West Coast Imaging

<p>After being a scanning and printing customer of West Coast Imaging for many years I have had trouble with them recently as they have billed me increased printing charges to my orders without notification as well as refusing to print one of my images (which they had previously printed) because it contained minor nudity. This image had no more nudity than a Sports Illustrated photograph. When I questioned their censorship I was sent a response which quoted from the bible and was told they had a strict "no nudes" policy that is not posted on their website. Has anyone else run into these types of issues with them? Could someone recommend a good Giclee and Chromira printer in my area (Southern California)? With ftp these days I guess it doesn't have to be that close to me geographically. Thanks.</p>

<p>Hi James,</p>

<p>I have used these guys, they did my last film wedding, they are superb. Very communicative and do exactly what you ask them to to the highest quality at very reasonable prices.</p>

<p>http://www.parisphoto.com/</p>

<p>I found your post quite surprising. I've never used their service, but have seen a number of posts over time singing their praises.</p>

<p>I just found their web site and noticed that they have a fair number of staff. I wonder if there's been a change of staffing there, or if a legal issue came up which caused their change of policy -- or something.</p>

<p>Perhaps you should write to the owners, with full details. Or call, and have full details in front of you so you can easily describe your history with them, and what changed.</p>

<p>Either something's going on that the owners aren't aware of, or they've changed their policies somehow -- the first, or course, could be remedied; the second could perhaps inspire you to move on.</p>

<p>In any event, if you've been pleased with their service in the past and had a good relationship, it would be a pity to dump a good resource like that without trying to get things back onto an even keel.</p>

<p>To be sure, there's other fish in the sea, but not that many truly expert -- and affordable -- ones!</p>

<p>I'd be interested to know the results of any follow-up that you decide to do -- or if you don't.</p>

<p>Meanwhile, I'm glad I read this post! I'm in Los Angeles, and didn't know that Paris Photo existed. I now intend to give them a shot because the place I've been dropping my film lately has been giving me some sub-par performance -- scratches, dust, chemical spots and the like.</p>

 

<p>Maybe check out Fromex out of Long Beach. If that doesn't work out try the Hollywood area, maybe contact Freestyle photo. They have a well equipt store off of Sunset.</p>

<p>I am happy to work with you on drum scans and large format inkjet output, sorry I don't do Chromira.<br>

I can give you a few references from your area if you want. I have been a fine art printmaker since 1997 and have been teaching as an adjunct at RIT for the past 6 years. Recently I have been writing digital imaging articles for View Camera magazine as well.<br>

John<br>

<p>Sorry to hear about your experience James, but frankly, I can't say I'm surprised. As a former employee, one of the reasons I chose to leave WCI was the increasing, almost hysterical Christian evangelism and value system among many of the employees. As a heretic myself, I mostly ignored this stuff, but it was became annoying to have to ignore the apparently compulsory prayers and almost incessant kvetching (heh) about church people, policies, etc.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, when you're based in a small town, some of your best hiring and networking resources are local organizations - so it's not surprising that many employees were introduced to WCI because the owners met them at church. Of course, this foothill area is filled with artists, photographers, and others with talent applicable to WCI, but I can't judge them on that. I lived in Santa Cruz when I was hired on there and moved to Oakhurst at great trouble and expense. </p>

<p>That being said, their level of quality is still the best in the industry as far as I'm concerned. I have not printed with them in quite some time due to a disagreement I had with the owner long after I left the company.</p>

<p>It may be a stressful time for them, as I know one of the owners was sick earlier this summer, but once someone's church starts dictating the services they provide, I look elsewhere.</p>

<p>It's entirely their right to do so, and my right to find a place that will print whatever art an artist happens to make that falls within reasonable bounds and, of course, the law.</p>

<p>While I could see the argument for no nudity based upon the fact that employees often have their children at work, the solution to me as a business owner would be pretty simple; no kids in the cutting and shipping room. It's kind of a dangerous place for children anyway. Problem solved.</p>

<p>When it was started, one of the fundamental ideals of WCI was to advance the west coast school of photography's goals; impeccable quality through testing, sharing of techniques, open evaluation of others' work, etc. I'll leave it to you to decide if they still fulfill that mission and whether you want to deal with a company that imposes arbitrary and amorphous guidelines on work they'll accept for printing. </p>

 

<p>Oh, and by the way, I would suggest developing a short list of Chromira operators and sending them all a relatively challenging test print; images with very smooth gradations (empty sky, fog, etc.) will show the degree to which the operator aligns the Chromira's head to avoid banding (really, the only shortcoming of the machine in my opinion after operating it for two years and a LJ5k for a while).</p>

<p>Compare the prints to a reference you're happy with to judge how spot-on their color is. </p>

<p>I submitted some slides to WCI of tribal dancers in Papua New Nuinea. They were rejected with the following reply:<br>

"I am writing because two of your images are of nudes and West Coast Imaging has a policy of not printing nude photographs. Instead of being placed in a role of judging whether a nude photograph is art, or otherwise, we have made it blanket policy to not print nudes. We've found most artists respect this policy, and understand that it's not a judgement of their artwork or creativity...it's just how we choose to run our business."<br>

