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What do photographs do?

12/16/2020

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Ever wondered what's this obsession of taking pictures all about?

There was definitely a purpose behind capturing those photos that are gathering dust in your storage and haven't seen the light of day in years. In this current age of digitalization, where smartphones have offered us the convenience of taking pictures within a second, people no longer have the time to take out old print photos and reminisce. With this in view, photo scanning services have undergone exceedingly quick popularity.  This allows people to not only de-clutter but views them, on your smart devices whenever the moods strike and share them with people all over the world.

The simplicity of smartphone photography has allowed us to take for granted the trouble earlier generations went through to take snaps and get them printed.

  • How many of us stop to ponder over what makes pictures so important?
  • Why do our parents have these boxes full of photos that are too precious to discard yet haven't been dusted and viewed in ages?
  • Or why is your mind full of pictures that encompass memories of the last couple of years?
  • What is this primal need to freeze moments in real-time?

Photographs allow us to create identities

We can exude any vibe or create any persona we wish the viewer to have through a portrait. We may even discover some aspects of our personality that were unknown to us earlier. This mere act of construction augments confidence and self-awareness that allows us to discover the world around us and see things in an entirely new light. This could also help you understand people's fascination with wildlife, nature, and attitude towards other people.

Photographs are wordless stories

It also explains how two people taking the same photograph turn out opposite from each other. The photographer controls the narrative of each photo. A viewer can learn a lot about the photographer just by looking at the collection of photos that he has stockpiled over a lifetime and how it reflects his personality. Technology has made it tenable for everyone to use their vintage media and take a walk through memory from the comfort of their couch through photograph scanning services.

Photos from the past hold long-forgotten moments that offer us a chance to remember who we are and where we came from. This is probably why the thought of their damage causes extreme anxiety. Then, their digitalization is the only way this stress can be removed from our lives. Photos allow us to accentuate change and mark time by offering a tangible option of judging mental, physical, and emotional progress.

Photographs offer self-reflection opportunities

A photo encapsulates many elements of emotional development that are not apparent. Self-exploration, confidence, and self-awareness are things that children need to experience as they develop into the people they always hoped to become. Photos give children a chance to record and reflect upon these elements and monitor how far they have come.

The thousands of pictures of your childhood and your parents' youth give new meaning to life experiences, that would otherwise be hidden in the dusty corners of our memories. For them to be readily available on demand, they need to be accessible, which means that getting them converted into digital files is your best bet!

This human brain consumes thousands of photos through social media, which makes us lose sight of their significance. This is the time to take a few steps back, realizing their potency, and hack it with photo scanning services. This will ascertain how fortunate you are to have them and how they were not serving their intended purpose in your storage.    
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Home Movies: a way to personalize your beautiful past

12/16/2020

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The boxes of home movies in your basement that have been waiting to see the light of the day for years are undiscovered treasures of the past. They may contain vital information about your family history, which may shed light on your ancestry and highlight various aspects of culture that have now become obsolete. Using a Super 8 to digital conversion service before they get too deteriorated may be your only chance to save your family legacy.
Even though the people in those home movies may be strangers, yet somehow familiar—their vacations, work, celebrations, and everyday routine, are well known to anyone living in the 21st century. And then there’s the way they interact with the camera or rather the person behind it that speaks volumes about their relationship more than anything that is seen on screen.    

The Attraction for Home Movies

Every generation used whatever resources they had to capture precious moments through their lens, from Super 8 to VHS to smartphones. They allow humans to freeze visuals that record history and monitor physical and emotional changes. Every home movie is novel and exists in a solo copy. While many of the events may be similar such as birthdays, honeymoon at Niagara Falls, holidays, and anniversaries, each has its own sentimental feeling and nostalgic value. Once you transfer Super 8 to digital, you will be in possession of a treasure that is just yours, and nothing like it exists anywhere in the world.

Most documentary films are made with a purpose that has a narrative: stories that have a beginning, middle, and end; some with compelling characters involving conflict and resolution. But home movies bypass all this fakeness and are authentic stories all within themselves. Life is a stage, and these small narratives show the dynamics between the person behind the lens and the one being filmed.

The element of unpredictability may be the most exciting element of home movies. You never know what the next shot is going to be. What will the people on camera do? And just like there is a genuine mystery in life, the same is present in films made by amateur shooters. You may be surprised to find shot and angles that may be extremely challenging to shoot on purpose. The weirdness of these movies makes perfection look boring.

