Various Portland Oregon Local and National Photo Resources
No matter how much you know today, you'll have to know more tomorrow.
Major Sites
To get a manufacturers view of photography jump to Kodak.
Always a good place to find out information on processing Kodak film and specs.
They even have a section for aspiring digital photographers at this URL:
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/digital/dlc/
Fuji film is a big player in the film industry. Their color print and slide film (Velvia for slide and Superia for print) is highly rated.
Even Argus Camera (who have been around since 1936) have useful information on their site.
There are web sites now for every brand of camera manufacturer. Some there, since being international, require you to pick your region of the world before you enter. Many firms sell cameras and gear in parts of the world that they never sell in the USA and vice versa (I surmise this is mainly due to laws, but sometimes due to market demand. Test gear in one area and if successfully then sell it elsewhere. But the support costs and selling (consumer laws, and other issues is really why most sell only in certain geographic regions.)
Digital seems to be taking over the world, but there still is a need for analog photography. In many cases it will always be better than digital. A site just for analog photographers is Analog Photography Users Group.
Links to Purchase photographs
NextMonet.com is a site I read about in Pop Photo as well as OnView.com. In Portland in the "Old Town" area Photographic Image Gallery is where you can purchase nationally and internally known prints. I've seen prices for prints ranging from $450 to $4,500. Some were just 18 x 18. At least they let you purchase on installments. There are many places in the web to purchase prints (including my own of course!)
Portland Metro Area Photography Stores
Local Portland Camera Stores
That I use
- Blue Moon Camera and Machine 8417 N Lombard St, Portland Oregon 97203. 503-978-0333. Physically located in the St. Johns neighborhood at the east end of the bridge in the shopping area there.
- Camera World 400 SW Sixth Avenue Portland, Oregon 97204; (800) 876-7058; which is a mail order and walk in store in downtown Portland. Part of Ritz Camera now.
- Citizens Photo 709 SE 7th Avenue Portland, Oregon 97214; (800) 221-8267. Lab equipment, large format and 35 mm cameras, film developing, new and used equipment and so on.
- U-Develop and Digicraft (different branches of the same firm); 4100 SW Barbur Blvd; Portland OR 97201 fax 503.223.8023, Ph. 503.223.6364 which is where you can go and rent a darkroom by the hour and do your own printing as well as turn in film into their full service lab.
- Pro Photo Supply Epson, MacIntosh, Ilford, Kodak, cameras they cover it all. In March of 2005 they started doing film processing. They have always been a digital shop and you can print your images off of their self service large printers. 1112 NW 19th Ave, Portland, Or 97209. 503-241-1112 or toll free 800-835-3314.
- Advance Camera 8124 SW Beaverton Hillsdale Highway; Portland, Oregon 97225. Fax 503-292-7298, Ph 503-292-6996
- Tymers Photo 1601 Broadway in downtown Vancouver Washington; (800)-290-7655. They are now a production shop. No longer a full photo store.
- Compass Micro 436 SE 91st Ave. Portland, OR 97216, 503-408-8726 Carries Epson and Canon parts for your scanners, printers computer equipment.
Elsewhere in Oregon
- PhotoVision. 3775 Market Street NE; Salem, Oregon 97301 503-363-0845. If you live in the Salem area going to this store will give you quality results from your film, or binary files.
Which store I go to depends on what I need to get developed / printed.
In the One Hour type category of stores I will also use Kit's Camera or Ritz's Camera for developing on occasion. I will use them based solely on what on the processing speed turn-around time constraints are keeping in mind what the trade-off are in the quality of processing. These people all meet the minimum specs of processing mandated by Kodak, Fuji and others. When fast turn-around time and minimum specs will do for a roll of film I go there. Suburban Photo and the others are at the high end of the specs for processing so you pay more to get there and the turn-around time is usually 3 days or more.
Post Production Stores
After the initial developing and printing you go to these stores for custom printing and services.
- Photocraft 320 SW Stark; 503-225-0515. Geared toward commercial photographers. Full service lab with a Fuji printer. I use them for my B&W work.
