Your Photos - the windows of your life

Family photos - the very mention of the words conjures up pictures of albums, shoe boxes, slides and times before digital cameras, mobile phones etc

Today it is so easy to pick your favourite photos and get them digitised (scanned). As with most things it pays to know a bit about what you are doing.

To get from a faded photograph to a handsome photo ..... involves both aesthetic judgment and technical expertise. For a quick guide see Scanning tips from Shoebox Stories.

CJ Madigan is a fellow member of the Association of Personal Historians and a photo scanning specialist. Why not try telling your life story in 20 pictures.

Be a Photo Detective

Too often old photos are a mystery saying nothing about who the people are and when (or in what era) it was taken.

A whole field of photo detection has developed in recent years. One of the leading specialists is Maureen Taylor - the original Photo Detective. The problem is that most of this work has been done in the States and we are yet to find someone comparable in Australia & New Zealand. If you know of anyone please tell us!

With a bit of thought and observation you can become your own photo detective (and may be help others too!). The "Family Tree" magazine has a free pdf of the Best of the Photo Detective. (nb. be patient - there are 55 pages so it takes some time to load).

While the examples are all American the principles apply universally.

Tip: never write on the back of a photgraph with anything other than a soft leaded pencil. No biros, no felt tips just lightly with a pencil.