Who are home movies made for?

Most home movies are generally made to show friends and family. You may find most of them being filmed in a living room. Some may show workplaces that highlight the culture, some travelogues, and other occasions that seemed worthy of preservations. You are going to find links to your family history that will bring forth your origin and what all happened from that time to the present moment.

You can expect to find old family members and long-forgotten relatives when you transfer Super 8 to digital. The digitization allows you to share this treasure with the extended family so that they may also find links to their roots through authentic resources. There may be several films recording children growing up from infancy to high school, along with footage of children performing in school.

Home movies are so much more than ordinary records. They encompass everything from environments to relationships and are rich records of movement, body language, and fashion. The historical and cultural importance is just being recognized, which is why there is an increase in the use of Super 8 to digital conversion service. This is your chance to pass on your family history to future generations.
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Shift from Magnetic Tapes to Cloud Storage in 5 Simple Steps

11/19/2020

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Technology has made things super convenient, and you choose a professional Super 8 to digital conversion service to DVD and digital converter to create an archive of valuable films and upload them accordingly. Cloud computing has made it easier for anyone to view their past than their counterparts, the VHS tapes, or even DVDs that can suffer physical damage.
Here’s how you can use the following guidelines and enjoy the ever-available database of precious and emotion-filled memories:
1. Gather all media in one place
Find all the VHS tapes, 8mm/16mm/Super 8 reels, or any other vintage media that has been used in your family. They could have been stored for decades, so be gentle and salvage all you can.
2. Choose the Best Super 8 to Digital Conversion Service
Reach out to the most reputable services that transfer Super 8 to digital and ask them how you can send your media for digitizing.
3. Get them digitized
Your memories will be returned to you in top-notch, flawless quality with added titles, menus, and dates. These offer the best viewing experience ever, and of course, the enhanced quality is the icing on the cake.
4. Preserve them digitally
Make a digital library under specific names and save them on your hard drive. The more backups you create, the better! The perk of having digitized media is that their quality is not affected by the number of copies you make. This also ensures that your media is forever safe and cannot be damaged by the environment or lost during other accidents or moving.
5. Upload on Cloud, Dropbox or Google Drive
With your media safely stored, you can now upload them to your favorite cloud computing network and share them with the world as you please. A Super 8 to digital conversion service works wonders with reels that may have damage and offer you a chance to re-live that era in its true colors.
This makes it easier for people to share their personal and professional achievements online, which makes it the preferred medium over anything else. This can only happen once you decide to digitize your Super 8 movies and other old media before it withers into the dust and recedes into the earth forever lost. Don't let that happen to you. It has become a necessity since playing those old reels is next to impossible. Finding compatible players is the main problem, while their degrading quality with each passing day is another. Magnetic storage options are quite susceptible to damage and need particular storage and more care than DVDs or USBs.
Choosing to do so is a personal preference, but technology can help you retain your memories for a much longer duration, if not forever! This was not possible before the concept of virtual memory was introduced, so keep up with the times and transfer Super 8 to digital for your future generations. This might be the one and only opportunity to connect your ancestors and relate to their roots. Keep your physical storage safe and make sure you have plenty of backups for those once in a lifetime generation of memories!  
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Digitizing Media - Local Business VS Big Box Stores?