- Lenswork
- K&K Color Lab Film and Digital Service Bureau
- Kolour Service; 433 NE 11th at Glisan; 503-231-9597 / 800-877-5647
- Digicraft / U-Develop; 4100 SW Barbur Blvd Portland, OR 97239 Phone: (503) 223-1328 Fax: 5032238023
Local Portland Photo Specialty Services
- New Space Photo;
physically located at The New Space
1632 se 10th Ave., Portland, Oregon; is a new place locally to develop and print your own images. - Cedar House Media. Offset printing of your photos. 3385 SW 123rd Ave., Suite 101; Beaverton, OR 97005; Fax: 503-641-1845; Phone: 503-641-3320.
Photo Supply Stores
There are lots of photo supply stores. These may not carry a full line of cameras etc but often deal with support items such as projectors, specialized copy film, printing only etcetera.
- LearnMaster 503-643-9982 handles presentation products
- Pacific Studio Supplies; #170-5640 Hollybridge Way, Richmond BC V7C 4N3 Canada; 604-278-7937; pss1 @ telus.net has a wide range of lamination material that protects your prints.
- Laube Imaging Products 1351 S. Cleve-Mass Rd. Suite #4, Akron, Ohio 44321. 800-395-2748 . Fax 330-665-3963 Full line store of both film and digital products.
Camera Repair Shops
There are only a few repair shops in Portland.- Camera Works, 9214 SW Beaverton Hillsdale Highway; i.e.: Highway 10 east of 217 by 78th (in Beaverton); 800-527-8599. I've been using this shop since 1991.
- Advance Camera Repair quite literally just a few blocks down the road (toward Hillsdale) from Camera works.
- Camera Solutions 6401 SW Macadam Avenue; Portland, Oregon 97239-3555; (503) 452-3907. They are an authorized Mamiya repair center and they specialize in Nikons too.
Most any camera / photo shop will take in a camera for repair. They will then just send it onto the local authorized repair shops in town to save you the trip. Kit's Camera, Ritz Camera, Camera World, and other chain camera stores provide this service for photographers.
Digital Camera Specialized Items
- Visible Dust is a company that markets items to clean dust off of digital sensors.
Digital Recover
With the rise of digital cameras, memory cards (of many types) and even mini-hard drives for cameras when one of these items fail and you have images on them you want to recover you have to send them off somewhere to get repaired.
They can do this even if you have reformatted you card/drive.
Now you are in the world of "data recovery." There are not many firms specializing in data recovery for cameras as of yet - but there will be.
- Tallyn's Professional Photographic Supply; 1609 W Derweiller Drive, Peroria Illinois 61615; 309-692-5005 or 800-433-8685
Frame Shops
In order to display pictures you need to either make your own frames (as I do), purchase them pre-made (and I do that too) or go to a shop that does it for you. A good matted and framed photograph enhances the photo. You can easily spend $100.00 to $500.00 at a store to get any type of picture framed.
- Chrisman Picture Frame Gallery; 2912 E. Burnside St; Portland, Oregon 97214; 503-231-7462
- Beards Frame Shop (chain store)
- Taketa Art and Framing 6617 E Mill Plain; Vancouver, Washington 98661. 360-260-8410
- Memory Mat is located in Newberg Oregon. They can create any custom mats via a digital laser cutting system. 503-538-1457 or 800-533-7056
- Frame World New Address as of October 2007: 4450 Hall Blvd; Beaverton OR 97005. Phone 503-671-9336 Fax 503-626-6967. Custom or Do It Yourself (DIY) picture framing. Now behind Beaverton Bakery at the corner of the Hall and Canyon Road.
- Framers Inventory 5000 SE 18th Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97202. Phone 800-543-2467 or 503-236-9293 . Fax 503-238-3899. Chris @ fipdx.com.
Local Portland Area Galleries
- Aero Frame Gallery 1900 McLoughlin Blvd. Suite 72; Oregon City, Oregon 97045; 503-557-1333
Specialty Photo Sites
With the advent of consumer digital cameras there are many sites that cater to that segment of photography. One site is http://www.dcviews.com/ Digital Camera Views.
For underwater camera gear a business down in Monterey California is Light & Motion Industries. Lots of neat dedicated photo & video gear for underwater work. For a test they will throw you into the aquarium down the street. (Just kidding! The aquarium was used in Star Trek IV - The Voyage Home as the home of the whale.)
