When the reality sinks in…
I’ve been back in Houston almost 8 months now. (Taking a moment to wrap my head around that…) Today I’ve got one more item to add to the list of things I miss about Los Angeles: high-volume pro film labs. I got spoiled in LA living two blocks from A&I. When I was starting photography classes their hours had them open until 2AM. With three hour turn-around on slide processing, I could still drop a roll of at 11PM and pick it up before they closed for the night. Great for the photo student trying to push his deadlines.
Today I had to get a roll to AZ Lab that I’ll need for an 11:30 class at UH tomorrow. Getting the roll to them right at 2:30 this afternoon, it won’t be ready for me to pick up until 10:30 tomorrow morning.
I know most pros are transitioning to digital–I am too. And I know that in spite of FotoFest, Houston really isn’t a very big photography town compared to LA or NY. Still, a pro camera shop and an extended hours lab shouldn’t be too much to ask from the 4th largest city in the country.
A pro camera shop and an extended hours lab shouldn’t be too much to ask from the 4th largest city in the country.
Nor should reliable public transportation, more than one daily newspaper or a half-way decent oldies station.
yeah, i’ve noticed that too.. houston isn’t so big on photography.. :( oh well… maybe we need to form some sort of affiliation or organization to promote this? :)
If I need something special I go to APB (or is it API) down by Greenway Plaza. They’re a pretty good shop, I don’t think that they have extended hours but they do good, cheap processing and turnaround is quick (slides in an hour – sweet!). If you go north on Edloe from 59, turn right on Branard, and then right on the 2nd street (Mercer, I think) it’s down there.
P.S. My mom’s a photo student at UH (Susan Brubaker), she’s in the block program. Just in case you run in to her, she knows more than I do on camera stuff in the area.
There are some sites out there that are trying to energize the photography scene in Houston:
The very active: TexasPhotoForum.com is a great place to meet and learn from other locals, and they have regular meet-ups with other photogs for sessions.
And my own ShootHouston.com was started to have a place for Houston Photogs to share great locations to take photos in Houston. The forum there is still in it’s infancy (only about 100 locations detailed so far), so feel free to join and contribute.