Photography - Family History & Genealogy Message Board

Re: Need Help Dating Very Old Photo

BarryTJacobson — 2009-11-02 19:43:43Z

Hello Kim,

This photo, if really a Tintype must have been taken in or after 1853, the year they were invented. Also, it has been color washed with a sepia tone. This process wasn't introduced until the 1880's. Was the sepia tone added with Photoshop, or another digital fix program?

I agree with the other person that replied. The clothes look very 1860-1890's. Very common-folk "Victorian" American cloths.

P.S. I'm glad you made use of many photos of mine of ancestors we have in common. I'm not sure where we meet in the tree, but I hope I have helped with your querry.
Good luck, Barry

Mystery Photos--ADDISON--MACKIE--DEY--MCCOUBREY

christinecorene — 2009-08-29 02:23:23Z

I have recently acquired a box full of old photos that may be from my MACKIE--ADDISON--MCCOUBREY--DEY family lines in the Huntly, Cairney, Dufftown and surrounding areas. Some of the pics are from Ontario, Canada but most are from Scotland (Glasgow, Aberdeen, Elgin...). Please follow this link to view the pics and please let me know if anyone has a match!!!

http://www.queenslandfamilytrees.com/showalbum.php?albumID=1...

Christine

Re: Blog of Photos

neilaxe1 — 2009-07-09 02:49:50Z

Well I've just spent an hour trying to get an exact regiment on the family group with John Charles Snell in it, but I cant find the regiment.

The picture is 1915-1916 I reckon by the age of the child known to be born in 1914.

The picture of him later in the dooeway of a house must be about 1919, as the child is bigger. He now has Sergeant stripes.

The other army photos show a well travelled group of men, probably involved in fighting colonial wars with pictures from India and Alexandria. I thought the picture above George Snell could well be him again a few years before hand.

The picture of Hannah Snell marked 1830 is no way so early. 1860s is the very earliest I could stretch to, and I reckon it's later by at least a decade more. I realise this may well mess up the judgement of who this is - but there's no way it's so old as 1830. There's an excellent article on dating photos at

http://www.ancestry.co.uk/learn/learningcenters/default.aspx...

There are some excellent clear pictures of military uniforms and I reckon if you post your thread in the military section then you should get some help as some of the pictures of belt buckles, lapels and sleeves and badge caps etc look very clear.

Once the regiments are identified it should be possible to get pretty exact dates on those various photos as the knowledge of what regiment was posted where is well preserved and even a lot of individual soldiers can be identified.

Good luck

Neil

Re: tintype of an unidentified woman--time frame?

mlcrouch1 — 2009-07-09 02:19:39Z

interesting! I do remember reading about the zoauve fashion but when I look closely at this tintype I see a woman. She clearly has earrings but yet her face is somewhat masculine--she is quite grim--of course, many photos from that time were grim because it took so long to take the picture. Hmmm, a cross dresser or simply a flamboyant young man? many things to consider. thank you for the commentary.

Re: tintype of an unidentified woman--time frame?

neilaxe1 — 2009-07-09 01:57:05Z

Well I hope someone posts something more informed than me, but my immediate thoughts were late 1850s or 1860s America.

Tintypes was invented in 1853 and introduced to the Us in 1856, so thats a sort of cut off point in terms of earlyness.

Just before the civil war (1861-65) there was a widespread fashion craze for zouave type costumes in the USA. This was then reflected in the civil war with many zouave units with fancy dress type uniforms forming up on both sides. I kid you not!

It strikes me this could well be something influenced from around then.

Have you considered the possibility that this could be a male?

Neil

Wedding photos - who stands where

neilaxe1 — 2009-06-16 17:44:15Z

I have a couple of old wedding photos of known family members and dates. Both fully appear to be traditional church weddings in full wedding dress etc.

My question is "are there rules of tradition/etiquette that determine where people stand in traditional wedding photos?

I have that the bride and bridegroom stand in the centre of the front row, but beyond that I don't know.

Any help appreciated.

Re: Photo restorations??? I need advice

neilaxe1 — 2009-06-16 17:18:37Z

The previous suggestion is excellent. Needs a good scnner though. Make sure you set your scanner to the top quality scan possible.

A UV lamp might also do it. Stamp collectors often have these.

Alternatively your local policeman might be able to help! There are all sorts of ways detectives read things that all but invisible !

tintype of an unidentified woman--time frame?

mlcrouch1 — 2009-06-08 20:44:13Z

I found a tintype among a group of old family photos--had it digitized and "cleaned up" so we could see the picture. I have no idea who the woman is but am hoping someone can offer some information on the style of clothing so I can at least establish an approximate date.

