Memorial Slideshows with a Bit of Sunshine

It’s difficult for a family when a loved one passes away. At times like these, it’s best to focus on making the family-gathering a celebration of life. Often photos can play a role in that commemoration. Many clients come to us to do DVD transfers of old photos for memorial slideshows, and it’s always touching to play a small part in their healing process.

A small token of thanks for a sunny memorial slideshow

One particular client had a concept for making the memorial profound. She brought in a collection of photos of her mother through the years: from when she was young, getting married, having children, playing with grandchildren and finally when her health was failing towards the end.

She also brought in a video recording of her two daughters (who were five and two years old) singing “You are My Sunshine”. We did a video to DVD conversion and then put the song snippet at the end of the slideshow. My client also brought in a piece of art that one of her girls had colored ‘specially for Grandma.

The slideshow started with a custom graphic title screen “Celebrating the life of…” and progressed through all of the photos…with music to accompany the images we together had selected. At the end, the granddaughter’s painting came on the screen while the audio of “You are My Sunshine” played. What an emotional moment.

The DVD transfer was flawless and the photo quality was excellent. We were proud of our work and the family was very pleased with the outcome.

When the mother and two young girls came into the studio to pick up the final cut, the mother handed me a rock and told me that it was from her young daughter (she was too shy to tell me herself). The rock was obviously just one that the child had picked up in the driveway. But its significance as a thank-you present to Leave A Legacy for doing the slideshow for her grandmother was not lost on us.

I still have the rock on a display shelf in the studio to remind myself of the little girl who missed her Grandma – but now has an animated touchstone (by way of that slideshow) to remember her by. Always.

If you are looking for suggestions for songs for a memorial slideshow that you are working on follow this link.