11/19/2020

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Do you believe big box stores to be the best choice as an 8mm film to digital conversion service? Well, you have another thing coming--- the friendly neighborhood conversion service will serve you better and more professionally.
So you’re sorting through your attic and find those 8mm reels that were passed on to you by the elders only to notice that you have a problem—the last time those were viewable was during the 80s. And those slides from the family trip to the Bahamas when you were young are collecting grime of the years because you do not know about working a slide projector. Those 8mm reels of your folks maybe five minutes away from deteriorating and getting lost forever.
Don’t lose hope! There’s a solution to your dilemma. An 8mm to DVD service can take your VHS tapes and 8mm reels and digitize them without them being degraded. Even better is that when you search for 'video transfer near me,' you'll get a dozen hits, and you can have your pick from your local stores who will do a bang-up job.
Is choosing a local store beneficial?
The seemingly wise decision to choose a big box store could cost you more than you bargained for. Most local businesses can't compete on price with the big guns, but if you've got someone in your neighborhood that's ready to convert your reels into digital media, then choosing the big box stores could be the worst thing to do. Here are the reasons!
  • Your treasured memories deserve a personal touch
What they lack in resources when compared to big box stores, the local stores make up with things like customer service and attention to detail. A dedicated local 16mm movie to DVD service will provide a personal touch because they care deeply about its impact.
  • More knowledgeable and experienced staff
There’s another reason why you can expect your local store to deliver better results than big box stores. The fact is that they are more likely to hire staff that is more competent and knowledgeable, which means that any video conversion will look and sound better from a local service.
  • Using local businesses provide direct benefits to the community
Trusting your local conversion provider does a lot more than just guarantee excellent service but supporting local businesses gives the community a significant boost that cannot be accomplished by spending money at a big box store.
And bigger doesn’t always mean better!
Maybe going to your local 8mm film to digital conversion service costs you a few extra bucks, but locally owned businesses cannot go hand in hand with a national chain for things like price. In addition, these are precious memories at stake, which cannot be risked losing or left to disintegrate over time. It's your choice but remember that bigger isn't always better, and it could end up costing you a lot more than just family heirlooms.   
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8mm film to DVD or tape—the best advice

11/19/2020

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It is undeniably an element of the past when talking about videotapes, 8mm, and 16mm movies to DVDs. Whether you opt to believe it or not, many people still watch tapes (VHS) for entertainment; it sounds obsolete. And then there are those millennials who watch movies on paid subscriptions or DVDs.
What most people don't realize is that VHS tapes do not hold the flawless and gorgeous quality that a DVD contains. There's a huge difference between the quality of videotapes and DVDs, and that's what we're going to focus on today!
Video Tapes VS. DVDs
When opting for an 8mm film to digital conversion service for all your vintage media, the better option, of course, would be DVDs, but we have explained the difference in details below. So, you can decide for yourself.
  • Reason #1: VHS cannot be expected to deliver more than two and a half hours of watching without breaking normal usage. On the other hand, a DVD has up to three hours of viewing without encountering any sort of technical difficulty.
  • Reason # 2: choosing VHS means you're compromising on quality while viewing widescreen movies. On a DVD, you have a selection to make your smart TV set broader.
  • Reason #3: when a VHS holder starts to show deprivation, the producer can claim 'normal wear and tear.' When the same happens with a DVD, the customer can highlight engineering flaws like DVD rot.
  • Reason #4: an 8mm to DVD service can attest to the DVDs; they are a superior choice simply because you have the option of skipping a chapter or two. On a VHS cassette, this is tough since that includes viewing the film in fast forward, and that can have harsh effects on the media.
  • Reason #5: the sound on a DVD is six times the quality than that of a VHS.
  • Reason #6: VHS tapes are now considered an obsolete medium since technology is advancing rapidly, where it will be even more challenging to view VHS tapes. This means that all your VHS tapes will also be needed to convert into digital in the near future, whether on DVDs or USBs.
  • Reason #7: storing VHS tapes take up a lot of space, and the changing weather can have adverse effects on their quality. In contrast, DVDs take up no space and have a much larger shelf life than your standard VHS.
  • Reason #8: copying DVDs onto other storage devices is a piece of cake, whereas copying anything off of VHS tapes would be unthinkable in the near future.
It's pretty straightforward to admit that DVDs are the clear choice between the two while choosing an 8mm film to digital conversion service. Remember that memories are forever, and the only way to keep reliving those is to digitize them on to something that will last for your lifetime and that of your future generations.   

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Fix your water damaged photos

10/12/2020

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If you haven’t checked up on your print photos in quite some time, then we suggest you do so now. There are certain aspects that can affect their quality, and if you decide to send them to a digitizing photo service in Mississippi someday, the result will depend highly on their present condition. The most common restoration request is to fix some form of water damage, which could be the result of humidity, garage flooding, or other severe contacts with water. Even though photo restoration is possible, it’s ideal to send intact photos for digitization.


