A new restoration

Hey everybody. Sorry I have been off again as of late. Things have been super hectic, but I wanted to just stop by and post a couple of words and showcase some of my latest restoration work. Feel free to read on about some exciting upcoming things for ChrisTopher Films.

But first. Here are a series of photo restorations I have been contracted to fix. You need to have a passion for this kind of work cause you will never get rich doing it, but the rewards of seeing your clients eyes sparkle with a tear, are sometimes the best reward.





 Take for example this photo from last year that some of you may have seen in A Guide to Restoration also seen on this blog.





This photo had a value to the client that was so big and she had been told by several other restoration outlets it was impossible to restore. She wasn't looking for a high res digital photo; she just wanted to see her children when they were babies again.



Now this next photo was entirely different. Look very closely at the banner and you will see the photo was taken in 1901. This client entrusted to me, over anybody else, a photo that is 113 years old. Every time I moved it I had to ensure it remained rigid and flat as it was crumbling, soon to be lost forever. Now it can be printed over and over again.






Finally my latest which I have had for quite some time. I know nothing about the photo or the family who it will go to. It is a gift from one friend to another and I truly hope they like it.

Oh and the big news. Starting in September I will be hosting with support from Sardis Public Library and Fraser Valley Regional Library a new drop in camera club. My goal is to do in person what my attempts are to do on this blog, learn and educate from and for likeminded photographers in Chilliwack and the Fraser Valley

The Importance Of Backing Up

Help I was installing a new program on my computer and now I have a blue screen. What do I do? How many times have you heard this happen or maybe even had it happen to you. Read on in this week's blog to learn the importance of backing up your photos. Take some time to get it done before it's too late.

 Catastrophic failures happen every day in life. From hard drive failures on your computer to the tragedy of a house fire, and almost every time one of these unfortunate events takes place the words you hear most are "What about all my pictures." We are a very visual species and we cherish our memories that are usually immortalised in a photo or video and when we lose those we feel a great emptiness. Why is it then that we don't look after these things better?


Today's digital age is allowing options for looking after our photos that never existed to our forefathers. I use my laptop as a first copy of all my photos. I then back them up immediately onto my external hard drive that stays in my laptop bag, when not in use, so if something happens to my home then I can hopefully grab that one bag and exit my home. From there I burn my photos monthly to DVD and have two copies. One stays at my home and the other off site.

There are other options such as clouds, multiple hard drives, and others. What works for one may not work for another, a cloud for instance would not work for me due to the sheer volume of photos I would be trying to store. The important thing here is to remember have at minimum two copies of your cherished photos, you don't want to be a statistic of someone else who lost all their photographic memories.


The second part of backing up your photos is keeping them organised. One way is create a catalogue system according to shoot date. My system is to save all my photos on my laptop and external hard drive at the same time according to year_month_day_and description of the shot. You can see this below.

Another great tool is a catalogue similar to Adobe Lightroom. With this program you can attach "keywords" to the photo making it that much easier to find it in the future. There are a number of catalogue systems available on the market today so finding one that fits your budget and needs should not be a problem.

So there it is, several different ways to back up your cherished photographic memories. There is really no good excuse for not having them survive your most catastrophic failure, whatever that may be. Don't become a statistic and lose your great family memory.