RootsTech 2013 Report

Maureen — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 14:52:28 GMT

It's easy to describe FamilySearch's RootsTech conference with one word: Wow!

Photos were the focus this year. Here are a few highlights:

Thank you to all the readers who stopped by to say hello. I provided photo consultations in the Bringing Stories to Life section of the exhibit hall.

Since the focus of the conference is technology, I decided to tweet some of the photos I saw. I used my iPad to photograph images and upload them to Twitter and Facebook. You can see them @photodetective on Twitter. The most unusual image is of a man posed shaving. You'll also see a painted tintype. I'm hoping to share a very different type of photo mystery next week.

A promo for uploading pictures to your FamilySearch family tree.

Findmypast.com had an old-fashioned photo studio in the exhibit hall complete with props. How could I resist?

PhotoFaceMatch.com was just one of the new companies exhibiting. This is a facial recognition site, and It's very interesting to see how this technology is developing. You can try the site for free.

On Saturday, David Pogue, personal technology columnist for the New York Times, gave the keynote speech complete with a grand piano. I'm a big fan of his columns and Missing Manual series of books.

Whether you were one of the close to 7,000 attendees or someone who watched the live streaming sessions from home, RootsTech was amazing. Can't wait until next year.

Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:

Family Photo Detective: Learn How to Find Genealogy Clues in Old Photos and Solve Family Photo Mysteries

Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats 1840-1900

Preserving Your Family Photographs

Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900

Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album

Intinerant Tintype Artists and Your Family

Maureen — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 14:12:06 GMT

Jim Cat found this photo when his grandmother died. It's one of those family photo mysteries—Jim doesn't know who these women are.

I love the way the photographer captured four young women sitting on their front stairs.

Jim labeled it a daguerreotype, but it's actually a tintype. The spontaneous pose reminds the viewer of a paper snapshot. In fact, tintype "snapshots" were available long before George Eastman invented his amateur negative camera. The word snapshot refers to taking an "instantaneous" image using a handheld camera. It generally means an amateur was taking the picture, but there were professional photographers who specialized in capturing these fleeting moments.

Itinerant tintypists traveled from town to town in wagons loaded with chemicals, plates and darkroom equipment. Tintype photographers also walked the streets of major cities enticing customers to memorialize their visit with a photo.

The tintype was usually presented to a customer in a paper sleeve. I've seen sleeves in bright pink, red, blue and just about every other shade. Some have embossed designs like this one, while others have printed decorations.

What they all have in common is a tendency to deteriorate. If you own one of these early 20th-century tintypes in a paper sleeve, you should scan it at a high resolution—at least 600 dpi—to preserve the content.

From the dress styles and the hair, the date of Jim's picture is circa 1910. The short sleeves and lightweight fabric suggest a warm weather month.

The woman second from the left has rested a hand on her adjacent companions, a clear sign these are close friends or relatives. Cat thinks these women may be family. I'm waiting for additional information to help with that detail.