frustration with photo books vs. traditional albums

[lynn_thonnard]

I have many, many years' worth of photos sitting on my desktop that I would like to print. I have tried the

photobooks from Kodak (formerly Ofoto), My Publisher & Snapfish. They are fine but do NOT look anything like

the "real thing." All the companies that come highly recommended (Asuka, etc.) seem to require that I be a

professional photographer to use their services, plus the prices seem fairly high. I spent a little time in the darkroom

in high school and college, have a good camera, and am picky about my photos. I don't have time to print this large

a volume of photos at home. Should I just go back to finding a good lab, ordering prints and sticking them into

albums? Finally, I need to print a wedding album, which was shot in both B&W and color (both film). Is it true that

most labs will just scan the negatives to produce prints? How do I find a good lab? I'm in the Washington DC area.

I realize I'm covering a lot of territory here, many thanks for the responses.

[sallymack]

Hi, Lynn, I don't know about "most" labs, but if you need prints from film made the traditional way, through an enlarger, I'm sure

there are photo labs in DC that will do that. It might take some research--phone calls, websites, etc.--but you can find out. You'll

probably have to ask specifically for it. Do you know anybody who shoots film? You could ask them. Or call one of the local

schools that teaches photography.

 

I'm in the San Francisco Bay Area and have exhibition prints made "optically," photo-speak for enlarger/non-digital. It would be

cheaper to have them printed digitally, and the people at the lab always ask hopefully if I want them printed digitally.

 

Good luck!

[david_henderson]

A friend of mine has recently had some books made using Blurb. I know his work well, and I have to say I was impressed.

[asta_tobiassen]

I just made a book with Blurb. I was really happy with the quality of the pictures. I chose the heavier grade paper and it feels and looks like any coffee table book. My only gripe is the somewhat limited number of picture layouts, but if you are creative you can certainly get around that.