I’ve restored many images of those who fought for our freedom – several images were on tintype, some were daguerreotypes, some were long pictures of the entire squadron or company of soldiers. Others were faded Kodak snapshots, but regardless, they were important images of someone my customer loved.
More importantly, these soldiers gave up their time, talents, family, and sometimes their lives so that we can live free today.
I’m sure you have images of your family members who served in the armed forces – keep them always as a tribute to your loved one. In doing so, you are preserving our collective history!
A lady once brought an image to me taken of her father standing in front of his WWII tent. The image was so faded that you could barely see her father. On the back of the picture, her father had written “Ready to Go!”. Although his face was clear in her mind, it was not clear enough to share with her relatives. Many times old photographs will fade over time and let’s face it, this image was 78+ years old!
I scanned the image into my computer and began work. Thankfully, my customer had not waited too long for me to get some details from her image. He’s now clear again, front and center, ‘Ready to go!’ again. Thank you for your service, Sir!!
I’m including other examples of patriotic restorations also. My grandfather fought in the War Between the States – there was very little damage to his original photograph. My husband’s grandfather is pictured in the WWI image. There wasn’t much damage to that image either, but it needed a little touch up. The long image is of a platoon. These long photographs can be restored also. Sometimes the hardest part is flattening the image when it has been rolled up for years and years so that it can be photographed or scanned.
PLEASE REMEMBER….It is best to store images in a stable, dry, cool atmosphere and implement preventative measures to avoid careless handling. Before your pictures fade beyond recognition scan them at a dpi of 400-600 and save them on a thumb drive or other storage means and store copies of the image in different places so that your images have a better chance of withstanding time for future generations.
Until next week, ya’ll take care, stay dry, and be cool! 
