Father's Day Gift Ideas, Day 3: The Nostalgic

Now that nearly everyone has converted to digital photography, printing photos happens much less often. You don’t need to get film developed to see the smiling faces or beautiful scenic shots you captured; instead, you just have to press a button on your camera or quickly upload them to your computer.

Dozens of photos are shared online daily, but fewer are making their way into sustainable scrapbooks. For Father’s Day, bless your dad with a bit of nostalgia by going through photographs from this year or years past and printing them out. Odds are, there are quite a few memories that still need to be framed.

If you already have hundreds of precious prints lying around your room, find one that Dad will really appreciate and have it professionally framed. , a family-owned business at 6893 Orchard Lake Rd., has unlimited options when it comes to custom framing. Costs start around $60.

Frames Unlimited offers ready-made frames as well. Store manager Shelley Garrison noted that not only are matted frames popular, but shadow box frames make great gifts as well. Frames Unlimited can take leather jackets, sporting goods and other three-dimensional objects and design a personal keepsake that can be proudly displayed on any wall in his home.

“We can frame just about anything, and almost everything is done in-house,” Garrison said. “We are very invested in what our customers bring to us.”

Garrison said record album photo frames are also great for anyone young or old. These designs incorporate album covers into a solid photo frame and are available for $32. The store's album frame selection includes but is not limited to The Beach Boys, Bob Seger and Elton John. For fans of older tunes, this makes a great gift of nostalgia.

If you come across an old photo with a lot of sentiment, consider having it restored. Frames Unlimited and Hite Photo specialize in photo restoration projects.

Hite Photo outsources for specialty gifts such as photo blankets, mugs and pillows, so those options may not be available for this Father's Day — but they make a great local customized product for future gift-giving occasions.

For photo printing needs, family-owned Hite Photo offers an array of options from paper stock to quantity to canvas and collage prints. Instant prints and overnight prints are also options for customers. Steve Leonard, customer service representative at Hite Photo, noted that printing on metallic paper has become very popular because it produces a bright image on quality paper.

There are some types of film that Hite cannot process; however, the store does develop 35 mm and other film sizes, so if you come across any rolls that haven’t been developed in your Dad’s camera bag, snag them and surprise him with some memories he undoubtedly forgot about.

Hite also offers custom greeting cards, but they take a couple of days to process.

“People come to us for high-quality products,” said Rob Vedro, Hite Photo manager. Vedro also noted that Hite has competitive prices and offers great service.