Photodater by MyHeritage

MyHeritage has developed some amazing software to assist with saving photos and improving their quality. I use their enhancement feature almost every week. It is great for improving the clarity of photographs, of course, but also for maps and diagrams where detail is important. Almost every slide in my presentations and every image in my published articles have been improved through enhancement, many of them also utilizing colourization or repair to make them the best they can be.

Several past blog posts have been written about the various features: MyHeritage Photo Repair, Using MyHeritage’s Photo Improvement Processes, and MyHeritage Releases AI Time Machine.

I have tried animation and the AI Time Machine as you can read in the above posts. They are fun! I have started work on a Deep Story about my great-grandfather, James Shepheard. Like most projects, other stuff gets in the way, and I have not progressed as far as I would like.

The newest contribution to photo manipulation or use is their Photodater. This program estimates the date the photo was taken: “The date estimation algorithm was trained on tens of thousands of curated, definitively dated historical photos to help the algorithm understand nuances such as clothing, hairstyles, facial hair, furniture, and other objects that are characteristic of a particular decade.”

You can read all about the feature on the MyHeritage blog post of 13 August 2023 and watch a YouTube video introducing the product.

To test Photodater I selected a variety of photos from my own library including individual professional portraits, group shots, candid snapshots, old and new photos (from the 1870s to the 1970s), closeups of individuals and long-distance shots. I picked examples that I had a good idea of their age, from family information we already knew. There were a few for which we only had estimates so I wanted to see whether Photodater could give me a good estimate of their age.

Here is what I discovered:

Mary Crispin (Carpenter) Shepheard (1830-1890), my 2^nd great-grandmother. This professional portrait photo came from England with my great-grandfather when he immigrated in 1911. He wrote “My Mother” on the back of it but without a date on which it had been taken. John and Mary Shepheard lived in Ivybridge, Devon, in 1871 but by 1881 they were in Torquay, Devon (18 miles to the east). I thought, given how old she looked and where the photographer resided (Plymouth, Devon – 9 miles to the west of Ivybridge), it might have dated from the 1870s. Photodater estimated it was taken in 1875. That was good news.

Mary Elizabeth (Pearson) Shepheard (1866-1891), my great-grandmother. The professional portrait photo was sent to my grandfather by his aunt (Mary Elizabeth’s sister) who said it was taken when she was 15 years old. That would have meant it was from 1881. Photodater estimated it was taken in 1879. Another good result for a very old photograph.

Miller-Watson family with Hannah Tunstall (Mayfield) Miller-Watson (1815-1909) with her six children. Using estimated ages of the children, for whom I have a lot of information. The professional photo was taken in Manhattan, Kansas, I thought about 1886. Photodater estimated it was taken in 1890.

James Shepheard (1865-1940) and Mary Elizabeth Pearson (1866-1891), my great-grandparents. This professional photo was probably taken in Tunbridge, Kent just after the couple’s marriage. James and Mary Elizabeth were married in Ellacombe parish, Tormoham, Devon, so this photo may have been taken on a possible honeymoon trip. Interestingly, for different copies of the photograph, with and without the photographer’s banner, Photodater estimated it was taken in 1888, 1889 and 1890.

Family of Newton Isaac Thompson (1859-1937) and Margaret Mary Anderson (1857-1919) my great-grandparents. They were married in 1884 in North Dakota, USA. The ages of the children, including my grandmother Carrie, standing in between her parents, suggest it was taken by a professional photographer around 1895. Photodater also estimated it was taken in 1895, an excellent result.

Brothers: James (1865-1940), my great-grandfather, William John (1855-1908) and John (1875-1943) Shepheard. It was apparently taken by a professional photographer around 1900 in Taunton, Somerset. I am not sure why the photo was taken there as none of the individuals lived there at the time. Photodater estimated it was taken in 1902. Curiously, a separate copy of the photo without the photographer’s banner did not get a date from Photodater.

Robert (1832-1912) and Susan (Phillipo; 1836-1905) Anderson, my 2^nd great-grandparents. I believe the photos were taken by a professional photographer at the same time around 1900 but have no firm data to back that up. Photodater estimated that, as a pair, they were taken in 1879. A different version of the two images together got a date of 1884 but, curiously, individual pictures of each of them were not dated by Photodater.

James Pearson Shepheard (1891-1965), my grandfather. I believe this professional portrait photo was taken around 1905, in Taunton, Somerset, when he was 15 years of age. Photodater estimated it was taken in 1884, but he was not even born then. So, this dating was a bust!

Elizabeth Walker Cooper (1882-1922), my wife’s grandmother. The professionnla portrait photo would have been taken in Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland, possibly around 1910. Photodater estimated it was taken in 1912, which is probably a good date.

James (1829-1913) and Mary (Watson) (1930-1911) Walker, my wife’s 2^nd great-grandparents. The photo was taken by a professional photographer in celebration of a diamond wedding anniversary in February 1911, in Elgin, Moray, Scotland. Photodater was unable to provide a date from any of three different versions of the photograph.

