who do professional photographers get to develop their film??

Question

Does this REALLY make a difference? How can I get my photos to have the "sharp" look? I have a 35mm film Canon Rebel that takes wonderful photos, however, my digital (Nikon Coolpix 7.1) is what I mostly use, and the photos are suffering! Thanks!

Answer 1

As far as B&W film, it is easier, and cheaper, to develop yourself. Color film is another matter. Given the complexities of developing both color slide and color print film most photographers, both professional and hobbiest, will have their color film developed by a lab.

When it come to color film, you can go down to the local "quick print" shop and have their automatic maching develop and print your photos, or you can send them to a photo lab. If you want to use a photo lab, check in the local Yellow Pages, check on-line, or check with a local pro.

As far as getting your photo to have the "sharp" look, I'm not quite sure what you mean. It could be a focus problem. It could be a camera movement problem. It could be a resolution problem. (I am assuming for your comments, that it is with you Coolpix 7.1 you are having the problem.)

As far as focus, you focusing sensor might be keying on the wrong object. Make certain you are focusing on the actual subject of your photo.

Camera movement is also a problem. If the camera moves, even just slightly, while the shutter is open, you will have some bluring. You can use several techinques to steady your camera, from using a steady tripod to bracing yourself against something, like a building or a tree, when taking the picture. You also should keep your elbows close to your side, put your left hand underneath the camera, not holding the left side of the camera like a lot of people do, and try not to breath at the same time you are pushing the shutter release button.

As far as resolution goes, with either digital or film, there is a finite amount of data that is recorded. If you try to enlarge that image by too great a factor, you will start losing detail, hence sharpness. Try to fill you frame with as much of you subject as possible. Get as close as you can to your subject. If your telephoto zoom doesn't get you close enough, you might need to looking into getting an auxiliary telephoto.

Answer 2

Professionals have professional photo labs do their film developing. These are not the labs where you drop off your film at "Walmart" these labs can turn around a proof sheet to the photographer in an hour if they need it. But with this type of service comes a price. So everybody wonders why that "Pro" photographer charges so much, he has to pay for more expensive photography equipment, the overhead involved with running a studio and he/she may have a few assistants that he is paying. And like the poster "Little A' said most pro photographers do not have the time.

And since we are in the age of digital that photographer had to switch equipment. Some maybe printing themselves but the high quality digital printers run a few thousand dollars and still might be cheaper for them to out source this.

Hope that helps,
Kevin

Answer 3

Many pro's develop their own film. And the reason your digital photos may be suffering is the type of camera you're using. The nikon coolpix, while a great point and shoot digital camera, even at 7.1 MP, is not a professional style camera. What I mean is you don't have very much manual functionality with a point and shoot style camera, and nowhere near as much control. You should either look into getting a digital SLR, or keep shooting with the SLR you already have.

Answer 4

I'm an amateur and I develop all my digital myself. Although I have a wonderful film SLR (Pentax P30n) that i use a ton, but I can't stand not being able to edit the pictures. If you do take a lot of digital (1) get a good photo editing software that works for you and (2) maybe consider going DSLR.

I use a Pentax P30, a Nikon D70 (a DSLR) , and a Sony Cybershot DSC-W55 (much like your coolpix).

I would think that professional photographers would want more control over their work, and want to develop themselves

Answer 5

Most professional photographers develop their own film. The benefit of this is pretty much that you're doing it yourself, instead of entrusting it to whatever clueless person is assigned to developing at Walgreens for the day.

The downside is that developing is a complicated and rather expensive procedure. You'll need a light-tight room, or at least a lightproof bag, and all the necessary developing chemicals and equipment. And even then, once you've got the film, enlarging and printing pictures from the negatives is another story, requiring a darkroom and another thousand dollars of "stuff."

If you're really serious about doing your own developing and enlarging, look up public darkrooms/photography studios. These charge hourly or daily rates usually, and some sell passes for months or more. While you're at it, take a few classes in darkroom procedure. . .it's difficult at first, and classes will lessen the number of rolls of film you ruin learning.

An easier option still is to take your film to actual photography shops, instead of drugstores, for developing and enlargment. At least your film will be handled by professionals, which will likely

Answer 6

I shoot strictly digital, using a Canon digital rebel XT.
I have found that for paying jobs that if I use one of the online processors they do automatic color correction. This makes an amazing difference in the final photos that my customers receive. I am currently using MPIX.com, I have found less expensive sites, but my profits are still acceptable, so I see no reason to change now.

Answer 7

Some professional photographers do their own developing -- others send their film and digital cards to a photo developing shop that everyone uses!! All depends on the photographer and their "taste" and time availability. If the photographer is really busy, he would "outsource" his developing, if he has the time, he'd develop them himself!!

At one time I worked in a camera shop that developed film and there were a couple professional photographers who brought their film in to be developed.

Answer 8

Who has time to develop there own film? Professional photographers are busy. There are professional labs that the everyday amerture photgrapher does not know about. These are labs that you have to fill out an application to develop your film or digital photos. One of them is Dameron Color Labs known as Candid 2000 & Sports America. You can check out both wesites to see the work.

Answer 9

You probably need to jack up the resolution on your Coolpix. I have an older model and take at SVGA setting then cut down for web page use. Get a bigger memory card and use one of the higher resolution (larger) settings that takes fewer pictures. Really serious photographers store in RAW format (no compression) which on my camera means 16MB per picture.

Answer 10

A photographer will usually do the developing them selves. Your best to download your digital photos on to the computer. If you haven't got photographic software on your computer, you better get it. As it makes the world of difference.