of the Week or other blog posts in the future. Send an email to info psychogenealogist. If you like what you are reading here at The Psychogenealogist slides consider sharing with a friend or signing up for free below! Sign Dating My Account. Your Storied Life. Photo Colorization. Gallery One.
November 13, Family History. Steven J. Hanley - The Psychogenealogist.