Special Effects

Create a portrait

Correcting Point and Shoot Errors 

Wakes and Funerals and remove a person from a photograph and make another photo with them alone.

Remove Glare

Join two pictures or Create an Old Time Photograph

Attention Costumers! Everywhere

Salvaging an Image From Poor Quality Paper or Newspaper 

Shadow Boxes

Prank Photos

The story behind this prank goes like this.  This poster he is holding is a cherished poster found by his friend in Mexico and he thought it would be funny to put his name on the poster as one of the bull fighters. 

This photo was commissioned by mom, I guess the bride didn't have an issue with dad refusing to put on a suit.

In image #01, the mother of the bride and another relative dancing at the wedding, very charming. 

Now in image #02 a not so charming dad, shown here dancing with the bride. 

Okay, in image #03  We took dad's head and hand from #02 

Some people just do not want to get dressed up! So there this is one more way to skin this cat says mom with a smile. Clever lady!

 Create a Portrait

"Becky"

Getting a good pose from your dog is not an easy thing to do but you can look through the photos you have and create a portrait pose like these.  Include them  in your family tree or create a special place in your scrapbook or wall. 

For more samples, see Pet Portraits.

Submitted by Veronica of Chula Vista California

"Pepe", Submitted by Otilia Balas from Phoenix Arizona.

Same goes for saving baby photos!  Many people are faced with the problem of only owning one photograph of themselves when they were babies and usually they are not in good shape, or it's not very flattering.  Such is the case with this photo.  Pieces missing are not a problem or turning the photo into a standard size to fit standard frame.  Standard frames and standard matts are less expensive.

We have seen images mounted on everything you can imagine. Embedded in glass and in jewelry. These one of a kind items are difficult to share in their present form. So let us copy and restore them for you.

This Original was stuck to this very heavy plaster plaque.

This is the close up of original.

It could not be removed without damaging it further.

There is a huge stain and writing on the background.

As you can see here is the background replaced, but with a period accurate background.

Turn a casual photo into a beautiful portrait.

Circa 1910. The owner of this photo said she had a "portrait shot" of everyone in the family album with exception of this person.  Can you put her image on a studio background? We found a studio background of that time period. This is a perfect scrapbook application.

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Just cropping and color correction saved this photo from the shoe box to a space in the scrapbook.

This young girl, now a senior citizen always wanted a photograph of her mother alone. 

Correcting Point and Shoot Errors

One of the most common mistakes people make is not setting up the shot.  In their excitement to take the shot quickly centering the subject is off ruining the shot.

1970. The hat was recreated, the building extended and the yellowing removed. This photo is typical of amateur photographers.  Not taking the time to center the subject and not using a tripod to keep the camera still.  What would have be excluded from the scrapbook or special place on the wall can be displayed or placed in a scrapbook proudly. 

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Circa 1950. One family shot is better than two separate photos, don't  you think! Especially for scrapbookers that need space to design and add personal effects.

Save space join two photos.

From two 8x10 these two, brother and sister were enlarged to 16 x 20 and beautifully framed.

Create an Old Time Photograph

If you love wearing costumes and want a portrait with the appropriate background, just send us a photo of yourself in costume and we will do the rest.

It would help if you know what photo you want to be in first so you can pose yourself perfect for the shot. I didn't but it just worked out well, now I know.

Photo #2

I had to reverse #2.

It wouldn't be complete without the border. 

"Here's looking at you kid"

Attention all those out there that love to dress up!  Especially the San Diego Costume Guild! This link takes you to a events in period clothing, hit it when your done here.

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1).  These two photos were part of a paper collage...

4). In 2003, he found this frame on E-Bay for only $75.00! and voila!  a happy Alex.  

and Alex brought his friend over....next...to get the same work done.

More samples:

In this photo, the maid of honor and the best man, on either side of the bride and groom, were married by the justice of the peace shortly after.  They never had their own wedding picture.  Decades later the bride had a bright idea and called us. She finally has a wedding portrait.

Making faces is a good way to get cut out of the photo.

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These two Sisters enjoy this photograph today, taken from the two photographs above, making it twice as special.

The image of mother behind them in the 1900s didn't have to be a quality photo.  This one was cut out from a collage on poor paper, you can see part of one photo at the bottom.  Since it was going to be faded out a bit anyway giving it a heavenly appearance.

Salvaging an Image From Poor Quality Paper or Newspaper 

We can restore a photo that has been copied to computer/regular paper and print it to archival quality matt paper. 

This photo scanned from copy paper was completely recreated to get a photographic appearance.

This photo was salvaged from a 1921 prayer card.

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1999  Blurred the background, cropped and enlarged.

Some times we just wish we were in the photo alone. Submitted by Shirley Horton, Assembly Women of Chula Vista

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The man is gone, color added, vignette added and cropped to an 8x10.

The Collage - The perfect application for photos that are unattractive yet sentimental and valuable to you and your family. Visit "Custom Gifts

Remove Glare

This photo was taken of a framed photo sitting on a top of dresser.

These are samples (taken by amateur photographers) of photos taken with a digital camera, (not scanned photos).  You don't have to be a professional, long as you do not do the following:

Shake... you must stabilize the camera while shooting.  Professionals use tripods.  Have good lighting so you don't have to use flash, avoiding the reflection of the flash or shoot at a very slight angle, until you don't see the reflection.  Notice even the reflection of the flash can be removed.

Funerals/Wakes

Often we are called to prepare photographs for wakes. The family has asked everyone and can not seem to find a single photograph of a person either by themselves or a photo formal enough to display for the memorial service.  The original was an 8x10, once we separated him out we enlarged it to a 16x20 for the viewing.  We can have these ready within 24 hours.

There are many options. Some people have taken many photographs and placed them around the room.  Others have taken one large one (16x20) to set on an easel.

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