Yearly Archives: 2015

Are Your Memories Safe? West Coast and Beyond Brace for El Niño

Posted on November 4, 2015 by

Winter is coming—and this one promises to be hard-hitting.

 

The West Cost, in particular, is facing a possible El Niño season. It seems as though the effects of El Niño may already be under way with unusual hurricanes, warm ocean temperatures, and an increase in rain fall. For California and coastal regions, the heavy rainfall could mean flash floods and mudslides. For places like Colorado, this could mean harsh winter storms with heavy snowfall.

 

The predicted below-average temperatures combined with the forecasted above-average perception could spell disaster for residents throughout the southern half of the U.S.

 

Here at ScanMyPhotos, we’ve been locked onto this developing El Niño story, hoping to gauge the coming intensity and impact. For us, impending storms are serious business.

 

We’ve heard countless stories about how natural disasters wiped away hundreds of year’s worth of photos, videos, and precious memories. And, as weather man Al Roker said, “Doesn’t even have to be a disaster, you could have a flood in your basement and you’ve lost everything.”

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When a Genealogy Project Becomes a Life’s Mission

Posted on October 30, 2015 by
geneaology project

The oldest photo in Joyce’s collection–an 1860 photo of Lovie Elvira Winslow, born in New York in 1796.

ScanMyPhotos customer Joyce Harrington has an impressive photo collection that spans three centuries and about seven generations. She has the latest and greatest Mac, but even her brand new computer is at its capacity trying to store Joyce’s 25,000 photos. Yep, we said 25,000!

 

When asked if she had one special photo in her enormous collection, she replied, “They’re all special. All of them. They’re photos of my family from all over. Some of the pictures are very old. The oldest one is from the 1800s.”

 

The photo from the 1800s? It’s of Joyce’s great, great, great grandmother (pictured right), who is actually a decedent from the Mayflower. Talk about a picture with a ton of history!

 

“I’ve been immersed in scanning all my old photos for three years. I’m semi-retired and obsessed with the project. It’s important to get our history together and make the photos available to the family…the kids may not appreciate it now, but one day they might.”

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What To Do When Not at REI on Black Friday #OptOutside

Posted on October 29, 2015 by

Congratulation’s to REI on an unconventional marketing coup, and smart decision to ask people to celebrate families together, rather than shopping on “Black Friday.”  #OptOutside is smart and celebrates families over shopping.  Sure there will be loads of time to shop before and afterwards. ScanMyPhotos.com corporate headquarters will join REi’s awesome idea and also be closed on Nov 27th, although its full online photo scanning business will be operational.

The news announced by REI’s CEO, Jerry Stritzke is matchless; they are putting employees and customers first and asking people to spend the holiday celebrating each other, rather than shopping. We salute the retailer of outdoor apparel and gear for closing its stores on “Black Friday,” the day after Thanksgiving. One of the best ways to use this unprecedented off time is to gather the entire family and revisit decades of past travel and adventure trips, including those where REI products were enjoyed.

Think of all those decades of family vacation photos that are still analog and should be revisited. That is where ScanMyPhotos.com, the e-commerce photo digitization company — which scanned 300 million pictures–is ready to help.

 

In advance of Thanksgiving and your time off on the traditional shopping mega sales event, gather your family’s photos and have ScanMyPhotos.com digitize it. Then, on Friday, November 27th, share all those newly digitized memories together as a family.

 

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5 Twitter Accounts to Follow for Vintage Historic Photos

Posted on October 28, 2015 by
vintage historical photos

Image courtesy of the @CoolOldPhotos Twitter account

“Photography can only represent the present. Once photographed, the subject becomes part of the past.” – Berenice Abbott, 1898-1991

 

In an era where technology enables us to take 30 selfies in a row just to post the best one, there’s something refreshing about vintage photography. An old photo captured in a spontaneous, unfiltered moment can feel magical—it’s the past coming back to life. Historical images open our minds to ideas beyond our everyday experiences, showing us what has changed with time and what has remained the same.

 

Paradoxically, one of the best places to share and find historical photos is on a modern platform: Twitter. Some of our favorite Twitter accounts to follow for historical and vintage photos include:

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How to Organize, Digitize Pictures

Posted on October 26, 2015 by

SBO white logo RGB-resized

 

Professional organizer, and writer, Laurie Palau, founded simply B organized out of a passion for organization and simplicity. Having “stuff” is a part of life, but that doesn’t mean that you need to live in chaos. At simply B organized Laurie and her team teach methods for organizing your home without becoming consumed by clutter in a way for you to maintain moving forward. Follow simple B Organized on Twitter for smart uncluttering and organizing tips: @smplyBorganized

 

Her popular and widely read blog, identified the challenge of how to unclutter decades of family photos and have all photos easily digitized.  In this excerpt, Laurie discusses the reason for and solution to this challenge.  Excerpt follows:

 

Four years ago my mom passed away.

