Portable Photo Preservation

Family history doesn’t always come in a size and shape made for scanning. Pictures can be oversize. Albums don’t lie flat. Artifacts come with the mix.  What’s a family historian to do?  Invest in a Shotbox, a portable studio that’s simple to use. Debuted at Rootstech a few years ago and now is available at Michael’s, the craft megastore.  My guest is Aaron Johnson. He combined a passion for preserving family history with design know-how to produce something that’s a must-have for anyone with a desire to photograph family history mementos that don’t measure up for a traditional scanner. Related Episodes:Episode 19 : GenerationStory AppEpisode 98: Collect Photo Stories with StoryGloryLinks:ShotboxSign up for my newsletter.Watch my YouTube Channel.Like the Photo Detective Facebook Page so you get notified of my Facebook Live videos.Need help organizing your photos? Check out the Essential Photo Organizing Video Course.Need help identifying family photos? Check out the Identifying Family Photographs Online Course.Have a photo you need help identifying? Sign up for photo consultation.About My Guest:Aaron began his entrepreneurial career in his teen years mowing lawns, groundskeeping, and illustration freelancing. He took the leap in his early twenties, forming his first full-time company called Stratus Design. Stratus focused on digitizing artwork and fonts for artists in the craft/scrapbooking industry including Dianne Hook of DJ Inkers. This business evolved into pcCrafter, Inc and a long-term alliance with Provo Craft and Robert Workman, where he focused on retail art and font CD’s for over 50 artists and developed a successful online subscription club. Out of this relationship came the opportunity to lead the invention of the Cricut Electronic Cutter. This product did phenomenally well and eventually led to a buyout by Sorenson Capital. He then worked on the SHOTBOX concept a number of years and launched that product in 2015. It has since grossed nearly $1.5M and is making a profound impact in many people’s lives on many fronts. including the ability to finally digitize important memories, histories, and heirlooms. About Maureen Taylor:Maureen is a frequent keynote speaker on photo identification, photograph preservation, and family history at historical and genealogical societies, museums, conferences, libraries, and other organizations across the U.S., London and Canada.  She’s the author of several books and hundreds of articles and her television appearances include The View and The Today Show (where she researched and presented a complete family tree for host Meredith Vieira).  She’s been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Better Homes and Gardens, The Boston Globe, Martha Stewart Living, Germany’s top newspaper Der Spiegel, American Spirit, and The New York Times. Maureen was recently a spokesperson and photograph expert for MyHeritage.com, an internationally known family history website and also writes guidebooks, scholarly articles and online columns for such media as Smithsonian.com. Learn more at I'm thrilled to be offering something new. Photo investigations. These collaborative one-on-one sessions. Look at your family photos then you and I meet to discuss your mystery images. And find out how each clue and hint might contribute to your family history. Find out more by going to maureentaylor.com and clicking on family photo investigations. Support the show