I began my photographic career at Kodak, Annandale in 1969 and climbed the ladder to supervise the colour “Enlargement” section at the age of 18, where I was responsible for enhancing or colour-correcting photographs during and after printing.

   Some of the clients at that time, were actually professional photographers, and were extremely fussy about the quality and results of their finished products, which in turn gave me a good eye for these details, and to deliver exactly what they wanted.

 

   After 3 years of learning this art, I began working from home in my own darkroom where I would be developing and printing for other photographers, and enlarging their photos as well as my own personal work.

   Around that time, people began asking me to copy old and damaged photos and to print them onto new paper, whilst adding contrast and cropping, then re-touching the final print with special inks and brushes, thus restoring it to near-new.

 

   Years later, in the 80’s & 90’s, computers appeared with special software, to make all this time-consuming work just a little easier, so of course I was one of the first to purchase this equipment and began a whole new learning curve which is now called Digital Printing. I have now clocked up around 38 years of photographic experience including scanning and printing, and restoring old photos whether they are faded or cracked, or just need to be copied and enlarged to keep forever. It is possible to copy tiny photos from the size of a stamp, to a fully framed photo hanging on a wall.

 

   At the end of the day, some photos are very valuable to family members and it is well worth the time and effort to restore them to pristine condition, especially for the future generations to look back on.