Don’t Panic - Do this instead!
Here’s how you can save your photos from getting lost forever:
  • If you find that your photos are wet, don’t let them dry out. As they gradually dry, they will stick to one another. It will be impossible to separate them from any other material that came into contact. It may cause severe irreversible damage.  
  • Get them digitized as soon as possible. The photographs should not stay wet for longer than two to three days. This is the time to get help from professional photo scanning services in Mississippi who can scan them before they’re ruined.
  • While working on the photos, keep them in cold, clean tap water, and the colder it is, the better. The natural amount of chlorine in tap water is enough to prevent any growth of fungi and other biological threats. 
  • Use a cold water container to rinse your photos instead of running the water directly onto them. That could permanently damage the chemical emulsion, which cannot be repaired. Rinse till the run-off water is clear.
  • Remove your negatives or photos from the water carefully by picking each piece one by one. Do not force them apart. If you want to send them to a digitized photos service in Mississippi for scanning, then you’d have to strictly follow these tips.
  • After you have separated the materials, store those in water until you can wash them using cold, clean running water individually. Use a cotton cloth to remove any debris or foreign object if needed.
  • Hang-dry the negative and prints from a clothesline. Make sure the place you choose is free from dust and other airborne particles that may stick to the wet photos. Specific special solutions are also available that can facilitate spot-free drying when applied to negatives and prints.
  • If, by chance, your prints curl while drying, then wet the paper side and not the emulsions with a moist sponge and place it between two pieces of acid-free paper or photo blotters. Leave them under a heavy object for a day or two.

It’s not too late if your photos had suffered water damage before you were able to get them scanned from a photo scanning service in Mississippi. Just follow this protocol and get them digitized today just so to preserve your legacy. 


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Preserve the Power of Photos

10/12/2020

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You may have wondered what prompted your younger self to take so many photos that are now stuffed somewhere in the back of a storage closet or the attic. Before the era of ‘digitals,’ every camera roll had to be printed, and the anticipation of seeing those photos kept us excited for days. Photo scanning services offer you a chance to increase the shelf life of your print photos that have either faded or suffered damage.

The Power of Print
If you haven’t browsed through your print photographs in a few years, then maybe it’s time to do so, and who knows, you may find a gem that you didn’t even know existed. It will serve you well to check up on them and organize them so that you won’t be faced with a mountain of tasks when you decide to digitize them. Your print photos are living proof of a moment in time, and that’s the undeniable power of print.
You may find some awkward phases with large glass frames or poor fashion choices, but you may also find a  lost diamond in the rough, such as old black and white photos of your grandparents as teenagers. They may have faded, which is why it’s best to get them to a photograph scanning service where they can be preserved forever, and the quality can be considerably improved.

Connect to your Past
If you feel lonely or disconnected from your loved ones, then all you need to do is open the box of old print photos and remind yourself of where you came from. Pictures are so much more than precious moments frozen in time. They offer us rare opportunities to connect and remember people who are no longer with us. They also give your children a glimpse into their ancestry, and the time they lived in. The negatives in your old envelopes can produce excellent quality digital images that can live forever and be shared with all family and loved ones by using a negative scanning service.

How does digitizing preserve photos?
With technology running rampant in today’s world, people are short of time. They don’t have the ease of gathering for family events where everyone looks at old photo albums and reminisce fondly about the good old days. With photo scanning services, you can hold on to your photos for a long time, if not forever. Sharing them on social media and walking down memory lane with family all around the globe can be your new pastime.

Before sending them off for scanning, a certain organization needs to be done to scan only the most special ones and save you money and time. It will also be convenient to keep track of all the prints you sent to the photograph scanning service. Keep your heritage close and invest in it so that your future generations never forget their roots and are able to connect to you via eternity.    




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Get creative with your footage after conversion

10/12/2020

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Remember those 8mm reels gathering dust in your storage? Yes, those analog films and videos are treasure troves of memories that may even have a clue to an old relative you have lost touch with, or a way to familiarize your children with your grandparents and the time they lived in. These are just some of the topmost reasons you should already be considering sending those reels to an 8mm to DVD service before they deteriorate to the point of no return.
Once you have them digitized, that’s half the battle won, making them into videos to share with loved ones is just as essential since that will bring you closer together. Here are the top 3 ways to get creative with the digital footage when it’s safely backed up on a hard drive.

1. Edit your 16mm movie to DVD digital footage into a montage
Creating a montage is a fantastic way to make your entire video collection convenient to consume. If you have endless reels, then watching them in their entirety would be tough. There are parts of footage you would want to cut. A 10-20 minute montage that entails the significant parts of the reels is a great way to relive moments without having to sit for hours waiting for the highlights to pop up.
It may take up a remarkable amount of time, and you may require professional help, but it will all be extremely worth it when you get to watch old home movies that transport you to the past at the click of a button.

