Photograph Tips From An Experienced Detective

And that would be tips from my sister; Nancy Cragun Day

The photo is of a future genealogy detective, not Nancy.

Nancy is a valuable genealogy detective for our families family history.

Seriously, Nancy has taken upon herself  the arduous task of going through all of the family history and photographs our parents left upon their passing away.

Porter Photos from Nancy Day Flickr account

She has some suggestions that will make it better for you and for your descendants:

TIP: Make that cool photo one for history.

So many people are posting photos on Social Sites, taken with phones. These are forever lost to future generations. What a treasure trove these photos could become.

TIP: Put a photo with an obituary. Another sister, Peggy told Nancy that if she had seen how much Nancy and others had used printed obituaries in their research she would have published our fathers photo.

TIP: Always take the effort to put names, dates, places on the back of the photo. She has seen our family photos with vague or no writing on the back. Vague such as grandma (whose Grandma?) and cousins (which cousins?). Bert (which Bert?).  In her own case she has a photo with one of her sons. She thought she would always recognize her sons. Guess what? They looked the same as kids. She has a photo of herself, she thought, at a local radio station party. She had to research the local newspaper to figure out how old she was. You took the photo, identify it. It's important.