The two problems I have with this are: 1) No mention of this policy is on their web page, even though the policy is different than any of the five other printers I contacted. 2) If I go along with their policy, would they next refuse to print images of people who are pro-choice or pro-same marriage.</p>

<p>Ed:</p>

<p>I went to check WCI's web site, and I was surprised I couldn't find any file/film submission guidelines. I could swear there used to be something up there about the vague no nudity policy, but I couldn't find it this time. At the very least, I think they'd make this policy pretty loud and clear to customers before people send originals or files in for printing.</p>

<p>I just found out that Calypso Imaging of California has shut its doors and will no longer be in business. On their website they recommend a company called West Coast Imaging. This is what Calypso had to say on their website:<br /> “After careful thought and consideration, we want to recommend to you West Coast Imaging for any and all of your digital imaging projects. WCI has long been a competitor of ours, and has earned our respect and admiration for the quality of their work and the integrity of their business practices. Rich Seiling, the owner of WCI (with wife Susan), is a fine photographer and an incredibly informed digital imaging expert. Rich and I have spoken at length about the nature of our respective clients, and find ourselves on the same page in terms of providing service and quality. I have visited WCI in Oakhurst California on a number of occasions and know first hand of the high standards that they adhere to.<br /> WCI provides most of the same services that Calypso has provided to you. Take a look at their web site http://www.westcoastimaging.com/ to get an idea of their technical proficiency and dedication to photographic image making. I strongly suggest that you have us transfer to WCI the files that you currently have archived with Calypso which will assist in a smooth transition and provide the least interruption of services to you.”<br /> This all sounds well and good except for the fact that I just received an email from the owner of WCI telling me they refuse to print my work because they have a policy of not printing nude or suggestive images. I am an erotic photographer, not a pornographer; my work only shows nude women. I do not even come close to being categorized as pornography. Erotic yes, fetish perhaps, but pornographic, never. I am a professional photographer with 2 solo books and have appeared in more than 25 other books, not to mention magazines, gallery shows and museum shows around the world.<br /> <br /> I now find myself in the unique position of trying to not only find a lab that will print digital prints either from a Lightjet or Chromira machine (I like Fuji Crystal Archive glossy paper) but also one that does not have a policy of painting fig leaves on the Sistine Chapel at their sole discretion.<br /> <br /> Your help and suggestions would be greatly appreciated...</p>

<p>You might want to give Lightroom in Berkeley a call</p>

<p><a href="http://www.lightroom.com">www.lightroom.com</a></p>

<p>They have a LightJet and seem to me good printers run by a decent guy. Now that most of us are taking the responsibility for creating and soft-proofing our own files, I think it matters less which printer you use, so long as they run the machine decently and show signs of life in the colour management department. That's why prices for this kind of service have dropped markedly these last few years and even WCI have offers a lot of the time and a cheaper No. 2 brand in Aspen Creek based at the same address.</p>

<p>In short its a very competitive world and you don't need any one specific company to get what you want. I've used WCI since about 2001, and in general I've been more than happy and haven't come across your problem as I don't do nude work. The fact that I don't use them much today is more a function of Fedex charges to the UK and changes in my business than because I think they're not great printers. But as I say its a tough world and whatever principles they've decided to adopt, I hope they can afford them.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>After reading the thoughtful comments posted, I think the consensus is - the fact that WCI does NOT post its christian stance of not printing images with nudity is disingenuous and hypocritical. I shoot landscapes primarily but some portraits as well, so the fact that I was an existing customer, went through the effort to learn their system, calibration, issues, etc., (I was a "preflight" customer, and did not use their printing "experts") AND the fact that they had printed the image at-issue previously, and then to get the following self-righteous email from Susan Seiling:<br /><br />"Candace just forwarded your email to me, since I am one of the "responsible parties" who instituted our policy for not printing nude photographs of any kind. Like B&H is closed for the Sabbath, this is something we decided to do in reverence for our God. In Jesus's sermon on the mount (Matt 5:27-28), He says:<br /><br />"You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."<br /><br />As followers of Christ, we cannot in good conscience allow our lab to print images that contain nudity, work on images that contain nudity, nor make money off of images with nudity. I understand if this seems foreign or strange to you...it certainly is not how most labs work, nor the world at large...but it's simply how we've chosen to do business. This policy was instituted about 2 years ago, and if we printed this particular image in the past, it was because a staff member was not upholding this policy, which is something I will look into.<br /><br />Our no-nude policy is not something we state on our website, because, as a lab that prints primarily landscape photographs, we rarely run into this situation. Instead of putting it on our website, we've decided to address it on a case-by-case basis."<br /><br />The comparison to B&H is of course inappropriate. Also, WCI does make money from an image that contains nudity, because by not posting their censoring policy, they make money from photographers (like me) who would otherwise not use their services. Also, it looks like WCI benefitted again, as according to John Santerineross' email, the owners of Calypso were unaware of WCI's policy before recommending WCI to their existing customers upon closing their business.<br /><br />And finally, thank you for commenting Doug. Although your October 26 follow-up is incorrect as WCI NEVER mentioned their policy of censorship prior to ANY of my file submissions, and they made many prints for me from 2006 - 2009.</p>