BEGINNERS GUIDE TO: COPYING AND PRESERVING YOUR FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHS BY C.L.SCHAFER Available from Tradtions Antique Photo & Framing Comp #19 1725 Alaska Ave. Dawson Creek, BC CANADA V1G 1P5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Although photographs can play an important role in genealogy, any genealogist knows how expensive it is to have negatives made and copies made of family photographs. This guide shows how to do your own copying with a 35mm camera. It also covers protecting and displaying your old photographs as well as framing and caring for you old photographs. It covers many areas of photography which a novice might consider esoteric, but it treats them in a basic way to make them understandable; it clarifies things such as filters, developing your own film, vignette, sepia tones, caring for and storing negatives and photographs, cleaning framed photographs, and more. (Excerpt from book) NEGATIVE STORAGE Proper storage of negatives is very important; remember, these are your back ups in case something happens to your originals. If something does happen to your negative your picture may be lost forever. Negatives and photographs have the same enemies: heat, moisture, humidity, dust, dirt, and storage materials that are not acid free. It is best to keep your negatives in archival sleeves. Do not store negatives loosely or together in the same sleeve. if the negatives are touching they can be easily scratched or may stick together. Never cut negatives; many dealers will not accept these negatives because they are to hard to handle and can be damaged easily. Always use cotton gloves when handling your negatives, and make sure your negatives are clean before storing them. Negatives are easier to clean now, and the materials will not be embedded into the emulsion. Never touch negatives, Fingerprints leave salt, which will enntually bleach the negative. It is best to store your negatives using a catalog system so they are easier to find when needed. You can store by year or family name. With genealogy, negatives can be stored under different family names, keep this in mind when making your copy negatives; when you are making your negatives leave blank frames between different family names. To do this just take a picture of a blank piece of paper. You may also store your negatives in three-ring books. Photographic stores carry special three-ring negative sleeves. Make sure they are archival sleeves. It is also a good idea to sotore negatives and orginals in a safety deposit box and only disply your copies. Negatives do break down over the years; they can be reproduced by making a print and then a new negative. Go through your old negatives and make sure they are properly stored and check if they look like they are breaking down. The negative will look thin and does not have a sharp image. If it is an important image make another negative just to make sure. It is a challenge to find names and dates of all our ancestors, but it is rare to find photographs. So when you do find a photograph, it feels like you know your ancestors even more, cherish them and help them last for the next generations to come. Questions or comments please contact: Carrie Schafer 74064,1413 compuserve --------------------------------------------------------------------------------