pef

I am going to take the two photos to be restored. I have never done this before so is there anything specific I should ask the restorer or receive when the restoration is complete? Should I ask for a copy or have the restored copy mounted in the original frame? My dad is in the photo of the ship's crew and recently my son finally showed some interest. The photos were taken in June 1919 of the battleship New Jersey on arrival from Brest France. It was on station during WW1. The photo has been stored in various places and moved around during my lifetime so shows some neglect. Thank You

Steved3604

Nice photos. Probably need to think about what size you want the prints to be. Maybe if the frames are in good (enough) shape -- and you want the "new" photos in the old frames. You don't have to get the new pix in the old frames. You just need to keep the same proportions or there will be cropping. All your call. I would probably think about new frames and glass and the size I wanted for both if both are hung together. You could maybe put both in one frame with a two "hole" matte. You could point out the person/people that you are interested in for "special attention". If it's all digital I would ask for a copy of the original scan and a copy of the final restored product. Will be a nice project and probably not inexpensive because of size, detail and condition.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

HRoss Loc: Longmont, CO

Well said, good advice.

rcorne001 Loc: Cary, NC

Very interesting photos!!! If you think about it perhaps share the restored version if you get them in digital format.

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

In the end all of the questions you ask can only be answered by you.
But I would get a copy to display and keep the restored image someplace safe, so if someone in your family was interested they could do the same.

elee950021 Loc: New York, NY

Nice photographs and history! Before my wife and I retired and closed our custom lab in 2008, we were early restorers using physical means and airbrush on copy prints of the originals. Later on, we used Photoshop. One client brought in a similar group photo but of a WWI US Army Company and had been stored by winding it up and kept in a tube! It was faded sepia and the corners dog-earred and developed cracks by the winding. I was able to scan it in sections and merged them together and eventually printed it in banner mode with an Epson 2200 printer. It printed out at 44" wide and looked great!

You didn't have a back story for the group shot! Anyhow, the blue stains could be dropped out in post-processing while the ship, smoke and water could be "selected" and all the staining eliminated. Most of the work would be to even out the tone in the ships hull. The photos would look great matted and depending on where they are to be displayed, life size or bigger. Yes, as someone suggested to get the image file and copies which should be very close (or better) to the originals. The originals would not be touched (except for scanning) as all the work would be with the digital file.

Just my 2 cents! Be well! Ed

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Just for fun, you could re-post them and click on Save image (I think). Then some people here can see what they can do.

Henlopen Loc: Lewes, Delaware

[quote=pef]I am going to take the two photos to be restored.

I would be tempted to just get the second one restored and maybe printed a little bigger if you have room to hang it, and if you really liked the results, see what can be done with the first one. Just my thoughts.

RodeoMan Loc: St Joseph, Missouri

Good luck with your project and did you notice that you are in the second image?

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

In my opinion (YMMV) a new picture deserves a new frame. Put the old one back in the old frame.

Assuming you have family in addition to your son who might be interested, I would get a digital copy in addition to the print. The digital copy is easy to send to others and they can have their own print made.

If you get a digital copy, include a digital copy of the documentation that goes with the photo.