The perils and plunders of one hour photo labs.
By jason mossburg
2 March 2007
Have you ever gone to pick up your pictures from the one hour photo lab and somehow your pictures got messed up. Whether there the wrong pictures, the wrong quantity, or they simply look like crap it is very frustrating. Well I've worked in a large commercial photo lab for over two years and being an aspiring photographer I know all to well what it feels like. So what I'm going to do is give you a few tips I've picked up along the way.
First go to the same place rather then going where ever is closest. By doing this you will be able to for a relation ship with the people that work there. From experience working in a photo lab I can tell you that when we see people that come in a lot we are a lot more likely to remember what you like and where your pictures are. Also if you frequent the same place many people will become familiar with your style of photography. So if they notice that your pictures look a little off or they notice something out of the ordinary they will double check to make sure that the order is right.
The next thing is talk to the employees. Most of them want to help you because of how bored they are. If you explain to them what you are trying to accomplish they might know a better way of doing it or a service that the store offers that you might not know about. They will also make notes on your order for other employees so other employees have a better understanding of what you are looking for in your pictures.
The last tip I can give you is try not to yell. If something does happen to your order almost all of the time it can be corrected and if you are nice and ask politely they will always redo it for free and try to print it as fast as they can. It is upsetting to get there and not get what you had ordered but if you yell and scream it is going to make the employees not want to help you when you come back in.
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