Archive for June, 2010

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Getty Curator Doubts Photos Attributed To Eadweard Muybridge

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

Getty Curator Doubts Photos Attributed To Eadweard Muybridge

Controversial 19th Century Photographer Back In Headlines

Photographer Eadweard Muybridge, a portrait of whom has been scanned to digital above, first made headlines in 1874 when he shot and killed a man who was having an affair with his wife. Four years later, on June 19th, 1878, he made history by making what is generally considered the first motion picture recording, at the behest of former governor Leland Stanford. And his name appeared in the headlines of the Los Angeles Times once again, this time in June of 2010. Who exactly was Eadweard Muybridge, and what is all the fuss about?

Eadweard Muybridge is probably most famous for photographing the first successful serial images of fast motion. Leland Stanford contracted Muybridge, already a well-known photographer, to help solve what seemed to be an irresolvable debate between artists and equestrians. The topic of this debate, which in retrospect seems rather trivial when compared to the extraordinary technological advances that sprung from it, was the simple matter of whether all of a trotting horse’s hoofs are ever off the ground at once. On June 19th, 1878 in Palo Alto, California, Muybridge proved the affirmative by making the first ever motion picture.

To see the series of photos scanned to digital, click here.

To see the animated motion picture, click here.

More recently, Muybridge made headlines for an even more controversial topic – the doubtful authenticity of some of his works. Last week, the LA Times reported that some photographs attributed to Muybridge, including some being featured in a landmark exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, might not be the work of Muybridge after all. Former Getty photo curator Weston Naef believes that many of Muybridge’s earliest photographs, taken in San Francisco in 1866 and 1867, were actually taken by other photographers and published under Muybridge’s name. Chief among those likely to have taken Muybridge’s early photos is Carleton Watkins, whose acknowledged works were the subjects of the Getty Museum’s 2008 exhibit entitled “Dialogue Among Giants: Carleton Watkins and the Rise of Photography in California.” If Naef is right in believing that many of Muybridge’s early photos were indeed taken by other photographers, proving such a theory would change the history of photography significantly.

The Muybridge exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery is entitled “Helios: Eadweard Muybridge in a Time of Change,” and will be showing at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art starting in February of next year.

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Tim Burton MoMA Exhibit Headed To LACMA In 2011

Monday, June 28th, 2010

Tim Burton MoMA Exhibit Headed To LACMA In 2011

Modern Art With A Macabre Twist

From Batman (1989) and Edward Scissorhands (1990), to Sweeny Todd (2007) and Alice in Wonderland (2010), director Tim Burton has made a career of presenting dark, macabre, and odd characters in dreamlike worlds that are as inviting as they are weird. The idiosyncratic director, whose highly stylized films are not shy about portraying Burton’s unique aesthetic, has given rise to a cult following by creating imaginative and memorable characters, such as Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas, which seem to linger in the popular culture long after the movies for which they were created have left the box office.

Hundreds of Burton’s slightly disturbing yet undeniably appealing artworks were compiled for a major retrospective exhibition, which opened New York’s Museum of Modern Art in November of 2009. Featuring artwork and pro video transfers from Burton’s films, as well as original drawings and sculptures, the exhibit became one of the most highly attended exhibitions in MoMA’s history, drawing over 800,000 visitors during its five-month run. Only two other artists’ retrospective exhibitions have ever drawn more visitors, those being Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse.

The exhibition featured many over-the-top attractions, including large-scale topiary installation from Edward Scissorhands, and a doorway in the form of an enormous, monstrous mouth. In addition to pieces from studio archives and private collections of Burton’s collaborators, the collection featured over 700 pieces from Burton’s private archive of works.

 The popular exhibition is currently headed to the Australian Center for the Moving Image and Toronto’s Bell Light Box, but will return to the United States in May of 2011, when it will be shown at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). The MoMA version of the exhibit included pro video transfers of several of Burton’s films in their entirety, but LACMA has not yet confirmed that full-length film screenings will be part of its version of the show. For more information about upcoming events at LACMA, visit www.lacma.org.