Newton Isaac and Margaret Mary (Anderson) Thompson, my great-grandparents and their daughter, Elizabeth Mae (1898-1985). I believe this photo was taken by a professional photographer about 1917, as Mae was a teenager and Margaret died in 1919. Photodater estimated it was taken in 1919. Photodater dated two versions of a photo of just Newton and Margaret, taken during the same sitting, as 1917 and 1920.

James Pearson Shepheard, centre, his father, James, on the left and sons Edward and William (my father). Photo was enhanced and colourized by MyHeritage. Given the ages of the children, I believe the picture was taken around 1920. Photodater did not provide a date, possibly because the individuals were too small.

Harry, Sarah, Elizabeth and Margaret Cooper, my wife’s uncle and aunts. Given the children’s relative ages, I believe the photo was taken around 1922, in Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland. Photodater estimated two versions of the photo as 1923 and 1925.

Cousins on the farm, including my father, William Calvin Shepheard (1914-1983), on the left. Given the ages of the children, I believe the picture was taken in 1926. Photodater estimated it was taken in 1925.

Nursing assistants at Victoria Hospital in Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland, including my wife’s mother Jessie Cooper (1908-1998), middle left.. Photograph was enhanced and repaired by MyHeritage. I believe the photo was taken in 1928. Photodater estimated it was taken in 1935 which is too late as she had immigrated to Canada in 1930.

This photo is of an elementary class at Irricana School, in Alberta, Canada, and includes my mother, Norma Miller (1917-1974). It was taken in 1929, just after she and her parents immigrated to the area. The photo was scanned from a book about the area so is of poor quality. Photodater estimated it was taken in 1922 which is too early. The error was probably due to the graininess of the image.

James Shepheard (1865-1940). I am confident that this photograph was taken in 1930. In spite of its good quality Photodater could not produce a date for it.

James Pearson and Carrie Jane Shepheard family, including father James and children, William (b.1914), Edward (b.1916) and Ethel Mae )b.1935). According to the relative ages of the individuals and location, the photo would have been taken about 1937. Photodater estimated it was taken in 1936.

Wedding photo of William Calvin Shepheard and Norma Mabel Miller, with their parents. The picture was taken in 1939. Photodater estimated it was taken in 1935.

Norma Shepheard with daughters Sharon (b. 1942) and Lynn (b.1940). The photo was taken in 1944.  Photodater estimated it was taken in 1945.

Sharon, Wayne, Lynn and Jimmy, children of William and Norma Shepheard. The photo was taken in 1949. Photodater estimated it was taken in 1955 which date is significantly in error.

Betty Mae (McKay) Relf (1934-1991). This picture of my wife’s sister was taken in 1952. Photodater estimated it was taken in 1955.

Alan Roy and Pricilla Lynn (Shepheard) Pettitt. This photo was taken in 1960 on the day of their marriage. It was enhanced from a poor-quality snapshot. Photodater estimated it was taken in 1961.

William and Norma Shepheard. The photo was taken in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in 1969. Photodater estimated it was taken in 1969. Interestingly, before the photograph was colour-restored by MyHeritage, Photodate could not give a date estimate.

Wayne and Linda Shepheard. This picture was taken in 1970 on our honeymoon. Photodater estimated it was taken in 1970.

While a few results suggest the program was of limited use, the overall outcome is very positive. Of 25 photos analyzed:

·         11 estimated dates from Photodater were within five years of actual or very confident dates I already have (44% of total). That was true of photos across the century sample.

·         Four of the estimates (16% of total) were identical to my dates. Of those, three matched exactly the known dates of the photos, including the two most recent examples.

·         Six estimates (24% of total) were more than five years away from what I have, although one was for a very poor-quality image and three were from photo dates that I did not have solid evidence for.

·         Dates were not offered by Photodater for four photos (16% of total), for pictures taken around 1900, 1911, 1920 and 1930. One was a scene of individuals in a field that would logically post a difficulty. The others were good quality professional portraits, though, which one might assume would have been dated.

·         Fifteen of the photographs were taken by professionals but the dating of them did not show any trend for accuracy.

What I have found out now is that almost every photo I open in my MyHeritage library now, a date is automatically generated. If I load a new image, a date is generated. I don’t have to do anything. Not all of them are right but at least I get something I can look at in terms of further analysis. Enhancing and other restoration techniques seemed to improve the dating result for a few photos.

My recommendation is to try it out, especially for those old photos for which you don’t have a good handle on in terms of its age. Use the other tools as well. You may be surprised and delighted by the results. Enhancing images is particularly valuable as it can bring fuzzy and indistinct images into clear focus.

All About That Place

Celebrating the 10^th Anniversary of the Society for One-Place Studies, this unique event is spearheaded by the Society of Genealogists, the Society for One-Place Studies, Genealogy Stories, and the British Association for Local History. This is happening from Friday 22 September to 1 October 2023.

I have one of the presentations you can see called, All About Cornwood, a talk is about a small rural parish in southwest Devon and will delve into the place, the people and the history of the area.

There are 130 talks, 93 speakers and 10 days of history fun!

