Archives for Maureen A. Taylor
Reuniting Orphan Photos With Family
Have you ever walked into an antique store and found a photo with a name on it? This is known as an orphan photo. At some point in its photographic lifespan, it became separated from its family. Photos are rarely mentioned in probate records, their inheritance often a...
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Confirming Identities in Old Family Photos
I'm working on a photo mystery that is making my eyes hurt and my brain spin. With any luck I'll be able to present it here next week. In the meantime, Milah Goler Pasto contacted me through Facebook to ask about a couple of her family photos. She...
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Turn-of-the-Century Family Photos
Terry Graham's mother showed him a few unidentified photographs and now he's using the power of the web to try to identify them. He's posted them on his Ancestry.com family tree so that family members can comment on them. He thinks the mother's maiden name could be...
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“Downton Abbey” and Family Photos
I can't resist the pull of a period piece be it a television series or a movie, so it's no surprise that last night I sat down to watch the first episode of Season 3 of PBS' "Downton Abbey." There were a lot of moments relevant to both family...
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Twelve Months of the Photo Detective
It's time to look back at the year. Every week I write a Photo Detective blog post—that's 52 columns in 12 months. It's a lot of free photographic advice and tips. Here are my month-by-month 2012 favorites.JanuaryLast New Year's I offered advice on sharing images online, tackled a photo...
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More on Backyard Snapshots
Last week I focused on the details in the background of this backyard snapshot of Francis (Frank) Q. Donnelly. It's a great picture of a man taken in the first half of the 20th century. His relative, Dennis Rodgers, has a lot of information about him.Frank Donnelly (1879-1940) was...
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Save Your Family Photos in 7 Steps: Safe Preservation Tips Premium
Preserve the old family photos in your collection with these expert tips for saving prints for generations to come.
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Backyard Snapshots
Studio portraits are lovely and very formal, but to find signs of everyday life, there's nothing like a snapshot. Ever since George Eastman introduced the amateur camera in the late 1880s, our ancestors have taken informal pictures. Dennis Rodgers sent in this picture of a known relative—his great-uncle...
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Reader-Submitted Multi-Generational Pictures
I've been thinking about holiday cards. On Thanksgiving all 14 members of my husband's family—three generations of relatives—stood in the yard and posed for a group portrait. I find the thought of having even more generations represented in a single image amazing. Yet that's just what a reader...
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Multi-Generation Portraits, Redux
Last week, I featured a multi-generation picture submitted by Mary Lutz. We've been communicating about this photo via email, and I have a few more details to share. The original post mentioned that the baby is Mary Ruth Talbott Godwin. There is one problem with that identification. She was born...
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