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Israeli Lawmaker Attempts To Ban Super-Slim Models, Photoshop

Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010

Israeli Lawmaker Attempts To Ban Super-Slim Models, Photoshop

How Thin Is Too Thin?

 We all know that for models and celebrities, “thin is in.” Hollywood, fashion magazines, and the media in general are full of rail thin supermodels and movie-stars that promote an unusual body type as the only “beautiful” body type. Studies have shown that the portrayal of thinness as beauty in the popular media has even contributed to a rise in eating disorders such anorexia and bulimia. And what’s worse, photos portraying rail-thin models have often been retouched to make the models appear even thinner than they are in real life. These days, this information is mostly common knowledge – something we’ve all heard about, and just sort of accepted. What could we do about it, anyway?

Well, Israeli doctor and lawmaker Rachel Adatto thinks there is something to be done. Adatto, who has devoted much of her career to women’s health issues, recently submitted a bill to the Knesset (Israeli parliament) that would keep “underweight” models out of advertisements, and would prohibit the misuse of editing tools like Photoshop, so advertising agencies and print media could not airbrush models into Barbie dolls.       

Adatto claims that super-skinny models are poor role models for children and adults alike, and that impressionable youths are particularly at risk for potentially fatal eating disorders. She also suggests that the use of Photoshop is partly to blame. Photographers routinely photograph models, and then use photo scanning and digital editing software like Photoshop to make their photos (and their subjects) appear “more perfect.”

But what would such a law mean for slender Israeli models like Shelly Hazan (pictured right? Do they not have the right to work? The bill raises questions about freedom of occupation, freedom of employment, and of course the freedom of expression that Americans guard so vehemently. Such principles are anchored in Israeli law as strongly as in our laws.

Of course, the fashion and photography industries have taken advantage of airbrushing techniques for decades, and most of us accept that a certain amount of photo scanning, fiddling, and blemish-removing is bound to take place in industries that focus so heavily on aesthetics. Last week, in what seems to many like a reasonable compromise, the ministerial legislation committee signed off on an altered version of the bill which would allow photo-altering but would require touched-up images to be identified.

As for the debate over “how thin is too thin,” the jury is still out.

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How You Can Help De-Clutter The Earth by Jodie Watson

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010

Watching news of the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico as it unfolds makes me feel so helpless, as I’m sure it has you, too. With the massive oil spill now being named as ‘the largest oil spill in US history’, our water is being polluted with thousands of barrels of oil with each passing day. Marine and wildlife struggle to survive while fishing and tourism industries remained threatened. As BP attempts to correct this problem with numerous techniques to control the spread of oil, we wait hoping things will improve as soon as possible. 

Seeing the relief and rescue teams pull together to do whatever they can reminds me of the things we can do in our very homes to avoid putting more waste into our environment.  

I’ve always stressed that the less clutter we have, the better we feel – but definitely not at the expense of our planet!  We’ve all heard the sayings, “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” or “Going Green” but are we actually doing as much as we could be doing in our everyday lives and actually living by these mottos. The more we recycle, the less we have in landfills!  The more we reuse or pass on to others to reuse, the less we have in landfills!  It really is a win-win. 

From using re-useable cloth bags instead of plastic at grocery stores, choosing online banking & bill pay to save on paper waste, donating old or outdated electronics that are lying around the house, shopping and donating other unwanted items at local thrift stores, there are ways we can each do our part to help our planet and support your communities at the same time. From homes, to corporate offices, we can all work together to protect our world and help make it a greener, safer and more beautiful place to live. 

Best sure to check out my June tips for other things you can do to help de-clutter the earth.  We may not be in a position to clean off a bird that has been soaked in oil, but there are other ways we can make a difference in our world…starting today! 

Take Care,

~ Jodie ~

 How You Can Help De-Clutter The Earth

By making a few changes and becoming informed, you can do your part to dispose of unnecessary items safely without damaging the planet.

