Saving Your Slides
Do you remember the trips you took in your younger days? The snapshots of your children in their best duds? Your thirtieth birthday party? The problem in many families is that these pictures were taken with a good single lens reflex camera using Kodachrome or Ektachrome slide film. Today, even if you found your old slides, your only options are: to bring them to photo store and pay to have them converted into photos at great cost or to leave them as slides and put them back in the attic.
One problem with sending them out for conversion to photos is that they won't pick the best ones and discard the rest. Also, they won't crop, center and straighten the problem pictures. Dark ones will turn out visible but slightly dark and off color.
It is important to sit down with your wife or significant other to decide which slide are important enough to keep. Duplicate slides should be avoided and this is an opportunity to discard any extremely under or over exposed slides. If someone got carried away on a trip to the park or another country and took too many pictures, judicious editing will keep the number of images to a minimum for interesting viewing.
A method I have used with great success is to photograph each slide with a digital camera. I first cleaned any dust from the front and back of the slide, centered it on the screen, then focused carefully, I placed my digital zoom lens camera as close to the projector lens as possible, using a small tripod for steadiness. Evaluating the monitor screen for level, cropping benefits and focus, I used manual focus on the screen but auto focus will also work well. I then made the exposure. After repeating this process for all the slides you want to save, they are now ready for the next step.
Bringing the pictures up on my computer, I create a Document Folder with an appropriate name. In my photo editor like Micrografx, Photoshop or even Picasa3, I correct each photo if needed for correct exposure density, color balance and cropping. Any special effect that are indicated like portrait soft focus or framing can be easily added.
Save the photo in the Document Folder with (ENH) in the name. Another method is to make a dedicated folder for the finished photos. If Micrografx or Photoshop is used, you may decide to size each photo to four by six for easy printing. In Picasa3 sizing is automatic.
In the past I have placed all the photos on a flash drive and took it to Wal-Mart, printing four by six snapshots for placing in a custom album. Other times I have used a slide show creator to make an interesting slide show with unusual transitions and music. One of the best software is the ArcSoft DVD Creator. Your creative result can be the hit of your party and you can relax knowing that the best photos of your life experiences can be enjoyed by everyone in the digital generation.
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