Chaos to Memories

If you have Super 8, Regular 8, or 16mm film reels you want to enjoy again then we can help. We offer high-definition, frame-by-frame capture and even support film with sound! Stop by our Downtown Wheaton studio or give us a call for a free estimate.

At Chaos to Memories we digitize all major formats of home movie film using a gentle, frame-by-frame digitization process using the best professional equipment. Some film reels are more than 100 years old, and every year your film sits unwatched it gets more difficult to convert. Therefore, we strongly encourage you to preserve your film reels as soon as possible!

Our process includes:

• Clean and condition film by hand
• Repair any tears or broken splices
• Attach new archival leader to protect the film
• Digitize film frame-by-frame in high-definition
• Export film to high-quality MP4 digital video files
• Deliver a chronological and searchable movie archive on a USB thumb drive

Water damage from hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and leaks can be devastating to your home and your family photos. We’ve helped families in all these situations and want to share the best practices we use to preserve as much as possible!

We put together a FREE guide to Saving Wet Photos in which you’ll learn about:

• Protecting yourself
• Understanding the risks
• Avoiding mistakes
• Gathering your tools
• Saving your wet photos in five steps

Download here:
https://chaostomemories.com/wet/

Backups are essential to keeping your memories safe, but it’s not a set-it-and-forget it sort of thing. To ensure reliable backups, you need to check them regularly for three things:

• Are your backups working as expected?

• Have you run out of space?

• Does your backup drive still work?

Reliable backups require regular check-ups and maintenance to ensure everything’s working as expected. Check out my new blog post below to read more about safe backup practices!

https://chaostomemories.com/common-mistake-not-checking-backups/

I collect all kinds of cameras and enjoy everything from the nostalgia of shooting with these cameras to the creative product design over the decades. At Chaos to Memories we’re all about preserving and sharing memories, so one of my favorite cameras in my collection is this Kodak Autographic camera from around 1916. It might not look all that unique, but it includes a special feature for preserving memories!

What makes this camera really special is that it used autographic film and included a small metal stylus. Photographers could open a small door on the back of the camera and use the stylus to record the date and subject of the photograph on this special film. When the print was made, the handwritten notes would appear on the edge of the print.

To learn more about the Kodak Autographic camera, check out my recent blog post here:
https://chaostomemories.com/autographic-camera-the-original-metadata/

We are offering special drop-off hours THIS WEEK ONLY! If you have any questions for our team or items you'd like a free estimate on, come by this Thursday 6/4 from 5pm-8pm or this Saturday 6/6 from 10am-2pm.

Our studio is located right in the heart of Downtown Wheaton at 122 N. Hale Street, and we'd love to meet you this week!

We just completed a large Family Photo Archive project! Over the last year and through multiple stages our team completed 40,650 photo scans and 271 video conversions for this family. We love the process of piecing together a huge “puzzle” and it was satisfying to wrap up this project.

Swipe to see what the project looked like before we worked our magic! If you or a family member have something similar, come on by our studio for a free estimate.

We have an amazing staff at Chaos to Memories that cares about our clients, does excellent work, and is a joy to work with! If you've ever stopped in our studio you probably recognize a few faces here. We'd love to say hi and help answer any questions you have about what we do!

Our studio hours are M-F 11am-5pm and we're open for appointments on Saturdays.

You Can't Organize Your Own Photos!

People love taking photos, but most people never take the time to organize and enjoy their memories. At Chaos to Memories, we organize millions of photos every year for our clients and we hear the same things. Organized Family Photo Archives is something we all want, but not something we want to do ourselves. That's where we can help!

Read my new blog post to find out my top 5 reasons for why you can't organize your own photos:
https://chaostomemories.com/organize-your-photos/