Good news!

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Stephanie Brim

Mental Experimental.
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I have a job. But there's bad news, too. I work in one of the dreaded mini-labs. I'm learning the machine right now, but I'm working to make it better. I'm hoping that, when I'm done, it'll be the first place in town to be able to do 120 in house as well as being able to provide traditional B&W processing on request. I'm also going to be doing photo restoration a bit later on. I'm happy and excited, minilab or no. This means you'll see more photos from me again as I'll be able to scan things easily.

Just thought you'd like to know.
 
The dread of dealing with a mini lab is that the person running the machine doesn't know how to, and doesn't care. I am sure your customers will benefit from having someone there who will learn and care.
 
Congratulations on landing the job

Congratulations on landing the job

Congratulations on landing the job.

I hope it pays well.

Is it a chain?

Do you get to exercise artistic freedom (as much as can be had at a mini-lab)?

....Vick
 
Congratulations! I am sure the word will soon get around among those that understand and appreciate good work, that you are there and do good work. Just learn how to deal with the occassional jerk that you will always get working with the public.

But, I am excited for you and for those 120 afficiandos in your area.
 
Congrats on the job, Stephanie. Have fun with it. Looking forward to seeing more photos now that you can scan easily ... and likely at pretty good resolution.

Peter
 
I get freedom to do what correction, if any, that I can.

My sister was the one running the machine before me and she was saying that the photos came out too dark with the color correction that I used. She also said they'd be too grainy. I did what I wanted and they came out perfect. She doesn't realize that I've been doing it for quite some time here at home. ;)

Another good thing is that I can get D76, Dektol, and B&W papers at cost. I wish that I could get Ilford chemicals, but the vendor doesn't carry them. The minilab machine does a fine job with color processing, actually. I wish I could find a dip and dunk for B&W at a price the guy would go for...
 
You go, Steph!

I've worked in all sorts of labs here in NYC over the years, and that helped me hone my tech chops better and faster than I could possibly have done on my lonesome. Of course, souping my C41 and E6 for free with pro equipment was a useful perk as well (one reason many lab owners don't mind this, at least up to a point: if you're running your own stuff through the machines, you're more likely to care about running a tight ship than someone else).

Provided the pay is at least okay, it's a cool job to have. As has been mentioned, you will get the occasional Customer From Hell (which will help hone your diplomatic skills...it certainly did for me), but overall, it'll be good. Good luck, don't forget to write, and send pictures!


- Barrett
 
Steph Processing for RFF ?

Steph Processing for RFF ?

so are you going to make a few bucks and market yourself?

Why not offer mail order Quality Steph Processing for the RFF crowd?

Stephen
 
This is great! I have worked in both a pro (primarily portrait/wedding) lab and a minilab. Both experiences were invaluable to me. As Barrett says, it hones your skills and increases efficiency.

The only advice I would give is to be sensitive to the bottom line. After all, it is the owner who is paying salary. While he/she will be glad to have increased business as a result of the quality of your work and the resultant word-of-mouth, he/she will be looking for increased profitability, not just increased revenue. I learned this while working in the minilab. The owner (who also owned the pro lab) had to admonish me and another employee when we over-serviced a pro who was bringing us his 35mm work. When he got picky, we re-printed at no charge. He was taking advantage of our pro experience, and the owner rightfully pointed out that if he wanted that kind of service, he could pay pro prices.

Earl
 
With apologies to those of you who have worked at mini-labs...

How nice to see a photo person working at a mini-lab. Most that I've encountered have on interest or knowlege and are just trained to operate the machine.
 
Earl & Steve: hear, hear.

A few blocks away from me is a Rite Aid store. Like most such stores, they have a minilab on-site. This one is supervised by a woman who clearly knows her stuff. When I hand my rolls of C41 over with instructions to hand the film back uncut and without prints, it's all understood, and they've delivered my film with nary a scratch, and with turnaround as short as a half-hour. More than I could ask for. The more folks there are like her on the other side of the counter, the better.


- Barrett
 
I know I wouldn't make much money, but I wouldn't mind working at a mini-lab again, as long as I had the type of freedom that is appears Steph will have.
 
Stephanie Brim said:
Another good thing is that I can get D76, Dektol, and B&W papers at cost. I wish that I could get Ilford chemicals, but the vendor doesn't carry them.
Click to expand...

There's a minilab store in your small town in Iowa that carries D76 and Dektol????? Or have you moved recently?
 
Stephanie,

Where in Iowa are you located? I'm in Iowa City, and has been looking for a good mini-lab to print my negatives since the local Ritz Camera closed doors. Settling on Wal-Mart right now because all others print digitally with horrendous smearing artifacts, even the one pro lab. If you are not too far, I just may pay a visit to your lab.

--Yefei
 
jlw said:
There's a minilab store in your small town in Iowa that carries D76 and Dektol????? Or have you moved recently?
Click to expand...

I can order it when the rep comes in gallon quantities...as many as I want. Few gallons of D76 and Dektol here and there...not a problem. ;)

As to a few other things. My sister thinks that she knows more about things than I do *because* she knows how to run the machine. She wouldn't even show me everything today I think just so she'd have a one-up on me. I'm going to be basically running it myself on Saturday and I don't really have time to be screwing around treading lightly with her.

One thing I finally told her about was that there are settings on the scanner for different film types. She thought those were just filters for after the fact, but they're the actual configurations for the scanner. The filters for after the fact are in a separate area. She scanned black and white film in as color film, which just does not work on that machine. I've also found that the machine that we have can do higher resolution scans, meaning that my photos will come out just as good as they did when I had a dedicated film scanner.

One interesting thing that I'm still wondering about is this: she loads the film into the developing/processing machine without regard to the ISO speed of the film. She puts ISO 200 and ISO 400 films on the same little plate thing and throws them in. I'm wondering if this is actually the right way to do it or if they should be done separately. Not that she'd take my word for it if she *was* doing something wrong...

When I get in tomorrow I'm going to finish what films we have to do, watch for new ones to come in, and then mess with the scanner a little with some films of my own to prove my point about the different scanning modes. Also, we have an Epson 4490 scanner to scan paper photos with. It didn't come with film masks, though, and I want to ask about that. Being able to scan 120 film locally would be nice, too.
 
yefeihe said:
Stephanie,

Where in Iowa are you located? I'm in Iowa City, and has been looking for a good mini-lab to print my negatives since the local Ritz Camera closed doors. Settling on Wal-Mart right now because all others print digitally with horrendous smearing artifacts, even the one pro lab. If you are not too far, I just may pay a visit to your lab.

--Yefei
Click to expand...

Iowa City is quite a ways. We also print digitally. I'm not happy about that. I should have been working there before they settled on this machine.
 
amateriat said:
Provided the pay is at least okay, it's a cool job to have. As has been mentioned, you will get the occasional Customer From Hell (which will help hone your diplomatic skills...it certainly did for me), but overall, it'll be good. Good luck, don't forget to write, and send pictures!
Click to expand...
i second that -- you could even photoblog it, hah.
 
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