# erotic film processing



## olderguy

here's a tricky one for you people. I like to take erotic pics with my medium format 120 camera. 

does anyone know where I get these processed by a lab, maybe specializing in this sort of genre? I don't want to send this stuff to a lab I'm not sure of with images some find naughty.


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## limr

olderguy said:


> here's a tricky one for you people. I like to take erotic pics with my medium format 120 camera.
> 
> does anyone know where I get these processed by a lab, maybe specializing in this sort of genre? I don't want to send this stuff to a lab I'm not sure of with images some find naughty.



Shoot in black and white and develop it yourself. Scan into the computer using either a film scanner or a DSLR.

Otherwise, unless there's something illegal being portrayed, I wouldn't worry about it. Send it to Dwayne's or The Darkroom. Chances are the techs developing and scanning might snicker but beyond that, they won't care one whit. That's if they're even paying attention to the content of the images. I'm also fairly certain you won't be the only one sending "naughty" pictures for developing.


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## 480sparky

Simply ask a lab what their policy is.  Some will, some won't, and some will make a judgement call depending on what they see in the negs.

As for 'scanning' with a DSLR, there's no real point in 'scanning' MF negs with a DSLR as you will end up with an image that is limited by the technical capabilities of the camera & lens.... so you might as well just use the DSLR to take the image in the first place.

For $200, you can get a good MF-capable flatbed scanner.


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## bribrius

you may not want to use the walmart send out service. last i did with such pics i received a nasty little note about how they do not develop such content. (that would be fuji lab i believe). There policy may have changed since then however worth a call.

Photosmiths in dover nh will probably do it. I think they process about anything without a care.


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## webestang64

I do that type of processing at my lab. We offer color print, E-6 and BW process and scan onto CD as well.


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## bribrius

webestang64 said:


> I do that type of processing at my lab. We offer color print, E-6 and BW process and scan onto CD as well.


since you work in a lab, do they actually check each print? Usually when i send out i get a slip back with the photos saying something like "quality checked by claire xxx" or something. Which leads me to believe some actually check each individual photo. Or is this fake?


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## compur

Post some samples (20-30 should be enough) so we can better evaluate the issue.


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## webestang64

bribrius said:


> webestang64 said:
> 
> 
> 
> I do that type of processing at my lab. We offer color print, E-6 and BW process and scan onto CD as well.
> 
> 
> 
> since you work in a lab, do they actually check each print? Usually when i send out i get a slip back with the photos saying something like "quality checked by claire xxx" or something. Which leads me to believe some actually check each individual photo. Or is this fake?
Click to expand...


We view each and every photo before (make adjustments) and after printing (make sure it's optimal). Then we have another lab tech double check the work for any after printed corrections and print the photo again if we think it should be improved. All the lab techs in our lab have been doing this for years (I've worked in photos labs since 1985) and are highly skilled photographers ourselves.


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## minicoop1985

I work in a lab too, and we've had some rather... intriguing things come our way. We don't really care much, but some of it is less artistic than it is flat out porn. Some of it I would like to repress far away in the recesses of my memory where it isn't accessible.


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## The_Traveler

I must admit I opened this thread just to see what could happen in the darkroom while processing film.


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## bribrius

minicoop1985 said:


> I work in a lab too, and we've had some rather... intriguing things come our way. We don't really care much, but some of it is less artistic than it is flat out porn. Some of it I would like to repress far away in the recesses of my memory where it isn't accessible.


Oh, you must have processed my donkey in satin pics...


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## kdthomas

bribrius said:


> Oh, you must have processed my donkey in satin pics...



Wasn't that a Moody Blues tune from the early 70's?


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## runnah

The_Traveler said:


> I must admit I opened this thread just to see what could happen in the darkroom while processing film.



Dear Penthouse Forum,

The smell of fixer hung heavily in the air...


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## The_Traveler

_Dear Penthouse Forum,

The smell of fixer hung heavily in the air... _

I thought I was alone in the dark but suddenly one, no two shapely shadows passed between me and the red light.
'Hello, big boy.'  Two sultry voices whispered in chorus and two lithe but buxom bodies pressed me against the shelf while nimble fingers plucked at the top of my developer jugs.
'Need any help with those jugs,' I croaked.

OK, who goes next?


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## limr

"Need any help with those jugs?"

"No, thanks," they replied. "We're just fine. We'll be in here developing all of our film while you go clean the house and mow the lawn. We'll expect dinner on the table when we're done in here. Thanks ever so much. Buh-bye now."

The End


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## unpopular

The_Traveler said:


> _Dear Penthouse Forum,
> 
> The smell of fixer hung heavily in the air... _



Have you ever noticed that the smell of fixer seems to linger on your nut-sweat?

(seriously - am I the only one?)


