Devastated after return from GF - film ruined!

[sharonk]

Well, after a magical stay at the GF with my husband, 3 children and very ill mother, I am positively heartbroken. Before my mom got sick, she was the "photo taker" in our family so I had very few pictures of her. On this trip, I was determined to get many photos of my mom with my children.

I went to pick up my three rolls of film from the photo lab and the photos are ruined. There are only 2 or 3 decent pictures (and none with my mom)..the rest are covered with a haze/fog. This fog is burned into the negative to there's no way to repair it. Beneath this fog, I can make out the most adorable pictures...my dd2 grabbing Chip (or Dale's) nose, my ds6 snuggling with Pooh, my dd and mom on Dumbo together.

The photo lab people said the film had been damaged by Xray equipment. I told them that I had the film in my purse, not our checked baggage. They said it didn't matter....they said Orlando was a high-profile airport and they used very high power equipment. Even at the security gates, they sometimes scan a purse a few times, or stop it under the scanner, so it can be exposed to too much radiation.

Believe me, next time, I will hit the one-hour-photo in Orlando before we come home, no matter how expensive it is.

My mom took a few pictures on her own camera, so we're waiting to see how those turn out. But her purse went through the same scanner as mine. Plus, if she took the pictures, then she won't be in them with the kids.

Also, my ds6 and ds8 had disposable cameras...usually their photos are awful, but at this point, I'll take whatever I can get.

My husband also had a digital camera, but he used most of his memory taking photos during our Illuminations cruise, so there are no pictures of my mom and the kids.

Just wanted to share this so your film doesn't meet the same fate!

Sharon

 

[hhender102]

Sharon, I am so sorry to hear about the loss of all of your photos. We were so worried about the same thing happening to us. In fact, we questioned security at our airport and at MCO. They told us "not to worry about it." Fortunately, our photos were fine; however, we did use a digital camera. But we were still worried about the chips being ruined. If I would have thought about it, for the digital cameras, one can probably put the chips in a baggie and put them in their pocket while the purses & carry-ons are being scanned. I would imagine that the metal detector would be less harmful than the Xray machines.

Again, I am sorry.

 

[newmousecateer]

Oh, how sad. I am so sorry to hear that. I know it must be very, very disappointing for you. Here is hopes that your Mom's pictures, and the pictures on the disposable cameras come out OK.

 

[CEDmom]

I'm so sorry this happened to you . Vacation pictures are special no matter what but it sounds like these were to have been extra special. I hope you get some from the other cameras.

Not that it'll help now but in the future put the rolls in a ziploc bag and then hand the bag to the screener for a manual inspection. Most are happy to do it but you might have to be insistant with others.

 

[Naisy68]

I was just going to ask what can we do to avoid this happening but I believe that CED Mom answered my question. I cannot believe this happens. Here you spend this magical time and take wonderful photos for preserving your memories and then something like this can happen. I understand that it is for our security BUT there has to be another way. Are there warning signs at the security check points?

 

[Blondie]

I'm wondering if they've upgraded their scanning machines, our August trip of '03 our photos were okay. I was told that the x-ray scanners only affect film speeds of 800 or more.

Guess I'll ge doing the zip-lock bag thing too, just in case.

Sorry your photos were ruined, I know I'd be majorly bummed.

 

[johnsonet]

What a huge disappointment. This would drive me insane too. I hope you get at least one "priceless" photo out of the disposable/digital photos you mentioned...
Did you have any of the Disney photogs take pics in the parks? I hope so.
Can you tell us more about your experience at GF? It sounds like you had a great trip. Can you tell us what bldg. you were in, what view, etc.?
Thank you and sorry again for your lost photos - what a pity

 

[jahexom]

We just got back last Saturday and my film went through in my purse and all of the photos are fine, so I wonder what causes some film to be damaged and not others? I'm not a film expert but maybe someone out there is and can tell us why this happens to some and not others.

Jen

 

[TinkerChelle]

Photos are very important to me and my family. I keep framed photos all over the house and I scrapbook almost every moment. LOL! Anyway, I am so sorry to hear about your photos and I hope some of the other rolls of film you mentioned have some good photos. Good Luck!

 

[sharonk]

I think that this happend to some and not others because the effects of raditation are cumulative and some things might only be scanned once for a short period of time, while others may be scanned several times so they get more radiation. (Sometimes the security agent may look at a bag several times to get a better look at something...so I'm guessing this might have happened to us.)

Kodak's website advises that the safest thing to do is to take your film out of the bag and ask the agent to check it by hand.

GF was gorgeous! We were in Big Pine Key and were upgraded (without even asking) from standard view to Lagoon view. We had connecting rooms on the first floor...I think the numbers were 9107 and 9105. The lagoon was just feet away from our balcony...to the right, we could see the beach area, and beyond that, the themed pool and the wedding pavilion. Straight ahead, we could see the Poly. Off to the left, we could watch the ferries going back and forth between the MK and the TTC.

