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Cape St. Claire

Let's dance

Galveston-85.jpg

Boy on the rug

[jaycymru]

Hi all,

Thought I would make a post, to say hello to everyone on these here forums, who to use their time to make people happy about their loss is one of the most heart rendering things I have ever read about, hence why I signed up to try and contribute (no not try i will contribute!)

I have restored many photos over the years ive used photoshop, so thought this may be a picnic in the park so to speak until i saw the galleries to choose from and my first reaction was "what am i thinking dropping myself into this?!??!".  However, i cant seem to give up on any photo, I tend to put on some music (classical) and just get lost into the photo as usual    Do i sound mad?  Don't answer that 

Anyway, thought i would make a post just to say Hello, and to say the people on here are amazing to give  up their time like they do all voluntary (I tip my hat to you, if i had one that is!) and I hope my skills will contribute to such a good cause as this.

Just for the record I'm from Wales in the UK, the land of song

Justin

[Mhayes]

Hi Justin, from Kansas. We are happy that you have joined and it's fun to to have so many volunteers world wide. The first thing I look at when new volunteers join up is where they are from and how they heard of OPR.

Don't panic if you go to the galleries and they all look hard as more photos are added all the time. With your first photo, if you run into any problems, post to the forum and you will get plenty of help. On the left hand side--when signed into the forum--you will see photobucket, Picasa, PBase. These are all free photo sharing sites that you can sign up and use for a link to post your photo here on the forum. I personally like photobucket for ease of use.

Check in often and thanks for volunteering!

Margie

[Johnboy]

Justin,

Welcome from Ohio. As I read your post I noticed that you have already sized up this group and are spot on. You will do just fine. Anyone who wonders what they got themselves into before they take there first photos is already part of this crazy group. That usually occurs during or just after the first photo. So welcome to our picnic in the park. As you see it is quit a spread. Look forward to hearing more from you.

Johnboy

[Hannie]

Hi Justin and a warm welcome from Amsterdam!
Yes, you are right about some of the photos in our galleries.  They are not the kind that you'll find in any photo restoring book! 

A handy tool is our search button, you will find a wealth of tips and tricks to get you through even the worst restore.  If you get stuck anyways there is always the forum, it may take a few days but there will always be someone to try and help you out.

Hannie

[glennab]

Hi Justin

I didn't know that Wales is the land of song.  What a wonderful description!  Welcome from the land of flowers – Florida!

Your enthusiasm about our efforts and the fact that you're an experienced restorer means we've added another awesome newbie to our ranks.  No, I don't think you're mad - if you think that's a bad thing!  My feeling is that we're all a tad mad (a good thing, and I'm a poet.  Whoo hoo!) to go after these monsters.  We have an ongoing joke that the images in the gallery always look in better shape than they do after we download them.  And the mantra of an OPR volunteer is "what WAS I thinking?"

I'm one of the old-timers - actually one of the first volunteers - and I have no better sense than to always jump on the worst of the worst.  I love the challenge.  And there have been times when I've had to post desperately for help, and a few total non-restorables that I've tried and had to return unfinished.  But I can tell you that nothing feels better than completing a bear of a restoration knowing that it'll make someone who's lost way too much to a hurricane or flood delighted to have a bit of their history returned to them.

Don't hesitate to post if you run into a roadblock.  A number of volunteers check the forum regularly to try to help anyone who's run into a challenge, whether it be how to do something, if anyone can recognize an unidentifiable object (we have many of those), or looking for a quicker way to plow through the muck.

I'm really glad you've joined us!

Cheers!

GK