In Portland there is the 3D Center of Art & Photography at 1928 NW Lovejoy. $4.00 admission. Has multiple galleries and photo and physical items which are constantly changing. Includes antique and contemporary works. Sponsored by the Cascade Stereoscopic Club (Non-Profit) 503-227-6667. Fri-Sat 1-5 PM, First Thursday 6-9.
If you do a lot of field studio work Innovatronix, Inc. has a field power supply for studio lighting systems.
Photo Backdrops
There are quite a few stores that sell backdrops - and you will need one if you plan to do any portrait work.
Signature Backgrounds Has general purpose and custom hand painted muslim backdrops. Been around since 1992.
Special Things to do With Your Images
These are sites that offer additional features / services other than just printing your pictures.
- myDaVinci.com creates pencil, oil painting, watercolor, or a color pencil sketch from your print. Over 20 different styles to choose from.
- Pip Squeeks Images allows you to use their or your own images to be printed on wide range of items.
- Jenni Bick Bookbinding is a way to create your own photo album. Other services on the site too.
- York Photo allows you to put images on all sorts of common objects.
- Petersen Studios (Portland Oregon local) is where you can turn your pictures into a hand made glass etching. 503-784-0989 petersenstudios @ aol . com
- Shaddy's Engraving Bret Dedmore takes any photo and using a laser prints it onto wood, marble, acrylic etc. 360-735-1917.
- These four sites allow you to create you own printed photo album
- OFoto - owned by Kodak
- SnapFish
- Shutterfly
- Moab Chinle Digital Book Kit You'll need to own a high quality printer though since you have to print your own photos.
Retouching and Restoring
If you have a need to retouch or restore photos (digital, or prints etc) there are people around that can do that for you (as well as full service labs.)
- Kristine Nystrom, Photo restoration artist, (503) 222-5218, kristinenystrom @ mindspring.com
- SoftMemories 503-358-5397. Dedicated to photo restoration and making photo collages from your prints.
Photo Image Sources
Internationally you can find lots of images at the Associated Press photo collection: http://www.apwideworld.com. In addition there are lots of other sites that have images who work like I do as independent photographers.
There are many other sites. There are many listed in the ASPP site and magazine.
AKG London http://www.akg-london.co.uk
Abraham Manashe, Inc. http://www.humanistic-photography.com
Alaska Stock http://www.alaskastock.com
Arcaid http://www.arcaid.co.uk
Barbara Singer Photography http://www.barbarasinger.com
Bridgeman Art Library http://www.Bridgeman.co.uk
Christie's Images http://www.christiesimages.com
Custom Medical Stock Photo http://www.cmsp.com
DDB Stock Photography http://www.ddbstock.com
David M. Grossman Photography 718-438-5021
Dean Pictures deanpictures @ mail.tele.co
Ede Rothaus ederothaus@aol.com
Esto http://www.esto.com
First Light Photo Research/Dandelion Productions
Fundamental Photographs http://www.fphoto.com
Grant Heilman Photography, Inc. ghphoto@redrose.com
Ken Lieberman Laboratories, Inc. http://www.lieberman-labs.com
Kenneth Garrett Photography klgarrett@aol.com
Kobal Collection 212-673-5600
Laser Light Photographics and Printmaking, Inc. http://www.laslight.com
Lonely Planet Images http://www.lonelyplanetimages.com
Martin M. Rotker http://www.martinrotker.com
Mary Evans Picture Library http://www.mepl.co.uk
Military Stock Photography http://militaryphoto.com
National Geographic Photographic & Digital Imaging Lab 202-857-7582
North Wind Picture Archive 800-952-0703
Nubar Alexanian Photographer http://www.nubar.com/realstock
Omni Photo Communications http://www.omniphoto.com
Pacific Press http://www.ppsimages.com
Peter Arnold Inc. http://www.peterarnold.com
Photo Sights http://www.photosights.com/
1-877-640-3322
Photo Source International http://www.photosourcebook.com
Rainbow rainbow@cybermesa.com
Ron Levy Photography http://www.ronlevy.com
Silver Images Photo Agency http://www.silver-image.com
Stock Answers phenning@telocity.com
Stock Boston http://www.stockboston.com
Susie Fitzhugh http://www.susiefitzhugh.com
The Image Works http://theimageworks.com
TimePix http://www.timepix.com
Visuals Unlimited http://www.visualsunlimited.com
staff@visualsunlimited.com
Woodfin Camp & Associates woodfin@pipeline.com
If you cannot find something there then there are photo directories.