Re: Digitizing Photos

TheLocalArchiver — 2009-06-02 13:28:59Z

Your choices are local photo shops or larger specialized scanning services. Local shops are possibly inconsistent in expertise and results as scanning is often a lesser and part time effort. Large scanning services are better at quality control and you will know what you are getting in terms of scan resolution, jpeg compression levels, etc. Most will provide a dvd and other options such as slide shows and online albums. Some perform scanning overseas. ScanDigital and ScanCafe are two of biggest. For a discussion of other considerations, you may be interested in reading the article on Scanning at LocalArchiver.com.

Re: Saving that old photo from the trash - a restore example.

saveabby — 2009-05-27 22:55:06Z

No idea what happens to the photo...when I first posted it opened fine from work...now asks to save as ".ashx" file?!?!

Oh well...I emailed it anyway. : )

Re: Saving that old photo from the trash - a restore example.

saveabby — 2009-05-27 16:57:02Z

Hmm...re-saved jpg, let's see if that worked.

Re: Saving that old photo from the trash - a restore example.

gen_bug — 2009-05-27 05:04:17Z

For some reason im havin problems savin this to my computer. Its a unrecognizable extension or something..any ideas?

Re: Saving that old photo from the trash - a restore example.

gen_bug — 2009-05-27 00:09:00Z

Hey I tried to open the pic to view but it wouldnt let me. I really appreciate what you guys are doin for me. You will never know how much it means to me.

My email is gen_bug@hotmail.com if you could email me the pic, thatd be awesome

Re: Saving that old photo from the trash - a restore example.

saveabby — 2009-05-26 21:08:43Z

Hi,

Took the resto a step further. Unfortunately much of the detail was lost because the need to scan in frame.

The pic I am posting is only 125 dpi...contact me and I can email you the full res file. (too big to post)

Re: Saving that old photo from the trash - a restore example.

tante33 — 2009-05-20 18:28:46Z

Sweet GenBug. Your response brought tears to my eyes.

Nice job on the photo! That's really nice of you.

Re: Saving that old photo from the trash - a restore example.

gen_bug — 2009-05-14 23:24:01Z

OMG WOW
I didnt think anything could be done to save this picture, you did a remarkable job, big props to you. Thank you so much for saving the ONLY photo I have of my grandpa.

Melissa

Re: Saving that old photo from the trash - a restore example.

mikrco1 — 2009-05-14 21:58:17Z

Melissa,

I gone as far as I can wirh your image - I hope it works for you. If I can be of further help let me know.

Regards,
Michael

Re: Saving that old photo from the trash - a restore example.

gen_bug — 2009-05-14 20:59:47Z

If I could I would, but when the water got into the frame it acted as a glue to the photo, so if i try to seperate it will rip the photo badly

Re: preserving photographic negatives

cjwall0531 — 2008-10-05 21:14:18Z

Thanks for your help with these precious negatives. I am in the process of scanning them and plan on distributing them to relatives to enjoy.

Re: pre-civil war photo, painting or photograph?

melanieviselli — 2008-09-30 21:31:54Z

of course if it was pre civil war, and was an early photo, they could have been trying to play around with possible color techniques (lending to the look of a drawing or painting)...but then again, if it is a photo that is on a cardboard or postcard type of backing (a paper photo) it would be at least the civil war era (possibly slightly sooner) other than that, eh? i have quite a few at home myself...one day i'll get everything together and post a few...
good luck

Re: Dating this photograph

melanieviselli — 2008-09-30 21:20:58Z

i'm saying 1880s-1890s....the glasses are ROUND if you look at them closely enough...and then the type of dress that she's wearing...
i'm a history major and a rabid collector of older family photos...(most of them up on our walls)...but if i had to guess, 1880s- 1890s like i said...probably more so of the 1890s...

Re: Help to date a photo from 1890-1910

melanieviselli — 2008-09-30 21:11:17Z

hey.
judging by the clothes and the bicycle...i'd say probably 1900-1910...maybe even as close as 1905...but i'm like you other wise.
good luck.

Blog of Photos

lorinorth1 — 2009-03-06 20:37:20Z

I have a blog full of photos and a lot of them are unknown people, unknown dates. Blog address below.

I am not sure if this is the best way to ask for help on dating these photos or not.

Some of the men are wearing uniforms and that could be helpful.

Thanks for any and all help.