All of the cast members were wonderful. The lifeguards all knew my kids by name within a day, and remembered their names all week. We didn't encounter a single grouchy or unpleasant employee.

The grounds were stunning...The quiet pool was just outside the lobby of our building and that pool was so nice. It was so large that it never seemed crowded. There were always plenty of chairs. The hot tub was huge and was never too crowded.

My kids loved the themed pool with the waterfall and water slide. It was smaller and a little more crowded than the other pool, but not bad.

We had a lot of quick meals at Gasparilla Grill and they were always good. They had delicious breakfast sandwiches...fresh croissants with egg and bacon, better than I've EVER had anywhere else. We also ate one dinner in the Grand Floridian Cafe, and though the menu was limited (maybe about 10 entree choices, plus a few sandwiches and salads) it was still very good.

I'd be happy to answer questions about the hotel/our stay.

Thanks for all the kind words/support!

Sharon

 

[yecats]

The machines usually destroy high speed film (800 or better). I used to carry mine in a lead lined bag but haven't had to in years as I have a digital camera now and have not had any problems with them going throught the airport scanners. You may want to post this response in the general community board as I am sure that a cameraman/expert can advise all as to how to handle film for future trips. The one hour developing can be so expensive in Orlando (they really know how to get the money out of you). Sorry to see that your pictures were ruined.

 

[bigbabyblues]

I am so sorry, I can't imagine how devastated you must be! I've been leary of bringing my film home on the plane for this reason, but honestly, I don't know how else to get it here. I've thought about using a mail photo service, but I don't know if they scan the mail.

Again, I'm so sorry about your film, and I hope there are some good ones still to be developed.

Steph

 

[Rajah]

Can you scan one of the bad photos and send it to me? I may not be able to do anything with it, but Photoshop and Paintshop Pro have some filters that may be able to help a little. If you scan and email one of the pictures ( rajah@stardustdreams.net ) I'd be willing to give it a try.

(Though I'll be out of town until the end of the month so it might take a bit)

 

[tiggerlover]

I am so sorry for the loss of your photos, I can only imagine how devastated you are. I hope Rajah is able to fix some of the photos for you.

 

[ladycollector]

I know that most film that gets destroyed happens from radiation at airports, but I wouldn't be surprised if the film developers made a boo boo and blamed it on x-ray machines..

I hope you get some great photos from the other cameras, and next time you go!

 

[southernclass]

I am so sorry you did not know about film and airports. To me, that is one of the worst things that could happen to a couple is losing their memories like that. I wish you the best and I am sure you will make many new memories together.

 

[mum4jenn]

Something else you could do is to sign up with Snapfish.com or some other place like that and take your labels and mailers with you. Mail them to snapfish before you leave and a few days after you get home you will have your pictures at your home and ou will have them stored at their site so if you want someone to view them you can. I know it doesn't help for this time but I have been very happy with the quality of the prints.

 

[WDWLVR]

So sorry to hear that your memories got ruined by the scanner. We used to have have our film inspectec by hand as was suggested. Now we got 100% digital and upload them to our notebook each night (so we really have two copies one in the notebook and one in the camera). On our cruise we took 2 disposable cameras and had them developed on the ship. It was more costly at home but worth it to get great pictures.

 

[Familyof14]

I am so sorry for your photo loss. My advice to you is to get some more pics ASAP of your mother. You don't have to be at a "happy" place to get good quality photo's of loved ones.

I agree that it may have been the photo processing that messed your pictures up or perhaps the film was damaged before you used it. Old film, excessive heat, etc. can cause this problem as well.
At the birth of my second child almost 20 years ago (before hospitals had x ray machines at their entrances), my husband took a ton of pictures of our new girl. He had a finished roll processed at a one hour photo lab. The photo's all came out with that haze you have on your pics. Knowing that I would be devistated, he took the photo's and negatives to a professional processor who said that the processing solution was most likely old. He was able to clean up the negatives a bit and get some better quality photo's. The other roll of film was developed by the professional lab and the pictures were fine.

Here is a web page I found about airport x ray and film.
http://www.kodak.com/global/en/service/tib/tib5201.shtml#SEC44

 

[sharonk]

Originally posted by Rajah
Can you scan one of the bad photos and send it to me? I may not be able to do anything with it, but Photoshop and Paintshop Pro have some filters that may be able to help a little. If you scan and email one of the pictures ( rajah@stardustdreams.net ) I'd be willing to give it a try.

(Though I'll be out of town until the end of the month so it might take a bit)

Thank you for your generous offer! My husband has a scanner at work, so I will have him scan one for me tommorrow and I'll email it to you.

As some people suggested, I was very suspicious of the photo lab as well, but I took the photos and negatives to a high-end photography shop with a very good reputation, and they confirmed that it looked like x-ray damage. Also, my husband said that he noticed the security agent was looking and re-looking at some of our bags.

Thanks again,

Sharon