How I Turned My Basement into a Film Processing, Scanning, Printing, and Video Conversion Lab!

The start of a long career…

I started off as a photographer back in the ’80s. I landed a job at a local one-hour photo lab on Highland St. in Worcester, MA. Called “Highland St. One Hour Photo.” Little did I know this would develop (pun intended) into a career of not just photography but also working behind the scenes in a photo lab.

From there, when that lab closed its doors, I started a job at Morins Studio & Camera Shop in Milford, MA, as a photographer and lab manager in 1995.

The lab before permanently closing in 2026:

At Morins I worked with, operated, and maintained a lot of different print processors, negative processors, and scanners. Copal, Fuji, Lucht, Eseco, and Noritsu, to name a few.

The Future.

When Morins decided to close its doors, after being there as a photographer and running the lab for 30 years, I decided I was not ready to call it quits. I wanted to continue doing what I love to do. There is something magical in the entire process of photographing, developing, and then printing images and seeing them come to life.

So I decided to start a business and build my own lab. The process has been long, but just like the entire photographic process, seeing the new lab come to life is magical.

The Cleanup.

A labor of love. Who likes the cleanup part?? There is something satisfying about getting rid of junk that is just clutter. (I can be a bit of a pack rat.)

The Walls.

The walls came next. A good foundation is essential for a sound structure. Along with the walls, we also got the electric setup.

The Paint.

Who likes to paint? Not me! But it has to get done. I started painting the concrete block walls.

The Drywall.

Next came putting up the drywall for the ceiling and walls and cutting out the holes for lighting and electricity.

More Paint.

Plastering and painting the new ceiling and walls.

The Floor.

Of course I couldn’t make the room look nice without several coats of paint on the floor.

The Power.

Once everything was painted, it was time to put the Noritsu C-41 processor in place and hook up the power. At this point, I filled it with water to make sure everything was working correctly and there were no leaks after the move. I also got a few counters moved in, along with the film station.

Getting things in place.

With the electricity hooked up and lights installed, it was time to figure out how I want everything set up and install shelves. I will be moving things around to best suit my workflow.