HAZARDOUS WASTE 

Medications & Sharps: Throwing out old medications or putting them down the toilet or sink can pollute the water supply and soil.  Contact pharmacies in your area to find one that has a drug recycling program and take them there for safe disposal. It is illegal to dispose of sharps (needles, lancets, etc) in the trash. Seal in a puncture resistant container such as a laundry detergent bottle, tape shut, mark clearly “contains sharps”, and take to a physician, participating pharmacy or household hazardous waste event or S.A.F.E. Center.  Call (800) 988-6942 for locations near you.  Do not throw away the sealed sharps container into any of your own trash bins. 

Paint & Household Products: Items such as paint, paint thinners, cleaners and solvents, pool or gardening chemicals, used oil, furniture polish & sprays, etc damage the environment.  Disposing of them in your trash, storm drains or sewers is actually against the law. Check with family or friends to see if they are able to make use of what you no longer need first.  If you do need to dispose of the products, call your local Department of Water and Power to find a permanent recycle center or hazardous waste disposal event in your city. Don’t pour chemicals into a single container.  Be sure to keep them in their original packages. 

E-Waste: Keep electronics out of the trash. Did you know that e-waste is one of the fastest growing areas in landfills? Alarmingly, around only 10% of all electronic waste is actually recycled. Visit www.Earth911.com to search for the recycling center nearest you. Recycle everything and anything from TV’s, video games, cell phones, batteries, computer monitors, printers, radios, etc.   

HOUSEHOLD WASTE 

Clothing & Furniture: Instead of throwing unwanted items away or placing old furniture on the side of the road join www.Freecycle.org. This nonprofit organization is committed to reusing and keeping stuff out of landfills.  Members have access to networks in their area and are able to give (or get) stuff for free in their own town.  Membership is free! Sign up online to find your local group. 

Plastic Bags: While clean, dry, plastic bags can be recycled and reused to make useful new products, many curbside programs won’t accept them. To find a designated plastic bag recycling drop off center near you and for more information visit www.plasticbagrecycling.org.  The consumers section of their website also contains a comprehensive list of the type of plastic bags that can be recycled. 

Paper: Every ton of paper recycled saves more than 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space. In order to be successfully recycled, paper must be clean and free of contaminants such as food, plastic, metal or other trash. Use your curbside recycling bin or community drop-off programs to recycle paper products such as newspapers, magazines, catalogs, phone books, copy paper, file folders, cereal boxes, etc. 

Contact Jodie Watson:

If you have any questions, would like to schedule a free professional organizing telephone consultation, or would like Jodie Watson to speak at your next corporate function, group meeting, social event, or retreat, call at (818) 590-7800. You can also contact Jodie on Facebook and Twitter or visit her website at Supreme Organization.

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Congress Honors Slaves Who Helped Build Capitol

Monday, June 21st, 2010

Congress Honors Slaves Who Helped Build Capitol

Plaques Unveiled In Their Memory

The above photo, which has been scanned to digital for preservation in the National Archives, was taken in 1856. It depicts workers, many of them slaves, removing the old dome of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., and preparing to replace it with the fireproof cast-iron dome that remains there today. The placement of the Statue of Freedom atop the dome was supervised by an enslaved man named Philip Reid in 1863. In 2010, Congress has decided to honor the many African American slaves who helped build the U.S. Capitol.

Historians have learned that slaves were used in the construction of many of our nation’s most recognizable government buildings, including the White House and the Capitol. The slaves worked 12 hours a day, six days a week for no pay. The federal government rented these workers from local slave-owners, who received $5 per person per month. In addition to working on the construction of the buildings, slaves worked in quarries extracting stone, sawed stone and timber, and provided other carpentry skills. Slave women and children molded clay in kilns.

In memory of these slaves and the work they did to help build our nation’s capitol, plaques have been erected inside the Capitol building. The plaques read: “This original exterior wall was constructed between 1793 and 1800 of sandstone quarried by laborers, including enslaved African Americans who were an important part of the workforce that built the United States Capitol.”