 

Along with her passing, I inherited boxes of photos: some from her childhood, some from mine, randomly tossed in a box for me to decipher.

 

This was a daunting task, even for someone as organized me.

 

So they sat… boxes of photos, on a shelf, in my storage room. If I didn’t have to see them, I didn’t have to deal with it (sound familiar?).

 

Years of memories just sitting on a shelf.

What a waste.

 

Isn’t the point of making memories so that you can reflect back on them? Enjoy them? Share stories with your kids and loved ones?

 

So I went on a quest to find a simple way to organize hundreds (possibly thousands) of random photos.

A few months ago I connected with the folks at ScanMyPhotos and was excited to find a solution to my photo clutter that wasn’t completely overwhelming.

 

ScanMyPhotos.comLogo

 

In a nutshell here’s how it works:

 

  1. Go online and select the option you want (photos, slides, negatives, videos, etc)
  2. Create a username and profile
  3. They send you a pre-paid box (each box holds up to approx. 2,000 photos)
  4. Sort through your photos (I did mine by general category: mom as a kid, mom as a young adult, my early years, high school, college, adult)
  5. Separate each group with a numbered index card and a rubber band to keep them organized
  6. Seal up the box and send it back for processing

Within a week, you’ll receive your returned photos along with a DVD; additional add-on services include a leather-bound book with all your photos inside, extra DVD’s, a flash drive with all of your photos and other items to honor your memories.

 

It’s that simple! I also want to mention that their customer service department is excellent. I received emails along the way keeping me posted as to where my photos were throughout the process.

 

If you struggle with “photo-overload” go to www.scanmyphotos.com and see which of their services is right for you. Don’t forget to let them know that simply B organized sent you!

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5 Professional Halloween Makeup Tips to Get the Whole Family Camera-Ready

Posted on October 21, 2015 by

professional Halloween makeup tipsIt’s that time of year again—leaves are on the ground and pumpkin-spice is in the, well, everything. You may be feeling prepared for the big day—costumes purchased, scary decorations up, extra-large bag of candy sitting at home—but if you really want to put your best ruby slipper forward this Halloween, there is one more thing you should be thinking about: Your makeup.

 

Halloween photos are some of the most treasured memories at any age—there is so much joy to be had in the fantastical costumes and good times spent with family and friends. But so often these pictures turn out to be more “tricky” than “treat.” No one wants to remember shiny foreheads or washed out faces—all of which can be avoided by following these professional Halloween makeup tips!

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How Innovations in Technology Helped Build ScanMyPhotos

Posted on October 17, 2015 by

desktop logo - How Innovations in Technology Helped Build ScanMyPhotos

NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF INNOVATION IN DIGITAL MEDIA

Scan My Photos facility

repost via: Laura Berthold Monteros for Destination Irvine

Excerpt:

Innovations in technology helped to propel his business, he says.  “I’d love to take credit and think it was something I thought of.  I was forced to rethink my business.  People stopped bringing in rolls of film.  I had to innovate to continue with my passion…. Over the years, I’ve been very fortunate because of technology.”  He gives a lot of credit to the many photo apps for sharing and storing digital images and to “Throwback Thursday,” because it’s popular to post old pictures electronically.

“It’s so much fun to go back to family events and holidays,” he said, but slides and analog (hard copy) photos are not easily shared and the history can be lost.  Photo sharing apps are only uploading recent pictures from smartphones, digital cameras and other digital media. ScanMyPhotos.com solved that.  It’s kind of like magic to see how quickly your photos can be digitized.  Then can be shared with friends, relatives.”

 

 

Goldstone estimates there are 3 ½ trillion analog photos in the world.  His company scans and digitizes 300,000 photos a day, as many as 300 per minute per machine on equipment manufactured by Kodak.  ScanMyPhotos.com takes digital photos, 35mm slides, film negatives, VHS tapes, APS film cartridges, and 8, 16, and 35 mm films and turns them into digital files stored on DVDs or flash drives.  He suggests uploading the files to the cloud and purchasing extra flash drives for sharing with family members and keeping in a safe deposit box.

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