15:36 Jun 05 2015
Times Read: 1,032
A few weeks ago a dear friend of our family asked for a favor of me. She handed me a old photo of her and her ex hubby, the father of her two kids, and wanted me to try and 'save' as much as I could as it was a photo of them when they first got married. Thing is- the photo was burnt, had water damage from a home fire years before.
She could tell I wasn't really wanting to do it, as little help could I give it. You want a zit gone, lashes added, smooth skin, balance of light in a photo I am your gal. But this... way over my head.
So I took it, her words of "If nothing else, maybe just our faces." I felt sad for her as this was her history and the man she loves, still, even today.
So I downloaded it onto my computer and gave it another view with a 'I can do this- help her." attitude to only give up. There was nothing I could do for this photo, even a close up of the faces. Shame as she had a lovely dress on, he was in a black suit with a white shirt, tie. And they stood in a living room of a family member.
I went online and found three websites, asking for quotes on restoring damaged photos. One was only $45.00, and his reviews sucked. So I went on to the other two. One did not answer my request and a email got the answer of "No help- can't repair" more or less.
So I waited. The third one sent back a price, and all the repairs she would do. After I got over the shock of the price, knowing my friend would never afford this, I ponder on it. As her daughter has helped us so much with Mom at that time, I went ahead and put it on my credit card.
I have to say- so worth it! The lady sent me back a whole photo. I mean- she finished the dress, the little white gloves showing on her hand that the burned photo only hinted at wrist area. His suit, his long legs, so spot on. The blue of her dress, a sky blue... wonderful. She filled in the background, gave the old radio sitting on the table legs, finished it up.
For this being the only copy, burned, water stained and half of it burnt away- she gave it life.
Well worth the price, even if it takes me two months to pay off the cost. Why? My friend loved it. And her daughter loved it as well. :)
I can't believe the difference between the two. Just stunning how, and I am sure a computer program does it, how it can take half a image and fill it in.
Glad I did it for her, she is such a sweet lady. I had 4 copies made, once for each of them (her, daughter and son) and an extra. That way there will always be a photo floating around.
Glad I and the lady who did the repair could give her back a little of her history, of her wedding, of her love for the man who father her kids.
COMMENTS
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DarknessEvolved
11:27 Jun 27 2015
Nice, this goes on all too often sadly. In fact, I had to change tie router info due to our WiFi was being toggled with and 'throttled'(pushed past excessive limits to say the least). Our net was going out like fireworks on the 4th. Thankfully I know a few tricks of how to look for theft in a home network.
One thing to do, is if you remember how to get into your router still. Name all your phones/computers/wireless devices something and watch the list of participants. If a strange one logs in. Take note, write it down... and block it. Just make sure that you have made sure it's not one of your devices or anyone you authorized. Some routers are not very forgiving after they block something.
If you need help getting a walkthrough on how to do this with your router, there are numbers on the bottom of it. Google/bing that and add in how to block and monitor traffic. Never pick the first couple links. (the ads) As some can in fact screw you up bad.