Democratic Congressman John Lewis of Georgia, who was present at the unveiling of the plaques, says they help tell a more full history of our capitol city. “This Capitol, the most recognizable symbol of our democracy, was not built overnight,” he said. “It was not built by machines. It was built through the backbreaking work of laborers and slave laborers.”

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was also present, saying “In remembering the slaves who labored here, we give them in death some measure of the dignity they were so cruelly denied in life.”

The plaques were unveiled inside the Capitol’s historic Mansfield Room on June 16th by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, along with Republicans Mitch McConnell and John Boehner. They will later reside in the Congressional Visitor Center’s largest room, Emancipation Hall, so named to honor the slaves’ work on the Capitol.

To explore more photos and documents that have been scanned to digital for preservation by the National Archives, visit www.digitalvaults.org.

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Southern California’s Theme Parks Get Ready For Summer

Thursday, June 17th, 2010

Southern California’s Theme Parks Get Ready For Summer

New Attractions And Higher Ticket Prices For 2010

theme parkLast summer, a recession-hit Southern California didn’t pour much money into its many popular theme parks. Rather than entice park-goers with new attractions, theme parks offered bargain packages, discount tickets, and two-for-one deals to draw in recession-weary vacationers who didn’t want to shell out the big bucks for a day of rollercoasters, parades, and overpriced cotton candy.

This summer, on the other hand, things are looking up for Southern California’s theme parks, as new attractions like Universal’s King Kong 3D and Disney’s World of Color (featuring 200-foot-tall animated waterspouts) are expected to draw the big crowds (at full ticket price). According to David Mandt, a spokesman for the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, “there’s certainly a sense of optimism returning to the 2010 season,” as the parks have “weathered the storm well.” Now bolstered by a recovering economy, several of Southern California’s theme parks are investing in new, large-scale attractions intended to increase park attendance.

During last year’s theme park slump, only the Disneyland resort showed strong numbers in attendance. But Disney is not resting on its laurels, as it plans to debut a new attraction called World of Color, an expansive light show featuring flames, waterspouts, and animation in the Paradise Bay lagoon at the Disneyland California Adventure park. The new attraction featured classic Disney music paired with cutting edge film transfer and projection technology that blasts color and animation onto moving curtains of water in the lagoon. Set to open during the second week of June, this attraction is part of a billion-dollar investment into improving the California Adventure park.

At Universal Studios Hollywood, several new and revamped attractions are slated for release this summer. A rebooted 22-minute Special Effects Stage show will pit cutting-edge digital film transfer technology such as green screen, CGI, and motion capture, against classic movie making techniques such as rear-screen projection, matte backgrounds, and forced perspective. In July, Universal will also unveil King Kong 360 3-D, in which enormous curved movie screens and high tech 3D film transfers designed by Academy Award-winning director Peter Jackson will replace the older mechanical King Kong which has been out of commission since 2008.

For more information on the attractions described above, visit www.disneyland.disney.go.com and http://www.universalstudioshollywood.com.

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Cartoonist Berkeley Breathed Teams Up With Technicolor

Wednesday, June 16th, 2010

Cartoonist Berkeley Breathed Teams Up With Technicolor

Unlikely Duos Abound With ‘Pete And Pickles’ TV Series

Best known for the 1980s socio-political comic strip Bloom County, cartoonist Berkeley Breathed is no stranger to Hollywood. Boom County earned him the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning in 1987, and since then he has worked on several big projects, including the film version of his children’s book “Mars Needs Moms!”, which is being produced by Disney and Robert Zemeckis. Breathed is also no stranger to unlikely partnerships, as evidenced by his most recent book, “Pete & Pickles,” which pairs a free-spirited circus elephant and a no-nonsense pig in an unusual friendship. Now part of his own unlikely partnership, Berkeley Breathed is joining up with longtime film processing company Technicolor to produce an animated television series based on “Pete & Pickles.”

