Is it worthwhile, to re-work my Wedding photos (from 5.5 yrs ago!) into a album?

[sonshine_rae]

Okay so the title is my main question,
The details would be that my wedding was shot in film November 2003, and the photographer was new to the business (and I was to young to realize the value of a experienced photographer.. let my FIL pick the lady out) she 'sold us' the proof book and handed us the negatives (which we did NOT expect that's just what happened after things were over, no forewarning of how little she would do 'after' shooting). She did at least point us (at the time) to a decent lab that could do enlargements, so we had enlargements made for wall prints about a month after we got married.

However that's 'allllll' we have from our wedding is a proof book, and wall prints.

I see alllllll this wonderful work that people do now especially in making albums for their wedding clients and admittedly I'm jealous I'd love to have a fancy book that would last generations of our wedding LOL!

Soooo is it worth it to have the negs scanned (I'd send them to a pro lab), and attempt to photoshop the images to put together a 'real' album/quality photo book? I assume since there was no contract, and she sold us all the negatives that she gave up her rights to them?

I am consdiering doing the work myself, though I've not looked into how much it'd cost to have someone else edit and design/assemble a album for me. DH is willing to pay for it as a '6th' Anniversary gift to each other lol (6 yrs in November).

Okay and if it helps any here's a sample of the photos, granted these are kind of the 'cream of the crop' .. aka probably some of the best ones. And please ignore the first outdoor shot in the album.. its a engagement photo we made ourselves by camera timer LOL! Rae Gaeddert's Photos - The beginning | Facebook

P.S. If this is the wrong forum please have a mod bump me to the right one, since it would be a lot of editing this was my best guess for the 'right' forum choice.

[KmH]

Nope, she still owns the copyrights unless you and she signed a copyright transfer statement.

However, it's not likely she would raise a stink were she to find out you had done anything with the images.

Where you will probably run into a problem is getting a pro lab to scan them to a CD without a written release or proof you own the copyrights.

[swampler]

Originally Posted by KmH

Where you will probably run into a problem is getting a pro lab to scan them to a CD without a written release or proof you own the copyrights.

Since she has the negatives, I doubt it would be an issue.

[Stercus Vultus]

Originally Posted by KmH

Where you will probably run into a problem is getting a pro lab to scan them to a CD without a written release or proof you own the copyrights.

You could consider having the negs printed (which I would do anyway before that's become impossible, or impossibly expensive!), and getting a scanner (for 50 bucks) to scan 'm yourself.

I wouldn't wait another 5,5 years!

If you plan to store them on CDs or DVDs: DON'T! Burned CDs and DVDs deteriorate and become unreadable after 5 years. CDs and DVDs are suitable only for medium term storage. I write the burn date on them and never use them longer than 1 year. Then I burn new ones and destroy the 'old' CDs or DVDs.

[sonshine_rae]

IT would seem to me that most pro labs, considering that I have a studio of my own/order through them myself won't notice that I was in front of rather then behind the camera lol.

I don't have any contact info for that photographer anymore.. she made so little a impression that I don't even remember her name! But it seems like she'd have a awfully hard time complaining about my doing anything with them since she sold the negs and proofs to us for us to do as we please.

[EOS_JD]

Originally Posted by sonshine_rae

IT would seem to me that most pro labs, considering that I have a studio of my own/order through them myself won't notice that I was in front of rather then behind the camera lol.

I don't have any contact info for that photographer anymore.. she made so little a impression that I don't even remember her name! But it seems like she'd have a awfully hard time complaining about my doing anything with them since she sold the negs and proofs to us for us to do as we please.

In this instance techniclly as you know you should ask, however given that she gave you the Negatives, what other possible reason would she give you them for other than to allow you to print them!!!

I would send them to your lab to get scanned if you are going to get a large album or if you go for something fairly small, you could buy a scanner that scans negs (my cheap Epson V300 does a very reasonable job).

What sort of images did she take? Are the informal or formal? Would they suit the albums you like?

[Carusoswi]

I guess I'm a bit surprised to see this sort of question from you . . . you strike me as so experienced, so professional, but a question is a question and deserves a reply (might even benefit from mine).

I doubt you need concern yourself with copyright issues. The original shooter might technically still own the copyright, but, since she gave everything to you, she'd have a difficult time sustaining a claim, and you seem not to seek usage beyond personal which, unless there are photos in the collection that will meet with world-wide interest and acclaim, means the material will never go far beyond your own coffee table.

That you are an established pro indicates to me that you will encounter little push back from anyone engaged to scan the negatives. That said, I'm not certain that you could not buy the currently fashionable flatbed scanner and scan the negs yourself for the same or less money than some lab could do . . . . consider the ultimate destination for these images and whether there is any value added by having them lab-scanned rather than doing it yourself . . . you and your DH seem as a team to be computer savvy.

