Why Write a Personal Blog Category on This Website
Posting tips on how to scan, restore and organize photographs seemed straightforward enough to me when I was creating this website until it occurred to me there might be some interesting stories I could share that might not fit into the most obvious of “post categories.” These stories could explore the personal experience I am going through digitizing my own family's collection.
By placing these posts into a separate category called “My Blog,” I decided I could safely cover more information without boring those just seeking “how-to” information to accomplish a certain task. This idea came to me – I believe – in the strangest of places.
A Little Inspiration From 1912
Three years ago – you know when I should have been scanning – I found a wonderful blog written by Heather Ferguson and David Chiu documenting the restoration of their 1912 Bungalow. Before and after photos reveal the almost unimaginable amount of work they have already put into it. What I was most interested in was the 18 layers of paint they stripped from their Douglas fir woodwork. My wife and I also have an old bungalow and dream of having the energy and making the time to do the same with our wood trim.
It probably goes without saying this couple was not the first to blog their way through a huge project. But after seeing what they were able to accomplish on a personal level with their website, it became obvious to me this was something I also wanted to do with mine.
I was going to follow in Heather and David's path and document my experience scanning my entire life.
How This “My Blog” Post Category Will Be Different
With this “My Blog” post category, I intend to be quite transparent with my personal experience as I scan my family's photo collection. It's a rather large collection spread out across many states in several households, so I don't expect this to be a short term project. And I think it's only fair of you to assume however that many of the photos I will scanning will be too personal in nature to my family to share on this site with the entire world. So I probably will be fairly selective which ones make it front and center.
I think there will be all kinds of topics and experiences that will present themselves to me as I really get into sharing with you. What I do know for sure is that I plan on sharing my accomplishments as well as my mistakes.
My Digitizing Pledge
Even though this site teaches people how to use their scanners to scan their photographs, I want to be clear I am not disparaging anyone wanting to use a scanning service instead of scanning their collection themselves. We all have our own amount of available time, money and technical ambition. So I want to put my foot down now and state that I truly love scanning services. For whatever reason, if it weren't for them, many of us would never scan our photos.
And even though I am setting out on this journey to scan all of my photo collection myself, I am not going to promise that 100% of them will be completed this way. Depending on how much of my time this website requires of me – writing posts, replying to comments and maintenance – I may find I need the help of a service here and there. But I am pretty stubborn when it comes to accomplishments like this. I am pretty honest when confronted and doubt I will want to admit to people, “Yeah I scanned 84% of my collection myself.” Just doesn't sound as remarkable as, “I did this ALL by myself!”
So wherever this personal blog category takes me, I really look forward to sharing it with you.