Preserving Family History Through Photography and Genealogy Insights

Photography Overview Preserving your family photos & documents Managing & protecting photographs 3/21/2025 1

My Background I know photography theory and engineering and use Engineer for Eastman Kodak for 25 years (33 years ago) One of the Engineers that developed the digital photo chip (35 years ago) Have taken pictures for 70 years Have manipulated pictures 65 years 3/21/2025 2

Reviewed current Photography & Genealogy YouTube Photographic in Genealogy = 23,300 from 3 to 90 min. YouTube Genealogy photos 19,800 from 3 to 90 minutes BYU Webcasts RootsTech 2017 had 4 sessions RootsTech 2018 had 4 sessions RootsTech 2019 will have 5 sessions RootsTech 2019 will have 39 sessions that will include photos use Training on Photoshop photo manipulation software working 8 hours for18 days 3/21/2025 3

What to Cover Tell me about a car! How the engine works How to drive What are driving rules How auto transmissions work What colors are best How to make tires last longer How to get the best gas mileage The history or benefits of electric cars How GPS maps work in cars Teach me about cooking! Baking powder or baking soda Separating eggs How do you tell done is meat At what temp do you bake cakes What spice is good for turkey How to smooth lumpy gravy Make fluffy eggs Make egg whites stiff. 3/21/2025 4

Why are photographs important in genealogy Photos are a reflection of your experiences what drives you, where you ve been, where you re going, who you love. We learn of large historic events disasters, wars, inventions. We learn of small historic events birth, marriage, children, death We see who they connected with and why We see when they moved where and why and how We see what people looked like (where did we get this nose) We see how they lived clothes, transportation, food, house We see what they did work, play, marriage, burial, fought 3/21/2025 5

Photography Photography by Wikipedia by Wikipedia Photography is the art, application and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. Sight is our most important senses but easily tricked. Captured in a fraction of a second Changed with hours of work You can change it by adding & subtracting & emphasizing or diminishing - - - therefore not used legal though constantly used and most effective. 3/21/2025 6

History of photographs Show others what we have seen - Carving stone Paintings first with charcoal then with paints various surface material 1839 True photography using lens-less light on light-sensitive material Tin-Types - Etching metal using various acids - 2 hour exposures 1861 Civil war started wide use using wet plates - silver halide on glass 1888 Kodak s personal camera a 100 picture box with nitrate film - factory 1900 B & W film, 20 exposure, post process local individual possible 1940 Color film 24 36 exposure, post process regional not individual 1991 Digital photography invented by Eastman Kodak post process ? self 3/21/2025 7

Photos costs Stone carving days to years Painting hours to months 1839 Tin-types exposure was 2 hours a day for pre & post 1861 Wet plate exposure for minutes 1 hour for pre & post 1888 Film in a Box camera 100 pictures cost $25 = a month s pay 1900 B & W Roll film 20 pictures cost day s pay 1950 20 to 36 Color pictures each picture cost a qt of milk 2000 digital cost is less than a second s time WHAT ABOUT POST PROCESSING 3/21/2025 8

Picture process Obtain yourself, relative, institution Take a picture Obtain the picture from others and /or make a copy Adjust or fix the picture Post-process Sort & organize What do we throw away what do we keep What do they contain what is your interest people, place, event, time How can we find it next year catalog the contents Distribute it who else would like to see the picture Relatives, Genealogy sites, historic sites, political sites Store it working copies, Archive original 3/21/2025 9

Fixing photos Was done in darkroom now on computer Photographs can be tampered/adjusted/changed - not legal medium Simple photo manipulation use Microsoft Photo, Apple Photos, InfaView, Picasa Cropping, rotating, resizing, auto color, ect. Professional manipulation use Photoshop vs Lightroom vs GIMP Removing blemishes, dust, crack, torn Changing colors improving faded prints Adding/subtracting images Highlighting or darkening areas 3/21/2025 13

Organizing your pictures contents People, Time, Events, Associations, Locations Problem how to fine the picture of grandma When she was a little girl / married / traveled / worked With her family With granddaughter / her husband / 4 generation What her house / car / farm / travel / dress / job looked like Her gravestone When do you do this? As you take pictures As you post-process them How do you do this? some possible solutions 3/21/2025 15

How to identify photographs? Digital has metadata attached to each picture File name structure allows 256 characters Allen Brig graduation HS 20150608132215C Cross-reference databases Person s contained, quality, location, event, time File structure - Folders- albums Some programs FamilySearch, Picasa, Google Allow tagging Facial and place recognition 3/21/2025 16

Visiting they have control Relatives Reunion Library Museum - Grave 1. Plan ahead know what is allowed what is accessible 2. Have specific items & purpose identified but plan for unexpected 3. Make initial contact tell them what you want & what you plan to do 4. Obtain information on time & equipment allowed 5. Obtain camera, lights, tripods, recording material, memory joggers, paper & pens, display equipment, scanners 6. Practice practice practice 7. Schedule trip expect problems and have backup plans 8. Charge batteries, have spare batteries & memory 9. Evaluate results record improvements for next visit 10. Post process send thanks, organize, give copies, publish & store 3/21/2025 19

