Since I have been searching for a facility where I can process my colour photographs, I visited Make It Easy Lab and had a chat with Alice about what services they offer and how it all works. I booked in to hire the colour darkroom, and the Lab would process my negatives for me in the meantime so they would be ready for my session. Since I had used expired film, Alice advised me that they could push the film during development to compensate for the reduced sensitivity of the film, so I asked her to go ahead with this.
I arrived on Wednesday and met with Rhys, who inducted me into the space. We both spoke about our work, and I explained what I was looking to achieve with these images. Since this was my first time colour processing, Rhys explained to me how to make colour adjustments on the enlarger, and what adjustments would lead to what result (he wrote this in a handy table so I was able to wrap my head around it!). I then got on with the business of processing.
The Lab is equipped with a processor which greatly eased my processing and reduced the time I would have spent waiting for each print. It did take a while to get familiar with the darkroom which does not have safelights, so I was operating in complete darkness. I also found that there are more variables involved in colour processing than black and white, and it was difficult at first to predict the outcome of the colour adjustments I was making, but Rhys and Lab founder Dan provided assistance and encouragement. In all, I was pleased with the progress I made and look forward to visiting again in future- perhaps for one of their events.
Make It Easy Lab are located at 18 Queensbridge Road, Nottingham, NG2 1NB. They provide 1-1 mentoring and events, as well as darkroom hire and developing services. https://makeiteasylab.com/