My first roll of Portra 400 looked awful compared to the sample shots I saw online

I shot my first roll of Portra 400 last weekend and the colors came out super washed out and greenish... not like the golden warm tone photos everyone posts. I was using a local lab in Austin for processing and standard scans. Turns out the lab was underdeveloping by about 30 seconds because they were rushing through a big batch of film. I sent the same negatives to a different lab in Dallas and the difference was night and day. Has anyone else had a bad experience with a lab messing up your film development on a first try?

2 comments

2 Comments

ross.angela29d ago

The "lab was underdeveloping by about 30 seconds" part really hits home. It's like how a lot of things we buy online look amazing in the promo photos but then you get them and they're totally different because the people making them cut corners. I feel like this is a bigger pattern everywhere now, not just film - everyone's in such a rush that the basic care and attention to detail just vanish. You pay for a premium service (like processing Portra) and they treat it like a fast food drive-thru, you know? It's frustrating because you're doing your part by buying the right film and exposing it properly, but then the lab just ruins it by being sloppy with the development.

mason_jackson29d ago

and honestly i feel like it's part of this bigger thing where everyone's just trying to get through the day as fast as possible, you know? like, i've noticed it at the grocery store too, where they'll put out produce that's already going bad because who's got time to check each apple. or even at coffee shops where they'll rush through making your drink and it comes out lukewarm. it's like the whole world is running on autopilot and nobody wants to slow down for two seconds to do something right. idk, maybe it's just me getting old and noticing it more.