This image pair is from the early 1900's and was beautifuly framed in a wood frame with gold accents and brass matting. To preserve the character of the origional format I scanned both the frame and the photos together.  The next step was to individually enhance each photo while leaving the frame unchanged.  The final product is displayed in the image on the right. 

 These photos together took about 2.5 to 3 hours and would fall under the restoration catagory.  Restorations are scanned at 1200 ppi, to capture as much detail as possible and to allow for enlargements.

The slide on the left is beginning to show some bluish tint and darkening due to age.  The balloons in the left slide (which is the before image) appear to be matte in color and rather dense.  Also on the left image the man's face in the forefront is difficult to see, with the baskets fading into the shadows. 

 In the second slide example, the above flaws have been corrected.  Specificly the ballons take on a more translucent appearance, and there is a significant improvement in detail.  

This type of retouching included in the price of a slide scanning package.  Slides are scanned at 3200 ppi in a non-compressed format which allows for optimal captured detail.

This particular client was mainly concerned with having the cracks and folds digitally removed, rather than absolute perfection.  Many artists will sign their perfect works with their name.  Vintage 2 Digital's signature is finding some aspect of the photograph that adds character, and perhaps could even be easily repaired.  However instead of removing it via Photoshop I leave the evidence of the character there to remind people that we aren't merely dealing with paper and ink, but with treasured memories that have a history and a story.  

A photo in this condition would fall under the restoration category and would take between 4 to 5+ hours to restore.

Photography existed long before the digital camera was invented.  For much of photography's history you never could be certain that you had captured that "special moment" on film exactly as your envisioned.  There was that eager anticipation with an element of surprise when you would receive your film from the developer.  Some of your images were great and others weren't but never knowing exactly what you had captured was part of the fun. 

In the days of film based cameras rolls of film only had 24 to 36 exposures and both the film and the processing was expensive.  People would frequently nurse an entire roll for a week's vacation capturing only the most meaningful moments on film.  It was not uncommon to try and squeeze that "bonus frame" out of a roll before it started rewinding. 

The elusive bonus frame often caused people to cave to the temptation to take a peak at the film in the back of the camera to see if they were successful.  You never knew if there was a "bonus frame or two" or if it was even a complete frame.  But if you had just tried to capture a once in a lifetime moment the temptation was often to much to bear and a brief peak in the back of the camera before rewinding the film could reveal success and it could also risk disaster.  But either way the not knowing was often harder to handle than the possible consequences. 

The days of film based photography had a unique mystique that is lost with digital cameras.  However, modern digital techniques are perfect for uncovering the treasure in the midst of the fog.