Lori

http://greatbranches.blogspot.com/

Re: Need help dating photograph...

lafull1 — 2008-11-23 22:02:47Z

As a guess, I would pick the later - 1885 date. It looks typical dress style closer to the 1900s. Date-wise, I would even go as far as guessing about the 19-teens. The bride's headwear kinda gives it a modern look. Early headwear was more wreath-like and less material. The veil thing started about the 1900s. The only other thing that would help at dating the time, would be knowing what type of photo the original was - paper, tin type, glass.

tintype picture

STILLER118 — 2008-10-17 14:01:30Z

I have a tintype picture that we have figures from research that is was from 1860's.. does anyone know the value of this?

Re: help dating a mystery photograph?

jrill82 — 2009-02-02 16:30:47Z

I think this is probably your great grandmother because the photo's subject has her hand on a column to steady herself. Props were used in this way in the older photos because one had to stand still for such a long time. That probably would not have been necessary by the time your great grandmother's daughters were that age.

You can check the George Eastman database at http://www.geh.org/gehdata.html to see if the photographer was practicing in New York when your great grandmother was a young girl. This database lists photographers from around the world, but mostly in the U.S., the dates and where they practiced, and other information about the photographer. The database is a Telenet database which is not supported by the VISTA operating system. If you have VISTA, you could try your local library's computer.

Good luck. Judi

Need help dating photograph...

ebockenstette — 2008-10-16 23:16:37Z

Attached is a photograph I found with my grandfather's possessions (he passed away this year, and has no living siblings). It appears obviously to be a marriage photograph. Trouble is, it is a reprint of the original on 1 x 10 photo paper. I have a few ideas on who the couple is - and they are people I have not seen photos of before.

My first idea is that it could be my grandfather's paternal grandparents. They were married in 1876 in Germany. I have this hunch because the man standing bears a resemblance to my grandfathers father. The groom was 26 at the time, and the bride 22.

My second idea is that it may be his maternal grandparents, who were married in 1885 in Covington, Kentucky. The groom was 23, and the bride 21.

Hopefully I am not too far off in my guesses. I hope someone can further examine the clothing their wearing or the husbands hair to maybe be able to more accurately date this photograph. I was thinking maybe the gloves the man is wearing could be a clue.

Any help is much appreciated,

Erik

Photo restorations??? I need advice

shellye1973 — 2009-05-04 00:14:15Z

I have a great collection of my great grandmothers old photos. The pictures on the front are in excellent condition but I have no idea who any of them are. You can tell at some point someone wrote on the backs of the pictures but that has long since faded and you can ony see a letter or two. . Is there anyway to "bring out" the writing to identify them or is there a type of compnay that provides a service such as this? Any help would greatly be appreciated.
Michelle

I don't think so

R_mesnard — 2009-03-31 11:13:32Z

This was a good idea. You will always find a few opinions here most fairly expert even if they may not agree. As with many photos of this era the resolution stinks. However, I suspect the tables are about the same heigth and the men differ. The eyes and eye brows, nose, head shape and body proportions are all different .

Re: pre-civil war photo, painting or photograph?

ronmesnard — 2008-10-06 11:34:45Z

I would guess it is an old photo circa the CW or later. The give away is that the surface is glossy. No artist would pick a medium like that(glossy and small). The medium is most likely photographic card stock. The photo is just very faded either because it was kept where sun light could hit it or it was improperly 'fixed' when it was made. I have photos like that where only a ghost of the image remains. The original photo image will be a greenish grey. Someone 'restored' by drawing in the faded spots. Even though it is possible it was taken before the CW it is far more likely that it was not. The odds are, the familiy information about the picture is incorrect than it was a very early photo. Photos before the CW were extreamly rare, especially in 1853, and were made by photographic chemists. Cities like Philadephia or New York City may have had a photographic chemist. Less likely, was that the subject knew a photographic scientist maybe at UVA.

Scanning it would be best. If you can find an old HP scanner that would be better yet. The older scanners used some kind of florecent bulb that produced non visable light and the photo receptors work in these wavelengths. A scanner like that can pick up traces of details faided to the human eye in visable light. Scan in color to a bitmap. Then play with the color saturation using a good photo editor. You may be able to reveal some of the faided material.

Good luck!

watermarking photos

decker4160 — 2008-12-13 22:10:09Z

Sorry if this has been posted b4 but am looking for guidance on how to post photos on Ancestry. AYK, photos can be easily shared amongst researchers without knowing who has possession of the original photo. Is there a way to "watemark" or tag the photo? This is not a copyright issue as these photos are tintype or early 1900 photos. I just want to place an invisible tag onto the photo itself. thanks.

Saving that old photo from the trash - a restore example.

mikrco1 — 2009-05-04 19:08:16Z

A good graphics program can do wonders for those old photos but can be costly and have a steep learning curve fror some.

