Is it worth it?

[Treetotal]

After seven years of patiently repairing damaged photos and applying colour to sepia photos I am now beginning to ask myself if it is worth the hours of effort that I put in to repairing photos.

I am so tired of people putting up their photos for repair..only for the poster to come online to view the work then go offline without response and getting a late "Thanks Everyone" days later when a shedload of restores have been produced. It takes on average two hours to carry out a good repair...or three or four hours to also add colour and.....roughly two minutes to type a thank you.

 There are real, dedicated people behind these restores and colourings and we give our time and expertise for free. I am now feeling taken for granted...what used to be a pleasurable hobby 
has now become soul destroying and leaves me feeling taken for granted 

Although I speak only for myself...I know I am not the only one to feel this way...many very good restorers have left the board for the reasons I have mentioned.

Maybe it's time to move on and find a more rewarding hobby.
Enough said.

A very disillusioned.

Carol

[Finley 1]

Carol

You are a great Rootschatter and I totally understand where you are coming from.  BUT please dont feel disillusioned regarding your work, it has always been really excellent - and I will say thank you to you - for the pleasure of seeing your restores, and your encouragement to me in the early days, remember when we had a laugh on the restore pages.  Sadly my old eyes wont allow me to work on them now. 

So from me I would ask you to continue - you and all the restorers are appreciated very much so...   xin

[Treetotal]

Hi Xin...Thanks for your support and your kind words which are very much appreciated  It's a long standing problem that I don't see changing any time soon unfortunately. It's a question of put up or shut up...or get the hell out of it and I feel better for having said my piece.
But...we live in hope 
Carol

[dss311]

Speaking for myself, All I can say is I am appreciative beyond words.  I understand the value of the restorers time and skills and nothing I could say on this forum would reflect my true appreciation. Your talents and valuable time (and all restorers!) have brought joy to our family photos.  I hope you and everyone else helping out here realize the true value you are providing.  I would hate to see any restorer leave the forum because of these reasons.

I will say it again.....THANK YOU EVERYONE for your contributions!!!!

PS.....I am probably thanking all of you for all the generations to come........

[spices]

I have not had anything restored on RC however I do enjoy looking at your work.

The restoration on the photo Baby Norm was amazing.

[atmartinas]

Oh Carol it is so sad to read your post. It is unforgivable that you or any of your fellow restorers on RC feel unappreciated. When I found this board I just couldn't believe the generosity of the rootschat restorers. I have had fabulous results on the photos I posted and have been very grateful for the restores done for me. You are absolutly brilliant, talented and generous to provide this service to people.
I would like to encourage you to continue but I think its more important that you enjoy your hobby so if you need a break those of us that appreciate the time and effort you put in will understand and hope you return, perhaps if you see people showing proper appreciation, I hope we do.
Thank you
M

[Jool]

Hi Carol, please don't get disillusioned.  The majority of Rootschatters truly appreciate the time and work that goes into the restores.  I am not a restorer but I too feel angry when I see the beautiful work produced on this board and you get no acknowledgement at all or just a casual "thanks".  I feel like posting "Is that all you've got to say!"

Every time I see a new photo go up for restore I follow the thread in amazement at what the restorers can do.  You all get a HUGE THANK YOU from me 

As you can see from my avatar, I do like to acknowledge people who have brought back to life a treasured photo.

[JJ Girl]

Hi Carol,

I'm only a relative newbie on Rootschat, but the team of talented restorers have done such amazing work on some of our precious family treasures (your lovely self included).  I just want you to know how important what you do is.  This Christmas I gave my Mother-in-Law a restored photograph of her Grandmother and mother (as a child) all framed up and gorgeous - she cried.  Then I gave my precious Step-Father a restored photo of his mother - he cried.  Finally I gave my Father-in-Law a stunning restored photograph of his Great Grandmother - you guessed it - he cried too.  So the work you do is truly special.

I try very hard to thank everyone who gives up their time and uses their talents to restore a photograph for a complete stranger - sometimes the thank you is a bit slow living on the other side of the world but I feel it's really important to acknowledge all work done.  Unfortunately not everyone has good manners when it comes to saying thanks and often people are worse at it when online.  Please don't let this cause you grief as there are many, many of us who are truly grateful (& impressed) by the work you (& all other restorers) do.

Thanks again....and Happy New Year!

JJ xx

[cazza59]

In a word Carol, yes it is worth it, simply because of all the joy your work, other restorers work and hopefully mine brings to people.  Having said that, you know I feel exactly the same as you and back you 100% percent.

There is nothing more disheartening than putting your heart and soul into a restore, to give up several hours of your time, only for all your efforts to be summarily dismissed with a "thanks everyone".   Yes, we do it  because we enjoy it, and nobody is forcing us to give up our time, but that's not the spirit of the board..we do it because we like to give to people, because of the immense pleasure people get from seeing their loved ones "brought back to life".  Like JJ has said, I've had people tell me they have cried at having their pics restored (hopefully in a good way    ), and I've spent the entire day feeling warm and fuzzy because I've done something nice for someone and they have appreciated it.

So all that the restorers are asking in return is a bit of individual attention for their efforts.  "Thanks everyone" doesn't cut it.  Take the time, thank each individual whether novice or old timers ( ), whether you hate it or love it, because simply put, everyone likes to feel appreciated, it was done out of the goodness of our hearts to do you a favour, and most of all,  manners do not cost a thing, only a bit of your time in return for ours.

Sermon over. 

Caz