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Scanning Around With Gene: The Photographic Moment of Truth
Getting pictures back from the photo-processing lab was often a roller coaster ride from excitement to disappointment and back again.
Written by Gene Gable on March 20, 2009
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If you were lucky you got your negatives and prints back in decent shape and they were actually your pictures. But it wasn’t that uncommon to get someone else’s vacation or graduation pictures, and then good luck straightening out the mix-up. And pity the poor soul who received one of the dreaded “why your pictures look like crap” notes that were tucked in the envelope when disaster of some sort struck.


Filling out those processing envelopes, ordering reprints (try guessing which number goes with which image), indicating cropping for enlargements, and the emotion of picking up your prints are rituals many young people will never know. Nor do they have to worry about some young punk like me snooping through their images on a boring Saturday afternoon.
But wait. I think that’s why they invented Facebook.











Checking prints
Gene,
I used to be one of those casual types that you mentioned, i.e. just pick up the envelope and leave. However, after a few incidents in which the prints or negatives were botched (e.g. flipped horizontally, underdeveloped, etc.), even at supposedly reputable labs, I became one of those people who would check every item at the counter before I left.
Soon enough, I had set up a lab at work to process my own photos. As the saying goes, if you want it done right, sometimes you have to do it yourself.
Creepy Clowns
Boy, I've heard of creepy clowns, but to realize that pic was of serial-killer John Gacy must have sent chills down your spine! I hope none of his victims were also pictured in that print. Thanks to all for great postings. And to think we worry about our privacy now days. Seems like snooping on customer photos was a pretty common practice.
Torrance Camera for me!
Hey! I used to go to Torrance Camera. I bought my first camera there. (A Kodak 110 -- way cool.)