A Memorable Wedding – The Impact of Restoring Old Photos

As a wedding photographer, my job is capturing moments and preserving them digitally or on paper. I believe the most beautiful moments of our lives aren’t meant to be lived only once. With photos, you can relive those moments again by looking at them and allowing them to transport you back to the past. But how do you go about restoring old photos so you can keep preserving those cherished moments? This is what I’ll discuss in this article.

The Hassle Of Preserving Old Photos

The world has become more digital, and it’s become possible to preserve these moments perpetually on digital devices and in the cloud. But what about hard-copy photos? No matter how well you take care of them, they will age. So, what happens to the precious moments captured in those faded colors or damaged photos? This makes photo restorations important; they help breathe new life into the old photos. Let’s talk more about why it is important to restore your old photos.

Why you should restore your old photos

Sharing History

I know I’ve talked about how these old photos are tangible links to memorable pasts, but I have a true story that perfectly buttresses their significance.

As a wedding photographer, I was once booked to cover a wedding. During the reception, the couple decided to do a funny photo slide presentation on their love story. The presentation was to celebrate the journey of their love from when it all started up until their wedding. However, to give their story a twist, they decided to begin with their family history and included old pictures of their parents and grandparents. They also included their childhood photos. I could tell they had commissioned someone to restore these old photos because their grandparents’ photos, for example, had to have been black and white initially.

I couldn’t help but appreciate the high quality of the restoration. They had to have been done by a professional photo restoration service. The look of nostalgia on the faces of the guests and the parents said just how much effect the presentation had on them. It was indeed a celebration of love and life. I saw more than a couple of people approach the couple after the wedding to inquire about the restoration of photos.

Preserving Memories

Weddings aren’t all about creating new memories; they can also be an opportunity to preserve and present old memories. Borrowing an idea from the couple who had a photo slide presentation on their wedding, you can create a photo album instead and present it to the couple as a wedding gift. 

This is a perfect gift from a parent or grandparent to their child just getting married. It’ll show how significant the family’s journey has been, from the parents or grandparents to the newly wedded couple. Restored photos can also serve as the perfect anniversary present to your parents or grandparents, especially if they’re pictures of their weddings.

Honoring Loved Ones

Another beautiful reason for restoring old photos is to remember and honor family members who are no longer with us. Imagine creating a photo album wedding gift for your brother, containing members of the family, but unfortunately, dad died when you were young, and even the best photos you have of him are old and faded. Restoring these photos before adding them to the collection is a gesture he will never forget and always cherish. Such pictures, especially if you have one where your brother and your dad were together, will help him keep those beautiful moments in his memory, even as he creates new memories with his beloved wife.

Can old photographs be restored?

Yes, you can restore your old photos. Global advancements in software technology have made this possible and made it easily accessible. There are different means of restoring old photos now; you just need to choose which best suits you.

How to restore old photos

There are different ways to restore your old photos, each with pros and cons. So, I’ll touch them one at a time.

Professional services

This is the best option if you wish to get the best result. You can employ professional photo restoration services like Pixels Photo Art and let them breathe life into your old photos. You send them the digital version of the photo and tell them what you want them to do, and they send you the result in a few days. 

These professionals already have the experience and expertise to get the job done, irrespective of the extent of the damage on the photo. And if you aren’t satisfied with the initial result, you can ask for modifications until you get a satisfactory outcome.

Adobe Photoshop 

Adobe Photoshop offers the best option if you’re already skilled in photo editing. Photoshop is a powerful software with extensive functionalities that allow you to restore photos perfectly. The significant issue here is your proficiency with the software because you wouldn’t even know where to start without it.

Ai Online Tools

Several websites allow you to restore old photos on their website. Many of them use a form of AI photo restorer, and most of them have a free version. Some websites may allow you to manually edit photos with a restoration tool. However, most free online software is limited in capability, and the AI restorer wouldn’t give a satisfactory result. You see, AI tools are only good if you wish to enhance face features in the photo. Anything other than that simply results in a disaster.

AI tools are terrible at restoring faded colors or removing damages like cracks from a picture. They are good for enhancing the quality of a photo and can turn a blurry photo clear based on what they can identify in the picture. Their paid, premium versions allow you to do more. However, if a photo restoration requires extensive technical inputs, online AI tools are not the solution.

Mobile phone apps

Mobile phone apps offer a restoration tool similar to those on websites. Like their website counterparts, they have an AI photo restorer that does the image editing. They also allow you to save the restored photos on your phone. Also, like web-based editors, they most likely have a free version with limited capability, only able to do simple editing like color correction. Premium access gives you more functionalities but won’t give you the results you expect from Photoshop or a professional service.

Where to restore old pictures

The easiest way to find a means of restoring old pictures remains on the internet. Of course, you may be lucky to have a professional photo restoration service near you. But you probably won’t know until you’ve researched how to restore photos online. Besides, not everybody will be that lucky. So, going online opens you to all the options available to you.

How much does it cost to restore an old photo?

The cost of restoring old photos depends on what option you decide to use. However, since I’ve established that the best choice for anyone seeking to restore old pictures is to use professional photo restoration services, I’ll only focus on that. The cost of restoring an old picture varies depending on the extent of work required on the image. Compared to badly damaged photos, a simple photo with faded colors would not require much effort to restore. The time needed to work on these pictures also varies.

Considering these, it’s no surprise that the prices vary depending on the photo restoration company. Some charge as much as $500 for restoring just one photo. Pixels Photo Art offers services between $12 and $76, which I find to be quite affordable compared to the price of other services. 

Conclusion 

Photos will always be linked to moments and will always help capture and trap those moments in time. Thanks to the digital age, we can trap these moments better and store them more permanently on digital devices and in the cloud. But we don’t have to lose those beautiful memories captured before the advances in digital technology. The beauty of restoring old photos is that you can either print them on paper again or keep them digital, where they will be much safer and for longer. So, would you be spicing up your wedding with some restored pictures, too?