Photo Restoration Blog

Archive for the ‘photo restoration’ Category

In order to make a daguerreotype, iodine fumes are used to react with a silver-coated copper plate to form light-sensitive silver iodide. The plate is then exposed to light using a box and lens or camera and the image developed using mercury fumes, before being fixed in a warm solution of common salt. This was quite a lengthy process and the exposures were very slow, as plate was not that sensitive to light as we know photography today. The daguerreotype process was very popular during the first half of the 19th century, is was soon after replaced with faster and less complicated but safer techniques.

Old Daguerreotypes had to be protected by a glass font and sealed to prevent the image getting damaged, The image itself is a thin coating of deposits on the copper plate and can easily be ruined with a simple finger touch. Think of the image rather like candle soot on a glass tile, a very fine power that can be smudged with the lightest of touches.

I recently restored a Daguerreotype for a customer of mine.

Old Daguerreotype Restored

Several scans of this beautiful little old Daguerreotype were needed. It measured around 5 centimeteres tall and was encased in a red velvet and brass case, with a glass sealed glass panel protecting the image. The scans were combined to give the best image to start the restoration process.

The Story of a brave soldier in second battle of Ypres 1915, William Ford, joined the Northamptonshire Regiment in 1915 and went to war.

It was the battle of Ypres 1915. The trenches and dugouts stretched as far as the eye can see, like a maze of organized spaghetti. Omnipresent gunfire rang in the air, the smell of powder, thick clay and damp clung to the inside of the soldiers nostrils. Lieutenant William Ford took the initiative to vault the trench and make his move. He was making good progress into enemy territory and out of nowhere came a loud crack and a shot whizzed through the battle smog and ripped through his webbing belt and his stomach, stopping him in his tracks.

The Second Battle of Ypres 1915 (image provided by Wikipedia)

He fell into the mud, amongst the other downed soldiers. Still alive but bleeding badly he crawled out of sight of the gunfire and waited for his next move. A fearsome sound caught his attention and for a moment drew his mind away from his agony. He heard footsteps in the squelching mud close by and pistol fire of a German officer systematically walking from one downed soldier to the next, shooting the wounded and dying. He lay still, closed his eyes and feigned death not breathing for fear of being discovered and shot. The footsteps passed by!

William Ford Battle of Ypres aged 16

During that night a British patrol came by with stretchers looking for the wounded. William managed a feeble groan and the party spotted him. He was rushed off the battle field and his wounds were dressed and patched and in due course he recovered and was sent home.

Soon after the war, William now Sergeant, was sent with his Northamptonshire regiment to Ireland in Dublin to help keep the peace. During his service in Ireland he met a lady and who was desperate to get out of Ireland and the prospect of marrying a Sergeant soon became good friends. William was allowed to court this lady as long he didn’t wear his uniform and he visited through the back door. He survived yet another crisis. Through out the following years he climbed the ranks to Company Sergent Major and served in both India and the Andaman Islands but was sent home with family in 1939.

William Ford was then recalled for action once more in the Second World War. His contribution to the Second World War was a step back from his previous encounters in the front lines but still and important part of the war effort, training the new recruits through out the 1940′s. At this time he had progressed through the ranks to Major, he eventually and died around 1971 aged 73. A true man of British grit!

William Ford Born 1898.

Photo restoration or old enhancing methods

Back in the days of early photography when shutter speeds were slow and lens quality was being improved all the time, photographers strove to get the best results possible, even if it meant applying a few photo enhancing tricks of their own.

Lenses in the infancy of photography weren’t as optically perfect as they are today and the scene needed plenty of light and a long exposure time. The sensitivity of the “negative” was also a contributing factor. The less sensitive the light capturing medium the more light or exposure was needed. This type of camera would have been the very early Daguerreotypes around 1830 to 1860

As a result of these long shutter speeds subjects had to sit for several minutes. They often took a posture and facial expression which was comfortable. Smiling was not an optional as it couldn’t be held forgot long enough and lead to blurred features in the resulting photographs. This is why in most early photos people are not smiling and looking fairly sombre.

Old photo restoration techniques in the 1800's when photographic equipment needed a helping hand.

In this image you can clearly see brush strokes enhancing furniture and clothing.

To correct the shortcomings of the early photographic process, photographers deployed a variety of techniques to enhance their photos. Ill defined areas of detail especially in the shadows were enhanced with brush strokes of black ink, often painting in shadow lines around clothes or furniture. Eyes could be redrawn or lined in with pencil or even whitened with pigments similar to watercolours. Hair styles could also traced out with a careful brush stroke. I’ve seen images with a great deal of this enhancing and when restoring them there is no option but to leave it in. It not only adds to authenticity but if as it hides the true outlines, removing it would be detrimental to the image.