Interview: Richard Photo Lab

Interview: Richard Photo Lab

(40min, 37MB)
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We have an one-on-one interview with Richard Photo Lab. This isn’t any ordinary photo lab. This photo lab has withstood the test of the ups and downs of the film photography industry. We learn about Richard Photo Lab’s history, their film developing process, the scanning services they offer, and the wide variety of printing options.

They even offer our listeners 10% off film processing by using the promo code: studioc41.


 

First launched in 1970 by a gentleman named, you guessed it, Richard became one of the biggest names in photo labs.  I had the pleasure of meeting Albany and Colleen when they were traveling through Atlanta and posted a meet up. I took the invitation and got to talk to some really awesome people and learned a little more about what Richard Photo Lab.

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Location of meet up in Atlanta, Little Trouble. Portra 400, Minolta X-700

Richard Photo Lab isn’t your typical photo lab. Their developing process uses a dip-and-dunk process at which the emulsion is fully submerged in separate tanks 5 rolls at a time. This process is incredibly interesting because the nothing touches the emulsion throughout the entire process. This reduces the possibility of your negative from being scratched. In the interview they give us the number of rolls of film that go through their lab during the busy season. That number, over a thousand on a given day!

In addition to film processing, Richard provides pro services to photographers for scanning and printing. Busy photographers that don’t have the time to edit can go through a consultation with Richard Photo Lab where their scanning technicians will learn about your “look” so the photographer can get back to focusing on photographing and less time editing.

What good is an image if you don’t print it? In our conversation, we learn that printing is a whole new world. You have different printing methods: Chemical or Ink-based. You also have paper choices, the list goes on. Richard Photo Lab offers various printing solutions to photographers looking to print a single 8×10 image for their house to images the size of several feet for an exhibition gallery.

Check out a tour of their lab recorded by The Framed Show on YouTube.

I learned a great deal from Albany and Colleen and it’s great to see labs still standing after the downfall of film, especially at its worst around 2012. With the film resurgence, we are seeing these labs are getting busy again and these small businesses are experiencing growth again.

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As a ‘thank you’ from Richard Photo Lab, they are offering a 10% discount on film processing starting now through August 22, 2018 to our listeners by using the promo code: studioc41.

To learn more about Richard Photo Lab, you can check out their resource center on film reviews, tips and tricks on shooting film. For example, you can learn how to safely package your film when you’re shipping it out to their lab.

Bill Manning

Host and Executive Producer for Studio C-41

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