Other factors than can affect chemical degradation of photographs are temperature and humidity. Like most chemical processes, those that damage your pictures are accelerated by heat and humidity. Excessively low heat or humidity can also be damaging however. All materials expand and contract with temperature changes, which can lead to cracking of image surface. Rapid changes in temperature and humidity can be very destructive. Very low humidity can also cause curling. Store your photos in an area where temperature is steady and avoid extremes such as would be found in an attic or basement. Again, proper storage materials will help ameliorate effects of fluctuating temperature and humidity.

PHYSICAL PROTECTION

How many times have you seen interviews with survivors of a disaster such as flooding or fire, where they lament loss of their irreplaceable family photos? There is a simple solution to this problem. Photos have wonderful property of being reproducible. You can have copies made in any quantity. Always have multiple copies made of your favorite photos, and send them to relatives living in other parts of country. If you have pictures of historical significance, contact museums in locality where they are from, they may be happy to accept copies. Distribute your images far and wide, and you will always be able to find another copy should yours be destroyed.

There are less severe forms of physical destruction that you can protect against. Bent corners, folds and smudges from greasy fingers can all damage your pictures. Children will scribble on backs if given chance. Store your pictures securely, in safe materials. Don't just stuff them in a drawer. There are chemically inert plastic sleeves available for picture albums that allow pictures to be viewed without removing them from their page.

INFORMATION

The value in common snapshots and portraits lies mostly in associations we have with them. Portraits of our ancestors interest us more than unidentified portraits. Pictures of places we have been, houses we have lived in, are more interesting than similar pictures for which we have no associations. Even indirect associations lend worth to an image -- a snapshot of pyramids in Egypt may not approach many professional images available of those wonderful monuments; but if we know it was Aunt Lizzie who took that picture while on her honeymoon, picture suddenly has more sentimental value. These associations require information not contained in photo itself. Always label your pictures! The who/what/why/when/where associated with an image makes a world of difference in how it is valued by others. Never write on a print with a pen, ink may have chemicals that will damage picture. Write on back, using a dark pencil, and don't press so hard as to damage front side. At a minimum, put date and names of persons shown and/or location of photo. If you store them in clear plastic sleeves, don't put two pictures back-to-back in one sleeve -- leave back visible so you can see if there are any notes without having to remove picture from its sleeve.

DIGITAL IMAGES

With advent of digital imaging, we have a whole new type of image to deal with. It does not degrade, and can be copied at little expense. It is also more easily manipulated. Long-term storage is technology dependent, and less predictable than physical processes affecting chemical photographs. Will CD's or DVD's made now be intact a hundred years from now? Will there be machines capable of reading them? Who knows? But opportunity to duplicate and distribute your images at minimal cost, with room to include as much information as you want, rather than just little note that will fit on back of a print, makes this an attractive way to share your pictures. You can be sure that when time comes that CD or DVD formats are phased out, there will be a "window of opportunity" during which time it will be easy to transfer digital information from those to whatever format replaces them.

McElmurry's illustrations show family searching for Stretch as they get ready for their day. The pictures, which fill pages with scenes from Stretch's family's home, invite reader in to participate in finding Stretch.

I highly recommend "Where's Stretch?" Your children will want to read it again and again; so will you. You will enjoy seeing your children's delight with each lift of a flap and story is short and sweet so it won't drive you crazy 150th time you read it.

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