Professional film processing, scanning, custom & hybrid editing to help you shoot more film, more often. Sharing our knowledge one roll at a time.
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While some may be singing “let it snow,” our holiday party had everyone screaming for it to rain –film- that is. A large piñata filled with film, candy, and other goodies was just one of the highlights of this year’s gathering. It was a great time for us to enjoy one another and remind us of how far we have come individually and as a company. We hope everyone has a happy holiday season, and here’s to a New Year with theFINDlab!
photos by Jonathan Canlas | Ilford HP5 +3 | Rolleiflex 2.8F     We love when clients reach out to us to communicate what they’re wanting for their scans! One thing that is helpful to know is if you want your images scanned for the highlights or for the shadows. This is most applicable when images are silhouetted, or when you are shooting in a scenario where there is strong contrast between your whites and blacks. The first photo below is a straight scan, meaning there are no density or color corrections in-scanner.
This shooter metered well for a moody look- you can see there are still details in the shadows. The density in this image could also be brought up if the client wanted a brighter look. Certain types of lighting can yield a variety of results. In the following three images, you can see how much the scanner can impact what the final result looks like. Scanned for the shadows:
Scanned to be neutral for midtones:
Scanned for the highlights:
You can see the first image has been brightened to bring up the shadows, causing the highlights in the window to be brighter. The middle scan shows a good happy medium, where the highlights and shadows are both pretty neutral. In the last scan, you can see the highlights in the window have been brought down in order to see the house across the street, causing the shadows to be much darker than the other scans. Unless indicated otherwise on the order form, our scanners will scan to a neutral point like the middle image. If you are wanting something other than a neutral density scan, be sure to let us know. We love when clients are as specific as possible in terms of preserving the highlights, shadows, or both! The best part is, this doesn’t have to apply to the whole roll. If you have some shots that you want scanned neutral, and some that you would like moody or silhouetted, just let us know beforehand. Our scanners will take the time to correct for each image on your roll. In the end, it’s all about good communication. If you have a question about shooting, pushing, or scanning, don’t hesitate to reach out to us! photo by Kristin Wahls | Portra 400 +1 | Canon EOS 1V We wanted to share with you some shots of our lab summer party! Our team members took a break from processing your orders to spend some quality time with both their personal families and our lab family. Nothing says summer quite like playing at the park, BBQ-ing delicious food, and an all-around good time.
We get asked all the time about how to handle traveling with film. Is it ok to put it in my bag? Do I need to hand check it? What ISO’s do I need to worry about? They would not hand check my film, am I screwed? As a team who travels A LOT and almost always with at least 50 rolls of film ranging from 100-3200 ISO AND instant film, let us share with you our experience.
Checked Bags vs. Carry-on Luggage – We would never put my film in the luggage that gets checked. (the luggage where all my clothes, toiletries, shoes, etc. are) The X-Ray machine they use for that will almost always leave weird streaks throughout your film. We’ve heard of a couple isolated incidents of people who did send film through but we can not recommend enough to NEVER put film in your checked bags. Carry-on luggage is a completely different story. We put film of all ISO’s (all the way up to 3200) through the TSA Security Checkpoint x-rays multiple times. Anything under 800 ISO does not need to be hand checked if you are traveling domestically within the United States. We can not vouch for other countries but as long as you walk by the machine and it does not hum like a microwave you should be fine :). Some folks may argue this statement, but we’ve traveled on hundreds of flights with film all over the world and we’ve never had a problem with fogged film in any of our scans. If it does exist, it is so minute you’d have to get a loupe out on a light table to see it. Instant Film – This can not be put through any x-ray machine. It must be hand checked. And for those traveling with the Fuji pack film, we highly suggest taking it out of the box and out of the silver wrapping as if you don’t, TSA might do it themselves which could cause you to miss your flight depending on how long they take. Instax, Polaroid, Fuji pack film, anything instant will be fogged by the x-ray machines. You should expect your blacks to be very muddied in x-rayed film. High ISO Film – It is suggested that you hand check film OVER 800 ISO. Meaning that 800 ISO film (particularly Portra 800) can go through the x-ray at TSA. 3200 speed film should be hand checked by TSA. Again, just like the instant film, have it out of the box and wrapper. If it is in the box, they regularly open each box and swab each roll which can be a nightmare depending on how much of that film you brought with you. Have it all ready in a ziplock bag by itself completely separate from my other film so you can easily hand it to TSA. Flying Internationally – If you are flying internationally with film, allot yourself a bit more time at the airport for security to hand check and use your best judgement. Every country will be different. Every situation will be different. Pushed Film – We recommend having it hand checked AFTER it is exposed. Prior to exposing it is fine. When in doubt, ask for a hand check. We highly recommend carrying a sharpie in your camera bags and write in big, bold, black letters the ISO that you shot it at. That way TSA see it says 1600/3200/6400. loading
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