UW Photo Development

[jmusky49]

Hi

I have just returned from a trip to Grand Cayman. I have six rolls of uw photos that I need to get developed.

Does anyone have an idea were the best place would be to take the film.

My past pics I have had developed at a fairly decent place and have asked them to increase the reds and yellows by +1. Is this a good idea?

Also, when I have requested this, most have given me the deer in the headlight look.

Thanks for your input.

 

[rad21]

My experience with getting UW film developed has been spotty. I always tell them that the photos are underwater and need color correction however only 1 photolabs has done what I consider to be acceptable results. The problem is that most labs set the machine on auto and may briefly look at one or two photos to check color but what you need is a lab that will check each negative and adjust the color accordingly. The othet option is to try that Kodak special "underwater" processing available through some dive shops.
The reason I decided to go digital was because I spent way too much time scanning in each photo to my computer just to color correct them. I know Fuji has a lab somewhere near San Diego and they were the ones that processed my film correctly, the rest were all pretty poor.

 

[mandrake]

I've never taken film pictures underwater, but from my digital experience I can't imagine that 'underwater' developing could be automated. The amount of correction needed is going to vary by depth, water clarity, ambient light, etc, from photo to photo. As said above, they have to look at each individual picture, and I'd be amazed if any outfit did this for you, at least cheaply. If you want that kind of attention to each photo you'll need to do it yourself. If all your pictures on one roll were taken in closely similar conditions, perhaps the process could be somewhat automated, but I'd be surprised.

 

[fabasard]

I took my shots to the LOCAL corner store and got TERRIBLE results. My sister went to a Wolf Camera store (yeah it cost a bit more) and got great results with the SAME camera on the same dive trip. All things being equal, other than the fact that she just had better shots than me, her processing was markedly better than mine as well, my shots were blue and hers had colors that I remember seeing on the trip but not on my film.

 

[sealkie]

take them to a pro shop - tell them that they are underwater shots = you will pay more - but you`ll get better results.

In future shot slide film them you get what you shot

 

[hypnodean]

If you are near a Ritz camera (usually in malls) that has a 1 hr photo lab in them.... Go in and talk to the photo-lab manager.

I worked in one for some time and they were very anal retentive about getting the photo right.

We never ran the machines on auto per company policy (That WAS 10 years ago so who knows) and we inspected EVERY picture and adjusted as needed before we hit the print button.

Not to say when it was BUSY and we got lazy we adjusted les rather than more. But often it was kind of a challenge to make this "muddy, dark picture of what looks like a baked potato" into something nice.

Might give it a try.

 

[swisstrav]

suggest you use slide film. after viewing the slides you can order pictures of the ones desired. cheaper and perfect results.

 

[jmusky49]

Thanks for all the helpful information.

I will take all of it into consideration before having my film developed. If there are any good pics, I will be sure to post them on this site.

On the subject of slides rather than regular film, thanks. I don't think I will be using this camera again though. I am going to purchase a DIGITAL UW CAMERA. Many plusses to that idea.

Thanks again, and great bubble blowing to all.

 

[herman]

Remember that the negatives are treated the same way no matter where they are processed. The magic is in the printing and just because the first print run was not to your liking, you can always get more reprints from someone else or with the same processor after some discussion on the original prints.

 

[Texass]

Even if they don't shoot UW pics, someone they know does.

Like Herman said you can take the negatives of the keeper shots and have them processed. I've had good luck with independant photo labs and the cost is only a couple of bucks more than Ekerds.