Breathed admits to being skeptical when he was approached by Tim Sarnoff, president of Technicolor’s newly formed digital production division and the former head of the visual effects house Sony Pictures Imageworks. Breathed said he just “never associated (Technicolor’s) name with production.” But Technicolor has been evolving from a provider of behind-the-scenes services like DVD production into creator of content, and Breathed was eventually charmed by Sarnoff’s enthusiasm. Breathed said, “there is nothing better than working for a company that is hungry and anxious to prove themselves.”

And as Breathed knows all too well, creative projects in Hollywood can be sparked from the unlikeliest of places. “Pete & Pickles” was itself inspired by a drawing (the evolution of which has been scanned to digital, see above) by Breathed’s 7-year-old daughter. Breathed and Technicolor understand that children’s animation is a risky business, because the likes and dislikes of young viewers are so difficult to predict, and more established companies like Nickelodeon and Disney completely dominate the industry.

But Technicolor and DreamWorks Animation partnered to create a computer animation studio in Bangalore, India, where most of “Pete & Pickles” will come to life. Breathed has been very impressed with the quality of animation coming from Technicolor India, as the studio is now called, is preparing a short treatment to present to networks this summer.

To stay up to date on this project, and to see more of Breathed’s art that has been scanned to digital, check out http://www.berkeleybreathed.com.

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Affiliate Spotlight: Congrats, Deborah Zechini!

Monday, June 14th, 2010

Our Affiliate Spotlight will not only introduce you to an affiliate that stood out over the last month, but will hopefully inspire you to implement the ways they are making the program successful for them. This month, we’d like to highlight one very special affiliate, drum roll please…Deborah Zechini!

Deb Zechini is a professional organizer and coach who established Order in the House out of a sheer passion for organization. Her enthusiasm, skill and encouraging nature make the process of bringing order to one’s home a true joy. It was through this passion for organization that brought Deb to be a ScanDigital Affiliate.

Deb was introduced to ScanDigital through the National Association of Professional Organizers and was motivated to be an Affiliate because she saw our service as an easy solution to a common organizational problem. She goes on to say “I really like the product and the flexibility, such as the box that ScanDigital will send out to the recipient and all they have to do is put the photo’s in the box and ship back!”

Not only does she find it enjoyable to work with our company, but she personally loves our service too. “ScanDigital was so prompt and cooperative! The viewing of the photo’s online is such a great idea and I love that I can share with my distant family members with such ease and to top it off they can even add comments to the photos! How cool is that!”

Deb also finds it easy to generate orders because our service itself easy for customers. She notes, “It is so easy to convince my clients to use ScanDigital because of the simple steps to follow and ScanDigital works with you to make it easy.  They like the idea of being able to offer it as a gift to others.”

She describes her favorite part of being an Affiliate by saying, “I really like being associated with a reputable company that offers such a great product.  It adds value to my profession and makes me look like I’m on the cutting edge of technology.”

About ScanDigital’s Affiliate Program:
Our Affiliate Program is a relationship where you get paid a commission for driving sales to our website. When you refer ScanDigital to your family, friends, customers, or clients, you will earn 15% on all revenue generated! You will give them your URL and/or Coupon Code to use when they place their order and all orders are automatically tracked through our site. It’s a really easy way to offer additional services and make money at the same time. Best of all- it’s free to sign up, so there’s no risk. Learn more about our Affiliate Program here.

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The iPhone 4 Lands With A Splash

Monday, June 14th, 2010

The iPhone 4 Lands With A Splash

The Much Anticipated New iPhone Offers Video Chat And More

On June 7th 2010, Steve Jobs introduced the much-anticipated iPhone 4, which comes with the slogan, “This changes everything. Again.” And though Apple has been known to dramatize the release of its products with over-the-top advertising in the past (the company received no small amount of jibes for its use of the term “magical” to describe the recently launched iPad in April), the new iPhone does seem to represent a substantial leap forward in many respects. Apple announced the device, which is slated for release on June 24th, at the annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, where all previous versions of the iPhone have been revealed in years past. Apple usually posts a professional video transfer of Jobs’s keynote speech on the company’s homepage the same day it is given, but waited until June 8th to post this year’s speech. The Apple website did begin advertising the phone’s new abilities and design features, of which there are many, only minutes after Jobs’s speech concluded.