Create highlights of each tape
Going through hours of footage and editing them is a daunting task, but there are other options as well. If certain reels are special, then you can create a highlight of just those reels. 2-3 minutes is enough time to capture the highlights of your grandparents’ wedding or home movies of your dad’s first birthday. This cuts down watching time and helps you in preserving the intrinsic meaning of that particular reel, thanks to the 8mm film to digital conversion service. 



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The history of the 8mm film

9/17/2020

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The 8mm film had been around for 33 years during the mid-20th century when many significant historical events occurred before it changed into something slightly greater. This means that many 8mm films that are sitting in storage all around the world are waiting to be sent off to an 8mm film to digital conversion service, if not done already. Those 8mm films could hold treasures, secrets, and answers the world may not even be aware of, and with the technology available today, this task can be handled quite efficiently.



What is an 8mm film?
Kodak introduced the 8mm film as a better and cheaper version of the 16 mm film that had been around already for almost a decade. The 8mm film had more perforations in the frame that offered a smaller size and more film run time.
The 8mm filmed on two individual edges to maximize time for filming, which hid any inconvenience. This required turning over the spool midway through filming so that the other side could be used. However, after development, it transformed into one strip that could give you approximately 4 minutes of footage. This could mean many short clips that could reveal incredible family stories via 8mm to DVD service.


How the 8mm affected the market during the Great Depression
In 1932, when the 8mm was conceived, it was an immediate hit with those struggling with the Great Depression. This was instrumental in creating a boom in-home movies because of its affordability and user-friendliness. Many major film studios used the option of adding magnetic sound and released shorter versions of their films for sale, particularly the Disney Company.
After achieving the accepted filming standard, the 8mm gave way to Super 8, which was the format if you grew up in the Generation X era. Even after several attempts to make 8mm simpler, it remained the same, and people used it as a stylized filming tool until the early 1900s when Kodak stopped making it.


8mm film to digital conversion – take action!
If you also have a box of 8mm/16mm films rotting away in storage, then have them converted to digital files before they deteriorate beyond repair. A 16mm movie to DVD can have an incredible shelf life, especially if you make several backups such as USB or social media. Technology has given you a rare chance of viewing footage never seen before, so don’t let it slip through your fingers and convert them to high-quality digital files that will last you for several generations.
This history of the 8mm film format is exciting and inspiring. It is filled with stories of hope, and these can be utilized for personal gains by hiring an 8mm film to digital conversion service. Valuable familial connections can be made with these films provided you take appropriate steps and choose reputable, professional services for the job who will make every invested cent worth all the trouble.    

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Converting Super 8 to digital: USB VS DVD

9/17/2020

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Every day there’s some new technology that has the potential to revolutionize the world and change how things are done. The same can be said about the age-old tradition of capturing moments with our cameras and making home movies with our camcorders. Some of you may have inherited Super 8 films and are hoping to transfer Super 8 to digital someday. But, are you sure about the best format to store your memories in?
We have met various storage options when the journey only started with floppy disks! The same can be said for limited CD storage, and 1 GB flash drives: All these are old news from a bygone era. From so many digitizing options—DVD, USB, or cloud download—it’s hard to make a decision.


DVD
First released in the late 90s, there’s nothing new about the DVD, it quickly became the most popular format for VHS and movies. It is a viable option for storing family memories, even having gone through a decline this last decade.


Pros
  • Proven technology: the format is simple and user friendly and has been around for 20 years, it has proven its reliability that works and holds over time.
  • Slim design: the DVD is sleeker than VHS tapes and other previously used analog media, which will free up space while using a Super 8 to digital conversion service and rid of clutter.
  • Available hardware: most people own a DVD player, and whether it’s in use or not, the hardware is still in play.

Cons
  •    Limited security: DVDs can be played by anyone having the appropriate hardware: making it not the most secure, which is not a deal-breaker unless you have something confidential on it.
  •      Available hardware: this point is common between the pros and cons because, just like the VHS player, the DVD sales are declining, which will ultimately make it obsolete.
  •      Limited storage space: even though the DVD is large enough to store hours of footage but compared to other options, it’s the most limited of the group.
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