neil_rankin1 Posted September 3, 2006 Share Posted September 3, 2006 I have a small portrait business. Until now, my work has exclusively been fine art black and white, with me doing all the processing and printing. I'm looking to expand into color work, and am interested in using color negative film. I have little experience with this medium, but I have used Portra with sucess. I'm looking for a lab that can process the film and print for me. My volume may start low, but may very well grow into higher volume. I'm looking for a lab with decent turnaround time, competitive pricing, and especially important is customer service...I want to be able to talk to an individual on the phone, even if I'm only sending a small amount of business for a while. I live in Bishop, California. What do you think? Any recommendations? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjdc73 Posted September 3, 2006 Share Posted September 3, 2006 Hi there. I use West Michigan Photo Works. http://www.wmphotoworks.com I live in Holland and they are a local lab for me, but they do work for photographers all over the country. I am always impressed with their knowledge, and their customer service. You will always get a person on the phone, in fact you will talk to the owner--Mike Smith. Hope this helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil_rankin1 Posted September 3, 2006 Author Share Posted September 3, 2006 Awesome. Sound just like what I need. Thanks Melissa. Anyone else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruben_salcedo Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 You're in California. A&I in Hollywood Specialty Photo Lab in Santa Barbara And Oscars Photo lab in San Francisco. You will find that Portra scans beautifully. I send out for c41 process and scan only. I find the frontier scans at time of process perfect for use as a proofing tool. The resolution looks good enough on the screen and I don't mind sending the clients away with a watermarked 700kb file. After the selections have been made. you can opt to have A&I print in there custom lab from your neg. or opt for a higher resolution scan. Key word search those labs. I find it much easier to turn around my B&W work because I print my own. The color just takes longer. You could opt for a better scan at time of development, but I find it saves me money to expand my timeline and resubmit the keepers that i need to enlarge for another scanning. Staying closer to home will cut down on your timeline Good luck!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil_rankin1 Posted September 4, 2006 Author Share Posted September 4, 2006 Thanks Ruben, I'll have to check those guys out. I've got another question. I like the idea of having a lab that can scan for proofing but can print by either means. What is your experience with pricing differences between digi and ananlog? Just curious. My experience has been that digital printing is more expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronald_moravec1 Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 AIProlab.com in Lisle, Illinois. First class operation. Stay away from anybody who does not print on Profesional Portrait Paper. All the Walmarts, minlabs, Fuji Frontier, Ritz use a cheaper high contrast paper not suitable for what you need. Neil scans negs, accepts file transfer data over the net so you can photoshop scans and return them for printing. Prints get UPS back to you. Call and talk to Marie. This is the best operation have ever delt with in 40 years and they are local to me. They are not fast or cheap, but they are are good. They specialise in wedding and event photography. You will have a hard time finding good, fast, and cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil_rankin1 Posted September 4, 2006 Author Share Posted September 4, 2006 Thanks Ronald, that makes sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolan_ross Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 You could try Bay Photo Lab in Santa Cruz Calif. They only charge $1.50 for shipping back to you. It's a professional lab and have all sorts of services available. You can look them up on the net or just call the 800 number and ask specific questions. Bay Photo Lab 2608 Chanticleer Ave Santa Cruz, CA 95065 Support@BayPhoto.com 1800-435-6686 I send them 120 film for development and a 20megabyte scan. They charge me $13.50+tax+$1.50shipping(slides,print,B/W same price). They recently gave me a bunch of free shipping UPS labels to send them my film but I don't think that is the usual. They have a professional photographer service also. I suggest you look them up on the net and call them also to find out if they can provide you with what you are looking for..Nolan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasma181 Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 I've had good luck with Kew Professional Photo & Digital Imaging Services (long name) in Norwalk, CT. www.kewdigital.com , 203-853-7888 . I'm not sure how they handle long distance work, but it might be worth checking out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil_rankin1 Posted September 9, 2006 Author Share Posted September 9, 2006 Wow. It seems like I have a great selection of labs to choose from. Thanks photo.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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