Design is an area in which Apple typically excels, producing some of the most attractive, intuitive, and solidly-built devices in mobile computing. But the iPhone had not undergone a major design makeover since its initial release in 2007, and the last two iterations (the iPhone 3G and 3GS) were identical to one another. So despite being undoubtedly stylish, the iPhone was growing a bit familiar, if not exactly dated, in the style department. No more. The iPhone 4 has been completely redesigned from the ground up, and is now slimmer and sleeker than ever before. Wrapped in a steel band that serves as both a structural foundation and antenna for the phone, the iPhone 4 sports two thin pieces of scratch-resistant glass that cover the front and back of the device’s exterior, giving it a uniquely futuristic appearance.

One of the most significant improvements on the new iPhone is its display, which offers a whopping 940×640-pixel resolution (roughly 4 times the resolution of previous iPhone displays). The iPhone’s display was never shabby by any means, but this new display is in a class all its own, boasting the highest resolution of any smartphone to date, include Motorola’s Droid and HTC’s Nexus One and Evo 4G. The iPhone 4 also features a faster processor (the same custom silicon found in the iPad), improved battery life, and a new 5 megapixel camera with LED flash and HD video capability. But the real news in the camera department is the addition of a front-facing camera for video chat.

While Apple’s new integrated video chat feature, dubbed “FaceTime” is not the first video chat application for a smartphone, it is the most likely to bring the technology to the mainstream. Jobs addressed the significance of this development at the WWDC, saying, “I grew up with ‘The Jetsons’ and ‘Star Trek,’ just dreaming about video calls. And it’s real now.”

Despite the wonders of modern technology, anyone who uses a computer knows that unexpected problems still occur all the time. During Jobs’s demonstration, there were problems with the Moscone Center’s Wi-Fi network, leaving Jobs unable to show off the new iPhone’s ability to render Web pages. There has been some speculation that the noticeably absent professional video transfer of the keynote speech was delayed from being posted on the Internet because the Wi-Fi failures (which were probably a result of the 500 plus people in the audience who were using Wi-Fi devices, and not a malfunction of the iPhone itself) felt like negative publicity to Jobs, whose famous demos usually go off without a hitch.

It is nevertheless safe to say that the iPhone’s sales will not suffer as a result of the technical trouble Jobs experienced. The phone will sell for $199 for the 16-gigabyte model, and $299 for the 32-gigabyte model.

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Customer Spotlight: Unseen Wedding Images from 11 Years Ago!

Wednesday, June 9th, 2010

We follow up with every customer after their order is complete to hear about their experience using our service. One of the best parts about doing so, is learning how people are actually using our service to reconnect with their memories. Afterall, it’s not about photo scanning or video transfers, it’s about preserving precious memories. To celebrate these stories, we’ll share a particular customer’s tale each month. To kick-off our Customer Spotlight, we’d like to highlight one very special customer, drum roll please…Greg Kimmelman!

Greg lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida with his wife of over 11 years, Gila and is the Director of Preconstruction at Stiles Construction. He used our service to convert his old wedding photos, shot by Russ Bryant, to digital files. Greg and Gila, pictured on their wedding day here, had a very limited amount of photos in their official wedding album, but had over 1,000 negatives that had never even been seen. Greg says, “We maybe had printed a few pictures, but generally here we were with no more “visual” of our wedding than the 40-50 pictures in our album.

Years later, Greg even took the plunge and bought a scanner. After finding himself getting caught up with the technical details and desire to edit each image, “I gave up.  I did the math on how long it would have taken me to scan them all and adjust them to an acceptable level, and the project would have taken me over a year!” That’s when he discovered ScanDigital.

