Are you looking for the perfect gift for the person who has everything? Photo &Sound Saving in Stanwood has just what you’re looking for. Owners David and Cheryl Balle and their team of technicians can help you create a memorable one-of-a-kind gift using your family photos, slides, videos, or home movies. They also offer gift certificates so friends can preserve their own precious memories on long-lasting and easily stored DVDs.
Photo &Sound Saving is a state-of-the-art transfer service for photos, slides, negatives, 8- and 16-mm film, VHS and BETA videos, camcorder tapes and more. They can also covert older media such as records, reel-to-reel tapes, 8-track tapes and audiocassettes into modern easy to play CD format. But what really sets this locally owned and operated business apart is that they’re willing to work with you to create personalized projects from your media.
Photo &Sound Saving staff will sit down with you to discuss your options. You can create a slide show for yourself or a special presentation with music and titles for your holiday party or as gifts to friends and family. Mix and match copies of old slides, photos or even still images from film or family videos. You can add captions so everyone knows who is in each picture and when it was taken. Get as creative as you like.
Patricia Bodry has been working at Photo &Sound Saving since September. She is impressed with the different types and amounts of services the business offers and the level of quality that’s produced.
“I like working here because the company is big enough to do the job quickly and has the right equipment to do the job well. But we’re small enough to give each person personal attention,” Bodry said.
The demand for video, film and slide transfer to DVD format has dramatically increased in recent years. The Balles have added more equipment and technicians to keep pace with the requests. David Balle believes this jump in demand is due to the baby boomer generation.
He explained, “The baby boomer generation is starting to downsize. This is a great way, not only to save space, but also to make your pictures and home movies more accessible. This way the whole family gets to enjoy it and not just the person who is the picture keeper for the family.”
Converting photographs, slides and videotapes to DVD halts deterioration of the images and preserves them in a format that is easy to view. It is also easy to copy and store.
A single DVD can hold shoeboxes full of images. And there are no bulky slide projectors or film projectors to set up or store. You simply pop the DVD into your computer or DVD player and enjoy.
Recent changes in technology also mean you can now get a better-preserved image from your media than what was once possible.
“Years ago, people had their films converted and transferred onto VHS tapes,” Cheryl Balle said. “Some were unhappy with it. But the technology has changed. If they still have that film we can now get a real clean, frame-by-frame transfer. Music and titles can be added afterwards if they like. The difference is amazing.”
Those who did have film or slides converted to VHS tape should consider getting a DVD copy made as soon as possible. Videotape degrades quickly and the longer you wait to convert it, the more quality is lost. The DVD format is far more stable.
Other things that should be preserved as soon as possible include photos that are pasted into albums. Over time, acids in the paper and glue eat away at the images and destroy them.
Photo &Sound Saving has special equipment to make high-quality reproductions of images that are pasted in photo albums without having to remove the photos or damage the book.
Similarly, they can make copies of whole scrapbook pages in order to preserve them for posterity or to share with friends and family.
“We’re set up to make print copies for people too,” Cheryl Balle said. “We’ve got a color laser printer and a bookbinder.”
Another popular service at Photo &Sound Saving is music transfer. Many older people like to transfer their collections of 78-rpm records so they can play them in CD players or on their computer. The company has equipment to reduce audio hisses and pops.
They’re also equipped to do transfers from foreign PAL format videos to DVDs that play in U.S. machines.
Photo &Sound Saving is located in Suite 2 at 27500 102nd Ave. NW in Stanwood. You can place your order in person or order online and ship your media.
For more information call 360-629-3883 or visit their Web site at www.PhotoAndSoundSaving.com. Gift certificates are available.
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