Save Your Old Photos! Digital Restoration with On Location Studios in Poughkeespie

Some time ago we came across an old family photo from the 1880's. Everyone in the family wanted it. We thought we could make a color photocopy - eek! Then we had a brainstorm of an idea and went next door to On Location Studios.

On Location Studios is the real deal. They are a full service photography studio and digital lab. I sat down with Tom who explained the process of saving this photo.

First they create a digital version of the photo. Working with the digital copy they bring it into Photoshop and start by repairing the damaged areas. In this image, that would be the large crack on the side and the fine cracks and spots in the middle. The digital artist will work on an enlarged image of about 300% so the detail work looks flawless at actual size. Utilizing the various tools in the program, a brush and perhaps cloning tool, they begin the painstaking task of rebuilding the image.

The smaller defects could be fixed in a similar way. Then there are the dust and scratch marks all over the photo. There are many filters that could be applied that could eliminate them without changing the integrity of the photo.

If the damage to the photo was on a persons face or the patterned area of the rug, that would be recreated as well. I think this particular restoration was pretty simple. The color was restored accurately (if not better than the original photo).

This photo restoration turned out pretty great! The glare is from my camera, not the photo itself. So, now we have this restored photo of our family. My sister likes the crispness of a black and white photo so they converted the original sepia tones to black and white for her.

Beautiful! One of our framed versions of the reproduction can be seen here on an earlier post on protecting art. We took the original photo and framed it with archival materials to preserve what was left of the photo, and the reproductions were framed for each member of the family.

We think the service On Location Studios provides for us was amazing. They are a full service studio. They offer photography for weddings, corporate advertising, architecture, and portraits including some of the most creative Dog Portraits I've seen in a long time. They are going to share with us some of their more challenging photo restorations and I will be sure to post them.

In the mean time, take a look at their website and just imagine what they can do for you! On Location Studios Dutchess Turnpike in Poughkeepsie, or give them a call 845-471-6919.