Things You Should Know Up-front
We love to share our know how! Want to know about the basics of analogue photography? Check out our quick guide here.
First off lets talk about terminology used in analogue photography.
- Film is a light sensitive material used to capture images on, usually stored in a metal canister (35mm) or wrapped in paper (120).
- Development is when exposed film is processed with chemistry to create a workable image.
- The most common film type is a C41 process which creates a Colour Negative. Black and White process creates a Monochrome Negative. E6 process creates a Positive AKA Slide but can also be Cross Processed to create a Colour Negative.
- When we refer to Scanning were talking about capturing a digital image, at a chosen resolution, of your film to create a positive image file.
With that info out of the way, we can talk about how we handle your precious films!
To start we need to get them, so please send all films...beers...postcards and chocolate to the closest store to you, please see here for our full address details.
When shipping us films, please use a trackable service. We have good a rapport with Post Haste, Courier Post and NZ Post so we recommend one of those three.
When we get your films we will get in touch with an eta on when your films will be shared with you. The turnaround times listed with each service are an approximate and can vary depending on our workload. If we think it will be longer than our expected turnaround we will let you know.
After informing you of our turnaround we will get to work. Both stores have a slightly difference workflow but it is like this:
- Develop your Colour C41 in our linear processor and B&W or ECN-2 films in our semi-automatic processor using single shot B&W or ECN-2 chemistry. We do not offer an in house E6 service however, we do use another lab so feel free to send us your slide films.
- Once developed your film is then scanned using one of our Fujifilm Frontier Scanners. This is where the magic happens. We have customised our scanners to get the most analogue goodness out of your films. However, we do understand that not everyone's taste is the same, so we recommend you letting us know if you aren't happy with your scans. Some people prefer flatter scans where others prefer darker shadows, feel free to let us know if you have this preference or you can let our team do their thing and see how it comes out.
- Once scanned we will share the scans back to you via a shared google drive folder. This is where all your films will end up. Please do not change this folder as we need it to remain the same for your future scans. You'll get an email when the files are uploaded and ready for viewing! If you do not wish for your scans to be shared via Google Drive then please contact us directly.
- This is where our stores slightly differ:
Auckland Store: All films are cut and sleeved and stored on-site for 12 months. If you do not collect them after 12 months they will be destroyed.
Wellington Store: All films are not cut and sleeved, if you would like your films cut and sleeved you will need to note this at drop off or when you ship them to us. Negatives are stored in the Wellington store for 6 months, then they are shifted to off-site storage for 6 more months. If you want to collect your negatives when they are off-site there will be a $10 charge per order.
After 12 months of storage they will be destroyed.
You will get all your scans in one go and we scan all exposed frames, so if you don't get all frames back it may be because the images weren't exposed properly. You're more than welcome to email and ask if this is the case. For instructions on how to download your images or transfer them to your own Google Drive please click here.
Blank films happen to the best of us for a multitude of reasons (such as human error or equipment failure.) Should your film come out blank you will be given a store credit for the scanning portion of the job (Service cost minus Develop Only charge.) We will be in touch if this happens and offer to inspect your camera or technique.
Although the utmost care is taken when handling all films, occasionally things can go wrong. In the unlikely and unfortunate event of something going wrong, Splendid Photo is only liable for the replacement value of replacement of unexposed films, if we cannot replace with the identical films a similar equivalent will be supplied. This applies to all consumer and professionally shot films. By using Splendid Photo you agree to this.
With the fine print out of the way here are some fun tips to get you into shooting:
- HAVE FUN, photography should be a fun hobby, have fun with it. There are plenty of film stocks out there, try something new, don't listen to all the YouTube or instagram photographers or bloggers, try it for yourself.
- NZ light reacts differently to the rest of the world. We do not have much pollution that can offer diffused sunlight. Know that your Portra 400 may not look like the American or European photographer you follow on Instagram.
- Use 'slower' film for outdoors (around 100ISO or 200ISO) and 'faster' film for indoors (400ISO and 3200ISO.)
- Push and Pulling film can be a great way to make your film more or less sensitive. Remember if you rate your 200ISO film at 400ISO you are 'pushing' it one stop. Please make sure you tell us what you rated the film at so there is no confusion on pushing or pulling.
- Take notes! If you want to experiment, taking notes can be a lifesaver if you stumble across a cool effect. Jotting down the shutter speed and aperture can help you recreate that effect.
- Use your flash, if you have a flash and you're indoors use it! Especially if you are using a disposable camera.
- Shoot plenty! This is kinda simple but the more you shoot the more you'll learn.
- Ask questions, we all shoot film, so if you're wanting to get into shooting film feel free to ask us as many questions as you like. If we don't know the answer we'll look it up with you!