Photographic Products & Services

photography restorations

Discover what time has taken away by restoration of old photographs.
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PRESENTING: YOUR PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTS

I am frequently asked if I will work with other people’s photographs outside the context of restorations. The answer is ’Sure’. However, I am NOT interested in shooting weddings, commercial photo shoots or portrait shoots. I can recommend local photographers that may be able to help you.
 

If you have business or personal images you need to restore, combine, make into a display, make prints, stretch on canvas, enlarge, reduce. scan, mat, frame or turn into a card; I am up for those types of projects.

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Enlarging & reducing Photographic Prints

Clients often will ask if I can reduce or enlarge a photograph. There are a fair number of variables in the context of enlarging an image. There aren’t as many for reductions.
 
Reducing the Physical Size: A typical situation is that the client has a 16 x 20 print that they would like printed as an 8 x 10. They almost always think that there are no restoration issues. This is almost always not the case, but I can scan any size large image, reduce the physical size, and print the image to the specific size required. Many images will require cropping in order to hit a specific size.
 
Enlarging a Print: If the small image (2 x 3 inches or 2.25 x 3.25) you want to present  in a larger format is out of focus; it will not get better the larger we make it. Larger to smaller can sometimes improve clarity but not the other was around. As part of a restoration process some sharpening and will improve the image appearance. If a small image is very clear and in focus enlarging is less of a difficulty, and in fact the results can be amazing.

Making Canvas Prints

I make canvas prints of my fine art photography. I am frequently asked if I will make canvas prints of a client’s images. I will. You will need to scan your print, slide or negative; or I can do that for you. Scans of print images should be at 300 dpi or higher, and negatives/slides at 2400 dpi or higher. I will confer with you if I think your image has restoration issues that you will be unhappy with when they are enlarged. I generally make canvas prints in the following sizes:
 
8 x 10
12 x 18
16 x 24
20 x 30
24 x 36
 
As a practical matter I stock canvas stretchers in the above sizes. There are lots of other sizes available that I do not stock, but I can order. Stretchers are not available in 1//2 inch increments. Sometimes original mages are square, and those can also work very nicely stretched on canvas.

SCANNING:  PAPER DOCUMENTS

I’ve scanned lots of birth certificates, wedding certificates, graduation certificates, confirmation certificates, and even one ID tag. Modern certificates  are not very visually interesting, but the documents from the late 19th and early 20th centuries were filled in by hand on printed certificates that were produced in color and usually very ornate.

If your purpose is to preserve the image, and potentially to share it digitally then scanning is really all you need to accomplish. However, the goal of most clients is to restore the certificate. Many of the certificates have lived rough lives rolled up in the back of drawers. The are often dried out and cracked. Many are torn, and most are faded.

Scanning Slides/Negatives

Slides and negatives come in many different sizes. I can scan any size negative or slide. They almost all require some kind of restoration, but often I am asked to just simply scan the slides/negatives. Clients often just want to be able to share the images with children or other relatives. Most of the time scanning negative/slides is about making selections so it can be decided which images they would like to restore and print.

SCANNING: PHOTOS OF ANY SIZE

There are some exceptionally large photographs out there. None of these large format images will fit on a normal scanner. I have 12 x 17 inch scanner and most of the large format images will not physically sit on a 12 x 17 scanner and be scanned in one pass. The large format photographs and art work can be scanned however in multiple passes. The most scans I’ve completed to capture the entire image was eight. (I don’t remember how many scans it took for some very large blue prints I scanned for a client!)  The multiple scans are digitally reassembled and we end up with a perfect digital copy of the original. It can be printed at the same size as the original or smaller/larger.

LARGE FORMAT ARTWORK

I handle large format flat artwork in a similar fashion as I do with large-format photographs. Artwork is scanned in segments and reassembled digitally. Prints may be made the same size as the original or enlarged or reduced.

Mat & Frame Photographs & Artwork

It is very common for clients to hand me images I am to restore in frames in which they want the completed restoration installed. I generally disassemble the original, scan the original photo, and reassemble the old frame replacing glass, mounts, mats, backing. vapor seal, and hanger with acid free materials. My initial objective is to make it easy for the restoration to be up on a wall and quickly displayed. My long term objective is to make sure the restoration will last as long as practical in most environments.

Design & Print Greeting Cards

I enjoy sending thank you cards when I have completed work for clients. I enjoy creating my own images. So combining those two pleasures I create greeting cards in 5 x 7 formats for my own purposes. I also have created cards for clients using their images. I can make them in quantities of whatever number is useful to you. If you’d like them boxed for a gift I have boxes for ten or twenty at one time. The cards usually do not have words on the outside or inside of the card, but that option can be provided. I always print on the back of the card with any text you want, and text that notes that I did the layout & printing. Usefully they come with white envelopes. The cards are printed on stock that will stand up on its own without collapsing within the hour.

Specials, Coupons, Discounts, My Latest & Random Thoughts

This is Lost Lake across the road from the Pigeon River. We were exploring and this is the best place we found. Michigan is an adventure. The light was awesome and dramatic.

Special Things at Special Prices - sales / discounts

I sold my work & met clients at summer art fair across Michigan from 2009 – until the wall of COVID in 2020. In preparing for those shows I would make prints and canvas prints well in advance of the shows. I don’t know if you noticed but not everything sells nor will everything fit into a 10 x 10 booth! So I was mostly prepared for the 2020 show season, and I am offering these products at a discount via this web site.

Along the via Appia Antica

NOW $150 plus tax/shipping in 2020 priced at $250.
This 20 x 30 canvas print has been hanging in the office of Infinite Potential Chiropractic, 4655 Dobie Road Suite 245, Okemos, MI – (517) 388-4976. Dr. Katie Kenny was gracious enough to allow me to display Along the Via Appia Antica and a number of other canvas printed images. Call Dr. Kenny to see when the offices might be free to view this canvas. It is ready to display in your home or office.

There were villas well off the road and a few directly alongside the via Appia Antica. The villas were gated and remote. The houses along the road were gorgeous, so no obvious loss to the experience of walking into Roma along this ancient route.

©2016 Joseph Yarbrough

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