Shooting Film in London & UK

[TheGreatOg]

*Gasp!* Yes, I'm taking my film SLR with me on my trip in May. At least it's a Canon! I'm working on a film photography course right now and am going to use some prints from my trip for my final assignment. Don't flog me for asking, not too hard anyways. ;) Now to my question...

I won't bring film with me from the US to the UK because going through airport x-ray machines will destroy it. My plan was to purchase the film in the UK. I was reading on a website about National Geographic photographers that they shoot their film and mail their rolls home for development. Is that feasible financially? Don't they x-ray packages in the mail? Would I be risking ruining all of my hard work and the entire trips shots by mailing them? The thought of finding a random film lab to develop all of my film while I'm in the UK is daunting (the exchange rate is 2:1 in the favor of the pound right now) = very expensive. Any ideas? Suggestions? Any UK POTNers in or near West London want to recommend labs? Anyone with prior experience thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

*Bends over for the obligatory 'film is a dirty word' flogging.*

[AlexMN]

Don't know if they xray mail these days, with the increased security at ports it wouldn't surprise me. If I was you I would have my stuff procesed in London, a couple of labs that I use for commercial work and have no hesitation recomending are...

http://www.metroimaging.co.uk/ based in Soho, central London Tel: 00 44 20 7865 0000

and

http://www.genesis-digital.net based in Fulham, west London Tel: 00 44 20 7731 2227

Both are aimed squarely at the pro market and provide in my experience an excellent service, however their prices reflect this!

Hope this helps, let me know if you want any more info...:) Or indeed if you want to process yourself and need access to a lab/darkroom whilst in London I can put you in touch with people who would be able to help!

Alex

[Scott-JL]

What's "film"? ;)

[TheGreatOg]

Alex, you're a sweet beautiful man or woman. Let me get my itinerary and thoughts in order and then I'll pm you if I think I need more info, or to talk further. Scott, "film" is an archaic (albeit useful) medium one uses to clean dust bunnies out of old cameras.

[AlexMN]

Glad to help, don't hesitate to pm me if you need any more info, about labs or London in general...

So any ideas what you are going to shoot over here?

Alex

[bieber]

Isn't the whole airport-security-destroying-film thing just an urban myth?

[GORDO]

Took 16 roll's of film to Mexico last year and brought them back again.Had them in my suitcase.no issue's when i got them developded and at least half of them were iso 400.Regards-- gordo--

[TheGreatOg]

That's a thinker Gordo. Do I want to risk losing my film though? They x-ray it in London on the way out. They x-ray it again in New York (after you go through customs you have to retrieve your bag and re-check-in for your last leg flight). Maybe more research is in order.

Where do I want to shoot? I've been working on that list. I lived in London for 11 years so I'm past the touristy-shot phase. I haven't decided if I'll stick to England or allow myself to galavant off to Wales and/or Scotland. Assuming I'll allow myself to travel far (when have I ever been able to restrain myself? ;) ) then I'd like to hit places like Cadair Idris (Snowdonia, Wales), Glastonbury Tor, Lime Regis, Old Sarum, Blenheim Palace, Chester, Amersham and wherever else I can find by getting lost on the B roads. In London I want to canvas Camden Town (my old haunt), get some oldy-but-goody shots for my assigment of The Tower and head west from there, I lived off of Marlyebone so I'll hit it around Edgeware and Hyde Park....as you can see, my itinerary needs work. Any off-the-touristy-track ideas would be more than welcome. I can't tell you how excited I am, I feel like I'm going home.

Edited: I forgot to mention the reason for the entire trip. I'm shooting a ceremony for an Admiral at my old Alma Mater in Buckinghamshire. :)

[breal101]

I used to travel with film quite a bit, my only bad experience was at Gatwick. The film was ISO 400 BW, it wasn't ruined but it was a pain to print. From then on I would always process the film before leaving the UK. Could have been a defective machine but I didn't want to take that chance. This was pre 911 so I could usually get my camera bag hand inspected, they didn't X-ray it in Atlanta.