. . . and, as a personal observation, I got a kick out of viewing your wedding/engagement photos. Having admired your image in your avatar (no offense or ulterior motive intended), it was quite interesting to see you in those additional images.

I remain a little uncertain why you ask this question here . . . you are more than enough qualified and experienced to answer it yourself, but, be that as it may, I think you are on quite solid legal ground to proceed with the project, and the ultimate answer to your question as to whether or not it is worth the effort, well, if the effort gives you pleasure, score one in the affirmative. If the result is one iota more than what you received from the original photographer, and if that result pleases you, score a thousand more in the affirmative.

Congrats on making it this far in your relationship with the DH. I wish you both ten times ten that number in the days to come.

Caruso

Originally Posted by sonshine_rae

Okay so the title is my main question,
The details would be that my wedding was shot in film November 2003, and the photographer was new to the business (and I was to young to realize the value of a experienced photographer.. let my FIL pick the lady out) she 'sold us' the proof book and handed us the negatives (which we did NOT expect that's just what happened after things were over, no forewarning of how little she would do 'after' shooting). She did at least point us (at the time) to a decent lab that could do enlargements, so we had enlargements made for wall prints about a month after we got married.

However that's 'allllll' we have from our wedding is a proof book, and wall prints.

I see alllllll this wonderful work that people do now especially in making albums for their wedding clients and admittedly I'm jealous I'd love to have a fancy book that would last generations of our wedding LOL!

Soooo is it worth it to have the negs scanned (I'd send them to a pro lab), and attempt to photoshop the images to put together a 'real' album/quality photo book? I assume since there was no contract, and she sold us all the negatives that she gave up her rights to them?

I am consdiering doing the work myself, though I've not looked into how much it'd cost to have someone else edit and design/assemble a album for me. DH is willing to pay for it as a '6th' Anniversary gift to each other lol (6 yrs in November).

Okay and if it helps any here's a sample of the photos, granted these are kind of the 'cream of the crop' .. aka probably some of the best ones. And please ignore the first outdoor shot in the album.. its a engagement photo we made ourselves by camera timer LOL! Rae Gaeddert's Photos - The beginning | Facebook

P.S. If this is the wrong forum please have a mod bump me to the right one, since it would be a lot of editing this was my best guess for the 'right' forum choice.

[sonshine_rae]

Truly the main question was whether it was worthwhile to try to re-work old film negatives, into something better. The copyright was more of a statement then a query and mostly nonsequential in this situation.

At this point it mostly henges on whether we can find the negatives and how they turn out after being scanned by a pro lab.

As for my being pro/experienced.. everyone's level of experience is different. I have a very small studio, that only has a handful of clients a year, and haven't worked with film in quite a few years, way before I started using photoshop.

[JimH]

Originally Posted by sonshine_rae

Truly the main question was whether it was worthwhile to try to re-work old film negatives, into something better.

All indications are that you want something more than the proofbook and wall portraits .. so yes.

However I will dissent from the other advice about getting a scanner and doing them yourself. Do send them to a pro lab with a drum scanner - especially with any kind of quantity. In addition to the time savings, they have chemicals like PEC-12 for cleaning or anti-static agents at the ready.

[DanInSoCal]

I would suggest a small-scale test run. Send in a few strips of negatives, and see how "workable" the resulting images are. Or, you could go even cheaper, find a friend with a decent scanner and try a few. I have very successfully scanned negatives on my Epson scanner. Takes a long time, and you have to clean the negatives very carefully, but for a test run with three or four frames, just to see the quality of the resulting images (and their suitability for post-processing), I think it's fine.

Regards,
Dan

[sonshine_rae]

Still need to find the time to dig through the garage storage bins.. and find the negatives. But I think at the very least we can get them digitally archived, and hopefully I can do something nice with them .

[Songman45]

First of all, If I were you i'd have the negs scanned and make myself what ever I wanted to. Isn't it just plum stupid that a photographer could hand over the negatives, thus make it impossible to fulfill any future prints AND at the same time claim reproduction rights? One would think if there was a question of infringement it would have come five years ago when the wall prints were being made. Didn't the photographer point you to a lab for the print work anyway?

I don't think the question here is wheter or not it's "okay" to proceed with your project but the best way to go about it. Best advice I've seen is the pro lab drum scanner. You can then work up the images and if you don't like your results, certainly get some help. Its not like you are going to loose the original file data after the pictures are digitized.

I wish you well and hope you soon have an album to cherish your memories with.

Steve