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## The_Traveler

To be honest, I generally kept my genitals out of the fixer (developer and stop-bath also).


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## unpopular

See, I thought that was the problem, but even when I stopped developing prints with my junk the problem persisted.


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## limr

unpopular said:


> See, I thought that was the problem, but even when I stopped developing prints with my junk the problem persisted.



Dude, no wonder you went digital.


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## The_Traveler

I don't want to know if or how you agitated.


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## kdthomas

(ahem ...) 

Stand Developing?


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## unpopular

I agree. Just be sure to keep the reel erect.


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## Kjar

Man, this threads title was so misleading... I thought a new trend was going down


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## gsgary

I thought it read erratic development


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## pixmedic

gsgary said:


> I thought it read erratic development


I thought it said exotic film development


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## terri

So many disappointed souls...


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## petrochemist

Another thing to check before sending these off for processing. Depending on where you live it might be Illegal to send these through the post. The UK post does not permit 'obscene images'. Whether or not your 'erotic images' would be classed as obscene I wouldn't know.


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## gsgary

petrochemist said:


> Another thing to check before sending these off for processing. Depending on where you live it might be Illegal to send these through the post. The UK post does not permit 'obscene images'. Whether or not your 'erotic images' would be classed as obscene I wouldn't know.


Looks like I'm in trouble then


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## Jim Walczak

I know this thread is a few months old, however I feel strongly compelled to chime in on this one...

Whether you're shooting "erotic" or flat out porn, my advice is to use a GREAT DEAL OF CAUTION in regards to who you deal with!  The sad and unfortunate truth is that there are a lot of really ignorant people out there who lack all sense of discretion regarding their own sense of moral high ground.  Reading through this thread, I'm reminded of the lady a few years back who had shot some nudes of her young grand daughter.  The images were not offensive in ANY way and were in fact quite innocent (I've seen them), however some overly moralistic idiot at a lab got ahold of them and long story short, the poor woman ended up in court and the whole situation turned into a rather significant media fiasco.  The court case was ultimately dismissed as I recall, however the whole incident seriously harmed the woman's credibility as a professional photographer.

On a personal level, while not photography related, I had a similar incident occur while I was in college a few years back.  Back in 2011 I had created a short video on the work of Leonardo da Vinci for an art history class, including some 3D animations of a few of his more notable inventions (I was taking both Art History II and 3D Modeling & Animation at the time, so it seemed like an interesting way to bridge the classes).  The video also included a number of da Vinci's paintings, including the notable "Leda and the Swan".  I was ultimately nominated for and received the  college's Talent of the Year award for the production, HOWEVER, the video was banned from being viewed at the awards ceremony because "it contained a nude" and was deemed "unsuitable for such a family oriented event".  An ignorant idiot who actually worked in the school's art department saw the image of Leda and essentially considered it to be porn.  -YES- there's people _THAT_ stupid out there!  It didn't really bother me too much personally...I was just honored to be nominated for the award, however several of my professors were in fact quite angry about the situation.  Nudes are after all, a time honored tradition in the art world and to have a genuine masterpiece viewed in that context, particularly by someone working in the art department of a college...yea...it turned into a bit of a mess.  Interestingly enough, in my haste to complete the video I actually used the wrong Leda...I didn't realize it until some weeks later, however I had actually used Cesare da Sesto's copy done from da Vinci's original by mistake, LOL!  Had the video of been banned due to the use of the wrong Leda, I doubt most people would have gotten TOO upset about it, however because it was banned for being viewed as porno, several people (including the Art History teach and my 3D professor) got quite angry about it.

So again, in today's often heated society with some rather unfortunate tendencies towards political correctness where even a 500 year old masterpiece can be taken out of context, USE CAUTION when dealing with _anything _of an erotic nature.  For the time it takes to ask a few questions or make a few phone calls, you might be able to save yourself a world of headaches!


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## kdthomas

I hear ya, @Jim Walczak ... my current (albeit paranoid, I may change it) policy on nude children is both parents and a licensed social worker sign off on a shot list with sketches, and both parents and the social worker are present at the shoot. If they kick my door down, I'm gonna have some kind of defense.

And yes, it's already come up as an amateur-seeking-semi-pro ... I've already been asked to do naked images of a baby. Totally innocent idea of course, dad & mother of two, decent country folks. Had to tell 'em the hard news.


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## desertrattm2r12

I worked in a photo lab one Christmas holiday in a wealthy town. We got tons of photos to process. There was one older lady who would look at the output and zero in on anything she thought was kiddie porn. Mostly it was new parents bathing a toddler. But she'd call the cops on them. People do look at the photos, They are supposed to see if things are going along all right but they can notice other things too, There are pro labs in Los Angeles where the people are realistic and won't have steam coming out their ears over something that does not go over the line.


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## annamaria

This thread had me howling!! [emoji12]


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