Internet sources of material & information Google images to search for images or identify what you have People, places (maps), events, time Deadfred.com photo s of people with unknown names Libraries (digital) local, college, state, genealogical, federal, religious City, County, State, Federal agencies Birth, marriage, death, wills, legal, land records, incoming & leaving Newspapers Directories phone & city & business & churches & graveyards Business Photographers, insurance 3/21/2025 20

Converting to digital Convert to digital Negatives, prints, slides, documents, paintings that can be scanned Re-photograph where required, may require special lights, tripod, fixtures Audio & videos convert and edit (you can do) Movies edit & convert (must pay to get done) Evaluate eliminate duplicates redo as necessary crop/fix Identify the pictures content (people, place, time, event) Post-process crop fix edit repair adjust (in or out) Distribute & store 3/21/2025 21

Converting photos to digital Scan at 300-600 BPI minimum Clean picture & scanner of dust & fingerprints before starting Scanners Here at FHC for a few prints - minute per print FamilySearch library at BYU or Lehi or SLC For large quantity hundred s per hour For 35mm slides Use JPG file type Re-photograph will requires lights & fixtures for focus & stability Movies, video, audio special cases Post process identify (names, location, dates, events), crop, adjust color Distribute = Upload to FamilySearch, Ancestry, MyHertiage, ??? & save 3/21/2025 22

What & how to keep what to throw Original documents keep copies throw priceless pictures historical, sentimental, esthetic Throw duplicate or near-duplicate, no-historical value photos Discard copies if original available Use Archival paper & plastic & pen/pencils/ink/boxes/sleeves P-A-T Store where temp 60 & RH 30-50 & light controlled, safe from flood, bugs, mice Photos & paintings are affected by light especially sunlight 3/21/2025 23

Fixing digital photos post processing Simple use Windows Photos, Apple Photo, InfaView, Crop - eliminate unwanted information = emphases important features Make darker or lighter Change tint of colors ( old color photos fade or changed to orange) Complicated Photoshop, Lightroom, GIMP, Picasa Use tif or raw file types jpg becomes a problem as changes are made Eliminate red eye Remove blemishes Emphases or diminish areas Insert or remove people 3/21/2025 24

Uploading to FamilySearch See earlier PowerPoint on Memories part of FamilySearch Metadata is part of photo .jpg file type 5 mb size limit Subject matter controlled Live people are not identified Picture sources Image.Google.com , Facebook, Instagram Web get picture by downloading not thumbnail not web address 3/21/2025 25

Preserving photographs Negatives and Prints (paper, metal, canvas, etc.) are effected by Time Use high quality acid free archival material and storage containers and markers Light Dark & cool External events Location must be cool & dark Fire & mold & insect & critter resistant Difficult to use see and share Handle with gloves in controlled environment. Make copies that can be seen and shared Record Information about them Who, What, Where, Why passwords, keys 3/21/2025 26

Storage - electronic/digital Digital (bits and bytes and pixels of information) magnetic Media format changes punch cards, paper tapes, audio tapes, magnetic reels, Disks (floppy-1, ridged-2, hard-10), CD-5, USB stick-?, cloud - ? Data format changes jpg, tif, raw, pdf, mp3 Time deteriorates - CD disks ~ 10 years, USB ~ longer?, Hard disks ~ 5 years, Cloud ~ ??, paper copies Duplicate copies - 3 copies in different locations keeping up to date hard External Hard drives cheap 5TB $100, easy, private, portable, update Cloud storage currently popular & promising future? Connectivity? Archive non-magnetic - cost & access & storage & update 3/21/2025 27

Cloud storage Keeping in sync & maintaining your information Remote location storage Cheap, convenient, shareable, metadata maintained Long-lasting ?? Genealogy based - FamilySearch, Ancestry, MyHeritage, Findmypast Product based - Apple cloud, Cannon, Sony, Lightroom Storage for fee cost & benefits vary Long-lasting ?? Google Photos free, facial & place recognition, album, time based Amazon Prime - free, facial & place recognition, time based Dropbox free, maintains file structure 3/21/2025 28

Technical pixel vs bit vs byte Smallest bit 0 = white 1 = black Byte 8 bits allows shades of black only 256 possible levels 24 =16 million colors - 32 64 bits allows 8 colors 8 shades per color = 2 to the 64 power = ??? 128 very high end Pixel = picture element 3/21/2025 29

Compression or compaction Tiff vs jpg Tiff = 24 bit 1st Jpg = 10th jpg = 3/21/2025 30

Help in Identifying people Look on the back Ask relatives Identify place and event to assist in identify person Use Google image to find place/person Dead Fred 3/21/2025 31

Cover in depth one thing or overview Why to include photos (& audio & documents) How to create them Cameras, scanners Size File types Where to find them How to fix them Size (in meg pixels) vs what are you going to do with them we start with pixels including the eye color vs B & W Covert to digital Scanners clean & dust Cut, enhance, remove blemish s, - InfanView, Photoshop, Lightroom, Picasa, GIMP How to upload them Download or SaveAs from web, Ancestry, MyHeritage to file then load from file From Google Photos Instagram - Facebooks Exchange from FamilySearch to Ancestry to MyHeritage to findmypast How to organize them How to identify who is in them live vs dead (facial recognition) How to save/store them preserving & storing Google Photos, Dropbox, (Amazon) Prime Photo Multiple copies formats backup Backup vs Archive 3/21/2025 32

Summary Size max File type jpg Back-up Keep at least 3 in different places 3/21/2025 33