I use Corel's Paint Shop Pro XI which is reasonably priced compared to others. Here an example of a recent restore of one of my families old photo's.

You can see how bad the condition is in the orignal scan and the results achieved with program. A nearly lost photo has been saved for more genrations to come.

If you have a old photo you would like some help with; at no charge, contact me for instruction and I'll help if I can.

Re: Saving that old photo from the trash - a restore example.

mikrco1 — 2009-05-14 19:42:24Z

This is still a work in progress - Do you have the ability to re-scan the original? If so, re-scan it as a greyscale @ 300 dpi image. If not I'll just continue working with the image you posted.

Re: Saving that old photo from the trash - a restore example.

mikrco1 — 2009-05-14 15:37:34Z

Melissa,

This looks like a real challenge. Give me a few days and I'll see what I can do with it.

Re: Photo restorations??? I need advice

caroleavon — 2009-05-05 14:41:25Z

If you have a scanner and a program like photoshop elements, try scanning the back, and then using the enhancement tools in the program to increase contrast, or to change the lighting/shadows. If you have a Mac computer, IPhoto has those tools standard.
The other thing you might do is put some of them on the Sangamon message board with the family names that you think they belong to, and see if anyone else can help. I have had some luck with that approach.

Re: I don't think so

Tharring7 — 2009-03-31 11:13:32Z

nice responce. i'm guessing your still looking for your parents. this gentleman has a goldmine of information in what he already knows and the two photographs. if you can't help, say so. if you think they are diferent, voice it. if your frusterated don't reply,but don't give intentionaly negative and false imformation for whatever unknowen reason you hold.

Re: Help dating an old photograph

katherineofengland — 2008-10-01 15:56:48Z

You've all been such a great help. In actual life I'm pretty sure that the photograph has aged a little bit due to cigarette smoke, but not too much.

So I think that, using all of your information, it's probably from the early 1890s. This helps a little bit. Surprisingly, here aren't many women in my ancestry, there's only one family I can find that has enough female members to make up the photograph, and they certainly match the date of early 1890s. I can only guess, but it looks to me like 3 generations of women from the same family... it's just a shame there are no names on it!

Re: Dating this photograph- need help dating photo of man

savasnia — 2008-10-21 15:24:42Z

I am trying to date a photograph that might be from the mid to late 1800's. It is a photograph of a man He is has a neat mustache [no sideburns], hair is short and parted to one side, he is wearing a dark three piece suit [probably wool], White shirt with a banded collar, dark colored- self tied- silk or satin bowtie, white handkerchief folded with a portion sticking out of suit jacket [triangle], white shirt cuffs exposed, Is wearing what appears to be a pocket watch fob made of braided hair. He is standing in what appears to be a portrait studio with a backdrop and some large boulders. He has his right arm on a boulder and his left hand is behind his back.

Thanks

Re: Help to date a photo from 1890-1910

ginaaa — 2009-01-04 03:16:51Z

it actrally looks to be from 1888 because this year was the year that "cycling" became a fad. the bike in the picture is a replica of the bikes used in that year. the bike could be older than that but it is estimated to be from 1888 to 1890.

Re: What time period is this?

tohara1492 — 2009-03-27 18:45:10Z

Judging by the style of clothing and hair I would place this photo on 1870-1880. I think you can definately rule out husband #3.
The smooth sholder area of the sleeve- the pleating of the bodice, the printed necktie on the gentleman, the center part in her hair, the neck scarf- all popular 1870-1875.
When was Eva born? This woman doesn't look especially young. Also what type of photo was it? Size? card? postcard? writing on the back?
A good book to have is Dating Old Photographs 1840-1929. My copy has paid for itself over and over again.

Re: Saving that old photo from the trash - a restore example.

gen_bug — 2009-05-14 02:33:48Z

I have an old photo that is badly damaged. It was in a frame at my mothers, and when the ceiling leaked it got into the frame, rendering it impossible to get the picture out without destroying it. So now there are water bubbles etc. I doubt you can do anything but if you could it would be great. Ill attach the photo.

Melissa

Re: Saving that old photo from the trash - a restore example.

gen_bug — 2009-05-14 15:58:12Z

Thanks a bunch.
I just wish my mom would have notice the water leak before it got to the pictures.

Trying to identify Civil War era photo

copet1 — 2009-03-31 11:21:41Z

I have a photograph of my ancestor's son, David Waller, who served in Co. D, WI 12th Infantry. He died in the Andersonville Prison in 1864. In the photograph he is standing with his hand placed on a book on a table. I believe it was taken before he entered the war.