Greg describes the first time the first time he and his wife enjoyed his images, “to coin a cheesy phrase…an amazing walk down memory lane began.” He goes on to say, “After 11 years, it was amazing to see so much of our wedding…family, friends, events all there for us to reminisce about, laugh at and with the over 1,000 pictures readily available for us to peruse, we were finally able put visuals together with so many of the stories others had told us about our wedding weekend.”

He also shared another meaningful reason he further enjoyed revisiting these memories. “Another special treat for me in particular was seeing pictures of my father and older brother at our wedding. Both had cancer at the time of our wedding, and within a year and a half of the wedding we lost both of them; so seeing pictures of them together with the rest of the family, relatives and friends was especially meaningful to me.”

In regards to his experience working with ScanDigital, Greg appreciated our continued communication throughout the process the most. He goes on to make to make us blush, “Thank so much for what you do and for helping bring an over 11 year project to daylight.  I would highly and warmly recommend ScanDigital, as I have already, to many friends and family wishing to preserve and relive many great memories.”

Read Greg’s complete story below:

“My wife (Gila) and I have been married for just over 11 years now.  Like most people, we engaged a photographer to handle shooting our wedding…not just any photographer, but a photojournalist/war correspondent (Russ Bryant of Savanna, GA) who would shot our events in black and white (edgy at the time…a bit more common now) and who would not shoot any “posed” pictures (though we talked him into a few given some special considerations).  Another “condition” of his shooting our wedding was that he alone, without our input, wanted to pick the pictures to create our wedding album…and he did an amazing job.  There are probably 40-50 pictures in our “official” wedding album.  

Russ shot over 1,000 pictures over the course of our wedding weekend, and he agreed to give us the negatives since we didn’t have him provide us proofs of rest of the pictures.  Despite our initial and best intentions, we were going to have them all printed just to have them but never did.  Fast forward 6 or 7 years, and we maybe had printed a few pictures, but generally here we were with no more “visual” of our wedding than the 40-50 pictures in our album.  

At that time, I decided to look into getting all our negatives converted to digital format, but it was very expensive at the time, very few companies did it and the resolutions available at that time were not so great.  After waiting a few years for technology to advance a little, I started my research again, but this time looked into buying my own negative scanner thinking I could (and would) do this project by myself.  After about another year of research, I took the plunge and bought a semi-professional scanner. We were so excited to finally be close to being able to see the rest of our wedding pictures and have them digitally. I anxiously read the instructions, got the scanner set-up and scanned my first few negatives and WOW!  They were awesome. However, I am a bit of a perfectionist so after reading more about the photo editing software that came with the scanner, I got so caught up in trying to adjust the pictures that well…I gave up.  I did the math on how long it would have taken me to scan them all and adjust them to an acceptable level, and the project would have taken me over a year!

When we got back we anxiously opened the package, got all the pictures transferred into iPhoto and to coin a cheesy phrase…an amazing walk down memory lane began.  With all the “stuff and things” going on with a wedding, you really don’t get a chance to experience it all, which is why you hire a photographer.  After 11 years, it was amazing to see so much of our wedding that we never got a chance to experience…family, friends, events all there for us to reminisce about, laugh at and with the over 1,000 pictures readily available for us to peruse, we were finally able put visuals together with so many of the stories others had told us about our wedding weekend.  Another special treat for me in particular was seeing pictures of my father and older brother at our wedding. Both had cancer at the time of our wedding, and within a year and a half of the wedding we lost both of them; so seeing pictures of them together with the rest of the family, relatives and friends was especially meaningful to me.   Maybe eventually I would have picked up the self-scanning project again…most likely not.  Without the advent of a company like ScanDigital, and in particular Matt’s help, we might still be sitting here with over 1,000 un-scanned, un-printed negatives.  Thank so much for what you do and for helping bring an over 11 year project to daylight.  I would highly and warmly recommend ScanDigital (as I have already) to many friends and family wishing to preserve and relive many great memories.”

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