Join like-minded history lovers to explore the places your ancestors lived in, all from the comfort of your own home. Inside our pop-up Facebook Group and on our YouTube channel, you’ll be able to enjoy a plethora of free online bite-sized recorded talks from a wide range of speakers (all of whom have kindly donated their time to celebrate One Place Studies).

With event sponsors including eminent organizations like The Genealogist, Name and Place, University of Strathclyde, Pharos Tutors, The Historic Towns Trust and Family Tree magazine, you can be sure to enjoy a truly engaging educational opportunity like no other.

This one-of-a-kind event isn’t just about idly watching though! It’s specially designed to help you to take part and start diving into local history. Alongside the wide collection of talks on research tools, analytical techniques, and place history, you’ll be provided with motivating challenge instructions. Perhaps you’ll even start a One-Place Study. You’ll be able to download a free challenge workbook to record your learning activity and complete challenge tasks.

Plus, to celebrate your amazing progress you’ll be offered the opportunity to enter a prize draw consisting of a wide range of history goodies (such as 1-year membership to the SoG, the Curious Descendants Club, BALH, Name and Place, a discount on The Genealogist’s Diamond subscription, 4 Historic Towns maps and more)!

For more information go to the All About That Place subscription page.

Writing for Publication

 Last week I was part of a short online presentation organized by Pro-Am Genies, a group of individuals whose common background includes having taken a Pharos Tutors course about becoming a professional genealogist. I took the course in 2010, along with several others in the pursuit of a certificate in Family History Skills and Strategies (Intermediate), which I earned in 2012.

Members of Pro-Am Genies are mostly involved in some manner in consulting work with family historians. The meet regularly to compare notes. The latest online meeting was to look at what may be involved in writing for publications.

Following are comments I made as one of the presenters. They are focused on writing about genealogical subjects, but they could be applied to almost any topic.

They come from my own writing experience as well as to my previous roles as a family history society journal editor. I have had 50 articles published in various family history society journals, newsletters and commercial magazines since 2010, some of which I have mentioned on this blogsite. I have also given nearly 40 talks to various groups about a variety of genealogical-related subjects. And I have published two books.

Using this background, I tried to give a short summary to the group about how to go about getting ideas and stories into print for other family historians to read.

1.      Write about things that interest you and that you enjoy talking about.

·         That seems self-evident but tackling a broad subject might feel more like a dreaded school assignment rather than a trip to a playground.

·         Writing is always easier if you have fun with it.

·         Stories about family or personal experiences are good places to start.

·         As you write these stories you probably will also be inspired to look for more information about an event to really flesh it out.

2.      Write about things that you know about.

·         If you have some knowledge or expertise about a subject, it will be useful to let others know.

·         That might be in specific types of research, areas you have studied, time periods, individual characteristics like occupations or military service.

·         Sometimes articles come from presentations you might have given.

·         I have developed a niche regarding the impact of natural phenomena, or Mother Nature, on the lives and livelihoods of our ancestors which is serving me well.

·         The view that I like to promote is that humankind has always had to adapt to the ever-changing physical environments in which they lived and that family histories are not complete until such events are incorporated.

3.      Start a blog.

·         This is a great way to practice writing as it allows you to focus on single subjects with each post.

·         I started mine over 10 years ago and have posted more than 360 times.

·         Blogs are a good way to communicate with friends and family about common ancestors, events or ideas they may know nothing about.

·         Over time you may find many individual blog posts can be connected into a larger article that will be of interest to a journal or magazine with a broader audience.

4.      In terms of publishing, start with local society journals and newsletters.

·         Every society that has a newsletter or journal, no matter what its level of sophistication, is looking for contributions to fill their pages.

·         You don’t have to be a member to submit an article, but you might wish to join.

·         These may be just short blurbs with information you have found about an ancestor.

5.      Contribute short stories at first.

·         Many commercial publications as well as society newsletters welcome short stories of just a few hundred words.

·         You can make them about family members or ancestors.

·         These are popular with readers and editors.

6.      Get a friend to proofread.

·         If you lack confidence in writing, initially, get someone to proofread your attempts to begin with, especially someone who has writing experience.

7.      Research your subject.

·         Whether you are writing about a particular study or family member, be sure to research all aspects.

·         Confirm names, dates and places of events and any side stories or facts.

·         And, of course, cite your sources.

8.      (Re)learn the rules of good writing.

·         Harken back to your schooldays when you were taught about basic grammar and spelling.

·         It’s most important that whatever you write is clearly expressed.

·         Edit your work strenuously to prevent repetition and to clarify ideas.

·         You may go through several drafts. Set them aside for a few days and then come back. You’ll find you have new thoughts or ideas on how to improve the piece.

·         As you progress, and especially when writing for professional publications, learn about the formal styles that different publications may demand.

Good writing comes with practice. Even experienced writers always endeavour to improve on what they produce.

Everyone has a story. Don’t be shy about telling yours.

By the way, if you are interested in extending your education in genealogy, have a look at the courses offered by Pharos Tutors.