On the other hand, I have another photo that looks similar to him, without his small beard and in a Union uniform. Can anyone loan their opinion if this might be the same person? I'm really stuck. I've purchased a few books and bounce ideas around and even ask friends if they think it is the same person, but no one can point anything out that might tell me for sure. Unfortunately, I only have prints and therefore can't tell if they are from the same studio. I could really use someone's suggestion or opinion. Thank you!!

help dating a mystery photograph?

hmpollard — 2009-02-02 15:44:36Z

This old photo has been in the family for a little while and no one knows who it is. It may be my great-grandmother (born 1892) or maybe one of her children (born 1910), but I am thinking it is more likely my great-grandmother...? She did not like photos being taken of her so I have no others to reference.

Here is what I know: I am guessing it is a confirmation photo. The photographer is G. Dobkins Studio, 507 Eight Ave., NY. I looked up the photographer and he is in the NY directory for 1915 and 1916, but not 1917, those were the only years I could check.

Also mysterious is the writing on the back:
"Mrs. Matamo" (perhaps a misspelling of her last name, Montano)
That is underlined and then it has "Mr. Montamo (this is certainly a misspelling of my great-grandfather's name, Montano, because the following was his address in the 20's),
214 E. 29th St,
apt. 2nd floor rear,
as it is death (death circled)
(underline)
has one oil painting picture to give"

I have no idea what to make of this! My g-grandfather died in 1962, my g-grandmother in 1973, and they were no longer at this address then. Did someone in the family die and they got evicted? Why write this info on the back of a photo, which obviously remained with the family?

Anyone want to venture a guess? Thanks!

(Am attempting to attach photos, hope it works!)

Re: how to restore a daguerreotype

hamilton_james — 2009-01-01 04:50:18Z

The American Institute for Conservation has a search for providers of such services. http://www.aic-faic.org/guide/form.html

Re: tintype picture

hamilton_james — 2009-01-01 04:47:49Z

Sorry to give you such a late response but I do not have much time to get on here any more. There is a little bit of a collector market for them but prices range very wide and are not (in general) that high. You can search tintype on eBay and get an idea of what they go for.

Re: PRESERVING DOCUMENTS

hamilton_james — 2009-01-01 04:45:08Z

Since this thread has come back up, I will weigh in... I have obtained a huge amount of documents and photos over the last year that go back as far as the early and mid-1800's. I was forced to get comfortable dealing with these quickly.

First, limit how much you handle them but do scan them so that you can refer to them whenever needed electronically. This also makes them easy to share with other researchers and only exposes them to high intensity light once if copies are needed later.

Next, place documents in protective acid free sleeves and then store them sorted in acid free boxes. There are many sources for these and they range in price. I use Archival Methods http://www.archivalmethods.com for obtaining most of my stuff (again, this can get expensive if you have a lot to do). I use their side load print sleeves for most photos and documents. They have several sizes with the item number for 8.5x11 being 32-108. This will protect the paper itself as well as the ink. Instead of using regular folders or binders to hold the sleeves, sort them into acid free archival boxes.

Last but not least, If the documents are in very poor condition you can hire a conservator to restore them for you. I have done this with several old marriage and baptismal certificates that were stored rolled up for the last 100 years and sustained insect damage. I was able to have them flattened, mended, and have the ink stabilized. The cost for a large marriage certificate (around 17x24") was about $150 with flattening, mending, and stabilization. You can find a conservator through the American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works http://www.aic-faic.org/guide/form.html

Good Luck... A small investment of time and money now will save a lot of time and money later when someone needs that original document. As I am typing this, my wife is attempting to salvage 60 year old pictures and news clippings from a glue contact photo album. It takes us about 30 minutes per item to safely remove, scan, and archive the original.

Re: PRESERVING DOCUMENTS

sadlertom1959 — 2008-12-08 17:25:44Z

I do agree that scanning would be the best.
I was womdering if there were any documents with the Saddler Ssadler (from Hardin, Ky.) name on them since you have them in your family tree.
Thank you, Tom Sadler
tom_gina@hotmail.com

Digital Cameras

dick_4273 — 2009-04-23 19:34:04Z

I would like to hear from anyone who has a digital camera as to how they are using it for their genealogy research. Please refer to the model number of the camera you have and the approximate cost.

Re: help dating a mystery photograph?

jeanlinsley55 — 2009-02-01 22:47:36Z

just saw your picture.. how beautiful..can`t help but have you researched photogragher..! or history of the bldg listed on back of pic..looks like a certificate she`s holding..passing out for young ladies or college..
good luck..I`m in uk..
jean