Where do professional photographers get their film developed and prints made?

Question

Is it possible for us mere amatuers to use who the professionals use? The quality of all the places currently accessible to me is not what it should be (Ritz, Walmart, Target, etc.).

I do not know of one single professional photographer who uses a dark room! I am asking who they send their film out to.

It's not the camera I am using. I get good results from these places only after I have asked them to reprint the pictures. They just dont care until you complain. THEN they pay attention to what they are doing!

Answer 1

There are a handful of great labs out there that Professionals and Amateurs use alike.

The one I use and love is a company called TPI Photo (www.tpiphoto.com). I've used them for quite a few years and haven't had a complaint to date.

Another one is MPIX (www.mpix.com) which I have heard is pretty good, though I've never used them before.

Bay Photo Lab (www.bayphoto.com)is also supose to be quite good as I know of a few people who use them and have enjoyed their service.

You are correct, a lot of professionals do send out their prints and don't do them inhouse because it saves money. If they do it in house they have to pay for equipment, equipment upkeep, staff, staff training, etc. Whether you are photographing digital or not. If you are serious about printing, check out these studios (I'd reccomend TPI on a personal level).

Answer 2

I think there is some confusion. From my understanding, those professionals who take pictures for photography's sake, may in fact develop their own film. However, the darkroom is being phased out because many people have switched to digital. I'm not sure I've ever heard of a professional having their own printing machine. Maybe a big studio might.
A professional who shoots events like weddings would not have the time to hand develop hundreds of pictures. (And they are increasingly switching to digital anyway)
I recently photographed a wedding and had my prints done through Printroom.com I was VERY pleased with the results. They have a separate membership that professionals could purchase which gives them more choices, so I would assume they have professionals sending them work. I ordered about 75 pictures and had them in less than a week. The shipping was reasonable too.
I have not tried these, but there is also Shutterfly.com and Kodakgallery that offer printing- but again I can't speak for it's quality.
I've been fortunate that my Walgreens and Walmart have printed great pictures for me.

Answer 3

I shoot professionally. To save money, I have the film processed at Costco(either one-hour or overnight). I can use their prints for low resolution printing, and I often have them burn a CD at the same time with low-res images that are fine for emailing.

For 8 x 10s and larger prints that go on our office walls or to customers, I got to a high quality lab. These prints are MUCH more expensive, but I can have them custom print specific images (burn, dodge, crop, etc.) and the print quality is superior.

Basically, it comes down to saving money for general purpose prints, and splurging on the special ones.

Answer 4

They do get their films developed and printed in normal studios where these actitivies go on. Professionals do have a special rate for the work they handover to the studios. For amatuers like us it is the normal rates.

Answer 5

when I shoot film (which is not often) I send them off to be developed at dale labs in hollywood florida. They do a wonderful job. And I have always been very pleased. For digital files I use Adorama or mpix.

All three have websites... just do a search.

Answer 6

redscale= backwards c-41 film. and i cant believe people are actually paying extra for film thats just been loaded backwards. if you take your film to a pro lab, they will know what to do with it. there is nothing special about processing film shot in a "lomo" type camera. its the same film as any other. just tell them you want processing and tell them if the film is color negative, color positive (also known as slide or chrome film), or black & white film. that is all that matters, since each type requires different chemistry. also tell them if you want prints and/or scanned images.

Answer 7

Most have their own darkrooms and process their own film. It is much more reasonable in the long run and you have control over the entire process.

I go to Sam's club-very reasonable. Double 4 x 6 prints-one roll is $3.46

Answer 8

In their own Red Room. ... but that's not the answer you're looking for. Umm. anywhere. Good Film, Good Camera, Good Photographer .. then good photo!!

Answer 9

I do it myself, and I'm not professional. But, I would advise Ritz camera. dont use walmrt or target, because they dont develop the pictures by hand.

Answer 10

They do their own developing and make their own prints. Contact a professional photographer, tell him you're interested in seeing how they do it. Perhaps he will let you watch.