Like Jim Hayes, whose post Preserving Memories at Watkins Glen is worth a read, I have a lot of old images of cars and vintage motorsports action that were shot on 35mm slide film. There are some that I also shot on negative film too and scanning prints isn’t all that hard and many of us have some kind of desktop scanner, even it’s just an all-in-one sitting on a desk. The problem is that the scanning process, especially prints, while it can be relatively simple, becomes mind-numbing when you have to scan lots of pictures. And if you have slides it becomes even more painful.

So why not let somebody else do it? “Too expensive,” you say? For the person that has shoe boxes full of prints and slides I found the answer: ScanMyPhotos.com’s Prepaid Photo Scanning Box. For $235 they will scan up to 540 35mm slides into 2000dpi Standard quality JPEG files and for a few extra bucks ($9.95 or $15.95) put the resulting files on a DVD or thumb drive for viewing or editing on your computer. Need high-res? They will upgrade the scans to 2000 dpi Premium or 4000 dpi Standard or Premium scans; You can check their website for details, options and prices.

ScanMyPhotos also offers a Prepaid Box for scanning prints and I stuffed a box full of 650 photos (the box will hold up to 1800 prints  depending on size) and has them scanned starting at 9¢ per scan and $170 per box. It took only a week from when I handed over my box at the post office until everything was returned. I was simply amazed by the quality of their print scans but even more so for the slides because many of them were not in very good condition.

My experience with ScanMyPhotos.com digitizing some of these old 1964 US Grand Prix slides that were shot using Perutz Color slide film, like the shot of Jack Brabham above, was impressive given the slide’s extremely faded and deteriorated condition. On the other hand some of my Kodak Ektachrome slides produced scans of images that looked like they were made yesterday.

ScanMyPhotos offers a wonderfully seamless process for digitizing images that have been dormant for many years and bringing them back to life. If you’ve got some old car slides, it’s time to bring them into the digital age.

If you enjoyed today’s blog post and would like to buy Joe a cup of Earl Grey tea ($3.50), click here. And if you do, thank so very much.

In the spring I happened across a story about the annual Grand Prix Festival at Watkins Glen, NY. I mentioned his event to a fellow photo club member and he raved about it as he had been there a few years ago with his Lotus. I registered my partner Cathy and I for the Roadster Rally in my 1988 Mazda Rx7 convertible. Our group of Roadster Rallyists was limited to two-seater convertibles only—if you had a t-bar roof you need not apply! There were other rallies available to other car types and even motorcycles.

We met at a park in nearby Montour Falls. As we were greeted by the other members of this particular rally, I was struck by the distinct display of cars. Peter and his wife Gerry were parked beside us in their Miata which they won in a raffle. John and Sue were behind us in a 12 cylinder Jaguar E-type with more chrome under the hood than I’ve ever seen on a Jag. He bought it on eBay from photos without seeing the car. Beside them was the father and son duo of George Senior and Junior in another beautiful black Jaguar. I’m not sure which had more variety: the cars or the people!

During the meeting we quickly realized that this was a navigational rally of sorts. I have participated in my fair share of rallies, but Cathy and I had not entered a navigational rally for almost thirty years. I was hoping for a “follow the leader” event here. After all, my car has an odometer that was in kilometers and not miles. My plan was to simply follow the bright yellow Pontiac Solstice in front of us. The organizers had outsmarted me however as the route map had both miles AND kilometers on it! It is a good thing too because within 45 minutes you could see participants scattering in various directions. I thought of the bumper sticker “Don’t follow me-I’m lost too!”

The highlight of the day was to drive two laps of the original Watkins Glen course used in the late 40’s to early 50’s through downtown which included crossing the train tracks and Stone Bridge . The pace was slow and safe through the town as an estimated 20,000 spectators lined the sidewalks. Once we were out of town on the back part of the circuit I had a quick look at my speedometer and I am sure that it was higher than the posted limit!

After we parked and settled into Watkins Glen, a selection of racers that were participating in the US Vintage Grand Prix at the nearby Watkins Glen International racetrack did a run through town. Ahh, the sights, the sounds, the smells. As we were leaving the track on Sunday and we shared a final wave with George Jr., I was reminded of something our bed and breakfast host had said months before when we made our reservations, “This is better than Christmas!”

Senior International Travel Correspondent, John Larsen has created a photo magazine documenting the 2016 Watkins Glen Grand Prix Festival. You can preview a copy of the magazine and purchase either a printed or digital version by clicking here.