Any Good Pro Labs around Moses Lake,WA???

[colleendonovan]

I asked this question in the wrong place, I think. DOes anyone know

of any really good pro labs in Spokane, WA. or Kennewick,WA? Seattle

would work also, though I would like to be close enough to go in

person once in awhile. I live in Moses Lake and all we have is a

Wal - Mart and a photographer who charges 15 bucks a roll for

developing and isn't very good. I just got my business license and

don't really want to use Wally World for paying customers. Are

there any great labs I could send my stuff to? I am really nervous

about sending negatives and such through the mail. COuld someone

give me advice? On everything? I was really excited about starting

my own little business, but now I feel like I'm in over my head.

Thanks so much for your help!!!

[silent1]

It's been too many years since I've spent time in Spokane, but in Seattle Ivey Imaging seems about the best. My own experience with them is limited, as I found a lab that was more local to me that still did 120 in house, at several dollars less per roll, and did B&W in house as well (Ballard Camera).

 

Best I can suggest is push black and white portraiture and do your own; when you can't steer a customer away from color, send the film to Ivey or make a special trip to Seattle (it's about a three hour drive, as I recall, except in winter when you might spend longer than that getting over Snoqualmie Pass).

 

If you're willing (and able) to spend some money setting up, you can also get the equipment needed to do C-41 (and even print it), used, via eBay at reasonable prices. A Jobo processor can handle the job for negatives (get the one with temperature control), and you can print color negatives with Kodak materials and chemicals using any color enlarger. Even color analyzers come up from time to time at pretty reasonable prices.

 

The big advantage of doing your own processing, of course, is that you have complete control; the secondary advantage is that you'll be the only photographer in town who can produce same-day results. Word gets around on things like that.

[40mm]

I live near Kennewick. I've tried all the local labs I can find and can assure you that there are no labs that I would trust with professional work in the Tri-Cities. In fact there's there's only one I sometimes trust with amateur stuff (WalMart, Richland, are ok for C41 on a Frontier, if you get the right technician). Consequently, I tend to use mostly transparency film and get it processed by mail.

 

I'm sure someone more experienced with Seattle or Spokane labs can suggest alternatives.