February 8

THE HEALING BRUSH
BY GEORGE GEDER
A Monthly - Weekend With Shades - Column

I'm sure that many of us have wished that we were there at those past family reunions, if only to insure that the picture taking was a good as it could be. Certainly, we would not be plagued with the arduous task of 'healing' those poorly composed and accidentally damaged photographs if folks had some guidelines to follow. We would have been there to instruct folks on how to take those pictures and how to preserve them for future generations.

Well, in July of this year, there will be a Hancock-Geder-Eubanks family reunion in Lubbock, Texas. As the defacto family historian, I'll not only be doing the formal genealogy presentation, I'll be conducting the oral interviews and taking the formal pictures. Yikes! That's a lot! I need to work up on a plan...


We need to make our pictures and recordings as good as possible so future historians and genealogists will have less 'healing' to do. Here goes:

SETUP

Get a list/roster of all the attendees, youngest to eldest. You are going to want to have an index card for each person so you can write down notes. These cards are going to come in handy when you interview folks. You can also use a notebook.

Find and establish a quiet place to interview folks. Try to determine this ahead of time or on the first day at the latest. Get this site information to the event coordinator as soon as possible. Recruit someone (like a nephew, niece or grandchild) to help facilitate getting people to the site.
Enlist some of the youths to be roving reporters with video cameras and microphones. "... Here's Uncle Sonny at the barbeque pit, tell us how you make that delicious brisket..." "... Aunt Geraldine is making her famous peach cobbler, what's your secret?..." Give them some simple instructions; don't overwhelm them with this task.

Find a suitable place to take the formal photographs. More on this later. The interview space and the formal portrait space can be the same, but consider what would be best, individually, for both.

Remember, you can't do all this by yourself. Nor should you. You certainly can't call upon folks to assist you at the drop of a hat. You have to have a dedicated team. Recruit early. Once you have all those pieces in place, half the battle is won!
INTERVIEWS


You have determined your quiet space. Make sure it's not near any noisy activity, nearby traffic, under the flight path of the nearby airport, noisy air conditioners, slammin' doors, kid's play area, etc. Do not have it in any remote, desolate, or spooky area that might inhibit your interviewee. Make sure it's not too far from any main activity area. You don't want your folks to have to 'travel' to the interview place. Cousin Mildred might not want to be too far from the bid whist table at any given time.

Establish a space/room where there will be the least intrusion of noise. Try to pick a site that's, if outdoors, is in the shade. When indoors, it should be comfortable and not where there's a lot of traffic (running, screaming juveniles).

Use the smallest recorder possible. I use an Olympus digital voice recorder. It's less than half the size of an audio cassette (remember those?) and has a built-in USB connector for downloading to the computer - later! It is very inconspicuous; set it on the table and forget about it. Your interviewee shouldn't be intimidated by this little piece of technology.

BIG TIP!!! After you ask the question, get out of the way! Let the person ramble. Don't challenge them on accuracy or you may shut them down and loose the opportunity of a lifetime to find something out about your ancestors. Let them talk! Your job to disprove any of it will come later. There's no 'healing' of audio files. If it ain't there, it ain't there.
It wouldn't be a family reunion if there weren't photographs. You are documenting your family history. There are two categories; informal and formal. Informal is where various folks bring their instamatics and snap at everything; getting out of the car, tripping over the garden hose, slamming down shots of tequila, someone stuffing their face with pork rinds, etc. Many are blurry, have distracting things in the background, are just simply unflattering and don't represent the occasion. However, they must go into the contemporary photo album! They add personality which is equally important. The formal pictures require a different mindset. These are the photographs that are going up on the walls of future generations. If we can spare the future family historians and genealogists from having to 'heal' these photographs, we will have done our jobs.

When outdoors, seek a shaded area with minimal distractions in the background. Telephone poles, signs and weird objects are not flattering growing out of someone's head. Try to have the sun behind the camera so that the person is lit. Caution! You don't want the person to be squinting because of the sun. You don't want the sun behind the person because the camera will squint and make their faces too dark. 'Healing' is nearly impossible. That's why a shaded area is best.

When indoors, the same rules apply. Instead of the sun, your concerns will be the lights. During the day, you should be okay; at night watch out for red-eye and low energy from your subjects. They may be tired at best or inebriated at worst. Not a good time for those formal portraits commemorating the family reunion.

Try to, subtly if necessary, suggest that folks dress up for the formal picture taking. Contemporary, yet conservative, gets my vote. Give future genealogists a valid reference if they have to try and date the photograph.

Don't go overboard. You don't want your folks to skip out on the photo session because you were being too picky. Never turn anyone away.

We are keepers of the flame. We look back; see what was left to us; and try to repair or 'heal' and give new life to the artifacts we're given. We are chosen and take on this position with integrity and responsibility. We also have to consider the future and make sure that we take care of the present as best as we can! That's our charge. The 'Healing Brush' would be remiss if it didn't acknowledge this.