Have you ever thought you’d love to interview a member of your family about their life? In this episode, personal biographer Francie King shares tips on how to get individuals to talk and the importance of listening as you record. As a former journalist she knows how to refine a story and gather the facts.…
The Photo Detective Podcast
Episode 76: Who’s That Baby? Tips for Solving Snapshot Mysteries
In this episode I’m sharing tips on dealing with twentieth century baby photos and news from Rootstech. You’re probably thinking I wish I was the Photo Detective. I bet she doesn’t have any unidentified photos. Well…that’s not quite true. I have some. Most folks do. I’m working through the few I have by studying the…
Episode 75: One Man’s World War One Journey
Imagine working on your family history and suddenly you’re sidetracked by a bit of information. That’s what happened to my guest, James Castellan. His pursuit of one man’s story led to a new understanding of World War I and to his becoming a film scholar on American cinematographers in Germany. He won a writing award…
Episode 74: Big News For Family Photos From MyHeritage.com
It’s been a couple of years since I’ve checked in with Daniel Horowitz, of My Heritage.com. We talked about instant discoveries, what happens when information is uploaded in a different language, and how you can use watermarks on your images. Daniel shares a big announcement about family photographs. The new tool developed out of a…
Episode 73: What I Learned by Digitally Organizing My Photographs
Working on the MasterClass on Digital Photo Organizing with MemoryWeb has taught me a few things. It’s reinforced my love for using a digital photo organizer because it makes it so easy to find the exact image I’m looking for when it’s needed. But it also helped me see my research deficits. In the process…
Episode 72: Wearing the Past: A Modern Woman’s Fascination with Period Dress
Our family photos reveal our ancestor’s fashion choices and those clues can help date a picture. The collars, cuffs, hats, and shoes worn by our grandmothers teach us about the period in which they lived, but those details also tell us a bit of the story of their lives. Historical costume is on display in…
Episode 71: Colorizing the Past with The Photo Alchemist
Way back when colorizing photographs was a controversial topic. Should they or shouldn’t they be colorized? Now there is wide public support for the process. It’s done digitally, not like our ancestors adding color with artist materials. You can find whole collections of images of historical events looking like they were taken yesterday in eye-popping…
Episode 70 : Preservation Hacks and New Masterclass
What are your plans for 2020? I have a few. From reviewing my podcast episodes from last year to expanding educational offerings, this year is going to be full of chances to chat with me at conferences and connect through Masterclasses. In this episode, I review the most popular podcast episodes of 2019. Photo scanning,…
Episode 69: Digital Photo Organizing with Memory Web
In the old days, we’d print our photos and hopefully write identifying information on the back. Some folks would add them to albums. Then print photos became old-fashioned and digital images became popular. We took thousands of new photos and scanned the old. Our hard drives and cell phones are full of photos with no…
Episode 68: 52 Weeks of Ancestors with Amy Johnson Crow
Have you ever wished you had time to write your family history? My guest today has a way of encouraging you to tell your family story in manageable bites. It’s her popular 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks program. She supplies the prompts and you write, blog, scrapbook, or Instagram something about an ancestor each week. There’s no pressure…