By Howard Moo Young, Contributor 
ALL PHOTOGRAPHERS, at one time or another, have had the experience of getting their precious colour prints back from the lab, only to find that a few are off-colour, too light or too dark, or missing important detail. The negatives look fine, but rather than express disappointment at the bad prints, many
photographers leave wondering whether they will ever return to a lab that couldn't get it right in the first place. Why do that if most labs will reprint their mistakes free?
In the competitive area of colour print processing, where one-hour minilabs spring up like wildflowers and sometimes disappear as
quickly, most labs are more than willing to make a reprint in order to keep you as a customer. If your lab isn't willing, it's time to choose another. These days, the best
automatic print machines are very good, but not infallible. A well-trained manager should know the machine's limitations and to some extent, so should you. The best way to get a correct print is to approach the manager once you've correctly identified a problem, explain it as best you can, and politely ask for a reprint.
Please do not burst out in expletives and tell the whole world not to bring any rolls of film to this lab and walk out.
ANALYSE PRINTS
Try to analyse prints in daylight, not under fluorescent or tungsten lighting. It makes a difference. Artists do not paint their canvases under these lighting conditions, so why should you? Try comparing the problem print with a good one from the same roll. Incorrect colour balance is the most
common and most easily remedied problem, thanks to the computer. Ask yourself: Is the overall picture affected or just the skin tones? For instance, is it too blue or red? Be as specific as possible when describing the unwanted colour cast so that the machine operator can do the adjustment.
Density problems (prints too light or too dark) are usually caused by the same type of scenes that throw off your camera's metering system.
Take a close look at your negatives. The extreme exposure
latitude of colour print film allows nearly any level of overexposure (dense negative) to be printed acceptably. If it's underexposed (thin negative with little detail), there's only so much a machine printer can do. It may require a custom print lab for extreme
salvaging (burning and dodging) to get a decent print.
Subjects very close to the camera flash are often overexposed, while the rest of the negative receives correct exposure. Unless you take it to a custom printer, you'll have to settle for the foreground coming up bright and the background
normal, or the foreground normal and the background dark.
PRINT-NEGATIVE RATIO
Please remember that a 4"x6" print and a 8"x12" or 10"x15" enlargement is the actual size in ratio to a 35mm negative or slide. If you order 5x7" or 8x10" prints, expect some of the image to be cropped off on the left or on the right. This is critical, especially with pictures of groups of people, as in a wedding party.
Work closely with your printer to get the best results.
If you frequently encounter other problems, such as scratched
negatives, spots, dust marks or light leaks (not caused by you)
and you don't receive satisfactory
compensation, consider finding another lab. These problems are often indicative of a sloppy operation, and your prints deserve better. Remember, if you want your prints to look great, learn to communicate.
If you shoot slides, otherwise described as colour transparencies, which range from 35mm up to 4x5" in various sizes, there's only one photo lab in Jamaica that offers this service. We need some good competition here. In slide
processing, one has to be
meticulous about chemicals, colour and scratches. My colleague, Bryan Cummings, who recently returned from the Olympics in Athens, shot several rolls of 35mm slides at the games. The film and the processing were compliments of Kodak International, that set up a state-of-the-art photo lab to
service all the photographers assigned to the Olympics.
He was so impressed with the results, that he actually wants to start shooting colour transparencies again, if only he can get the same quality processing in Jamaica. Come on, Kodak Express, what are you doing about it? There are many members of the Photography Club of Jamaica and other
professionals who are anxiously waiting for an alternative. If we can win gold at the Olympics, we should demand 'gold quality'
processing with our photographs.
How many of you have ever read the limit of liability on the back of your envelope? This is one example:
CUSTOMER RECEIPT
READ THIS NOTICE: The submission of any film, print, slide, negative, or digital media to use for processing, printing, posting on the internet or any other handling constitutes an agreement by you that if such film, print, slide, negative, or digital media is damaged, lost or mishandled by our company or affiliated company, agents or employees, even due to negligence or other fault of any of the foregoing, or if unauthorised access is gained or misuse of an image is made by any third party, our liability will be
limited, at our option, to
replacement of an equivalent amount of unexposed film and processing or a full refund of any monies paid by you to us. The foregoing will be your exclusive remedy for any such loss,
damage or mishandling. Except for such replacement or refund, the acceptance for processing, printing, posting on the internet or handling of any film, prints, slides, negatives, or digital media is without any warranty
whatsoever (whether expressed or implied, including any
warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose) or other liability of any kind. Recovery of any special,
incidental or consequential
damages is specifically excluded.
Please read limit of liability on back of envelope!
There you have it, right on the back of any envelope you fill
out at any photo lab, and this is universal. Can you imagine the consequences if your entire rolls of film from the wedding you just covered, was accidentally messed up? God forbid. You would only be compensated with the
equivalent amount of rolls and
processing, that's the agreement.
Howard Moo Young is an advertising/graphic design/photography consultant with more than 40 years
experience. Email: Mooimages@yahoo.com.
