Family Photo Detective: Learn How to Find Genealogy Clues in Old Photos and Solve Family Photo Mysteries Paperback – February 12, 2013

This book is a great addition to my genealogy library. Using these techniques, I have discovered the names of people in old photos and I am finding out so much more about my family history. This is recommended reading for everyone interested in family history.

Here's my experience with this book:I found 2 boxes of old, mostly unidentified old (to very old) photos in my mother's closet at the time of her death. I'm sure she'd put them there when an aunt of hers died in the mid 1980's. I was quite excited about this book, and when I read it, I was delighted. Here was a book that could really help with my boxes of mysteries.Actually dating photos with the aid of this book has been a bit disappointing. I learned a lot from what I had read--but really found myself with only a few tools to work with. The most helpful section has been on the types of old photos, including their sizes and the material on which they are printed. When I read the section on dating photos by examining the fashions of the day, it seemed very helpful. But...when I examined some of my own mystery photos, I realized there wasn't nearly enough info to go on. For instance, there is almost no info on children's clothing that I found useful. Was that a tophat, or some variation, worn by the young man in my photo who may have just gotten his first adult suit? Nowhere could I find the length of his coat, the cut of the lapels, the shape of his trousers, or even his pointy-toed boots. He was wearing his hat at the 10% angle--but these were farm people, so far how behind the cut of the times might he be? Nor did I have much luck with the recommended links.And how about the two women on the bridge, smiling at the camera held by some ancestor of mine, wearing skirts that defied all classification, and two radically different hats?So, this book's a nice overview, but when you want to get down to the actual work of playing photo detective, you'll need to go to far more detailed sources. I tried using some of the links mentioned in the book. After many hours, I have learned a bit more about a couple of photos, but I must have glanced over the real message of this book: Identifying or learning more about old photos is a very time-consuming endeavor. That makes perfect sense when I think about it, but somehow the marketing for this book made it seem, not easier, but perhaps faster than it really is.I find it all very interesting--but I've not enough time these days to immerse myself in old photos.

This book covers everything a person needs to know in order to identify and date photographs from the 19th and early 20th centuries. It describes fashions in clothing, hairstyles, and accessories within a range of years, also including popular trends in backdrops and props used by photographers. The author also encourages inspection of the surroundings in non-studio photos to help identify time range and place. I believe that this book will be a valuable tool for my family research.

I bought the Kindle edition and it has the advantage of being able to do searches. I wish I'd bought the hard copy though even with its much higher price, as I would like to get a better view of the photos.I do wish the book were longer. I would like more information on the clothing styles at various times. However, it did point me in the direction of buying books on the history of clothing styles. I did find the parts on hair styles to be quite helpful.All in all, I found it had a lot of useful information for me and helped me narrow down the dates of some photos.

I bought this book to use to identify the periods and possible identities of people in some very old pictures that have. I have not had time to use it extensively, but I think it will help me. Some of my friends have looked over the book and asked to use it as soon as I finish.

The number of photos is helpful, but I wish there was a photo identified for each detail that is described by words. I wish the information wasn't organized by decades but by distinguishing details so that I could look at the details of one of my photos, look for those details in the iformation and sample photos, and then read what timeframe that detail was used.

This book has a great ideas for identifying people in your old photos. It is well written and I enjoyed the book.

Enjoying the book. Thanks.

This is a great companion book for working on my ancestry. I have lots of books on genealogy but this one is the only book I have that gives great hints on what to look for in our old photos in order to come to an approximate date it was taken, thereby hopefully being able to identify the person(s).

It gives ideas I did not think of