Stock Agencies
Getting accepted as a stock photographer is very difficult. Typically you must spend 20 years working for newspapers, magazines and only then would stock agencies would consider you as part of their agency photographers and IF you had 20,000+ photos on had.
I do not think this has changed much. The Internet allows anyone to be a stock photographer and sell direct to the end user. This is what I do. But it is A LOT of work to run your own business AND catalog your images AND be the marketing agency all in one.
Online Stock Photography Agencies
- Alamy
- Boston Stock
- Corbis
- Cinemage
- Dreamstock
- Foto Search
- Fotolia
- Halo Images
- IStockPhoto
- Kobal Collection 212-673-5600
- Painet
- Photo Source International
- Picture Stock
- SIPA Press
- Shutterstock
- StockFoto
- Susie Fitzhugh Photographer sfitzhugh @ earthlink.com
- The Image Works
- Time Pix
- Visuals Unlimited staff @ visualsunlimited.com
- Zuma Press
Photo Search Engines
The major search engines like Google, Yahoo, Live & Ask all now have photo specific search tabs on their pages. This allows you to find images - if the web site owner has done a good job of adding meta data to the image link and has good text around the image that allows the search engnie to derive what the image is about.Photo Associations
Locally there is the Portland Photographers Forum (PPF) which I belong too. They sponsor the March swap meet in Portland and other photo related gatherings in various photographic shops in town. PPF is an Oregon Non-Profit registered organization. See their web site for current meeting topic and how to get to their monthly meeting.
I also belong to the American Society of Picture Photographers (ASPP) http://www.aspp.com. This is a national photographers association which keeps me keep informed of overall happenings in the photographic world.
Professional Digital Imaging Association is one geared toward the digital photographer in mainly the printed output side but also the capture side in scanners and of course cameras. I belong to them.
PMPA - - Portland Metropolitan Photographer's Association, Inc. Their newsletter is called "Contact Sheet".
Contact Printers Guild are those that are "dedicated to the tradition of hand-made platinum/palladium and silver chloride (Azo) contact prints."
Other Professional Organizations
- ASMP American Society of Media Professionals
- Portland local chapter http://www.asmporegon.com/
- Editorial Photographers
- Digital Photography Org and they have a tips page on the site also.
- Professional Photographers of Oregon Local affiliate of Professional Photographers of America
Support Equipment
Once you purchase a few items you will quickly find out that you need a way to carry all the equipment around. There are many ways to accomplish this from using old army duffel bags, backpacks no longer used and other items collected along the way. There are firms though that make bags just for photographers and their needs.
- Tamrac Photo camera bags and support equipment
- Lowepro Photo camera bags and support equipment
- Innovatronix - power supplies for field studio work
- Domke Makes photo vests, part of Tiffen®. They also own Stroboframe®, Steadicam®, Magnabrite® (loupes), Davis & Sanford (tripods, monopods, etc.) companies.
You can even find backpacks, bags, vests in sporting goods stores that will work sometimes.
Whomever you buy from, ensure that you get gear that works the way YOU do and not adjust your working style to fit the gear.
Film Type Reference Sources
I could not find a table for Kodak and Fuji films to match names to their code names or numbers so I created a page for each table. My Kodak and Fuji pages contain the information plus one for miscellaneous film types. I also have a Photo Tips page.
Since I use an Epson 2200 color InkJet printer I of course go to Epson to get the latest drivers and updates on their products. Always on the lookout for good information sources while going through Anchordesk I came across a site reference in a feedback message at a site called http://come.to/digitaldarkroom where this individual talks about how to get the best out of your Epson printer.
digital-photography.org has a page of links at their site. And you can go to Kodak and learn more about digital photography by taking courses online at http://www.kodak.com/US/en/digital/dlc/.
Take Great Pictures is a generalist photo site.
Non 35mm Sites
-
For those people who like experiment with Pinhole photography there is a slew
of resource URLs for that:
- http://www.f8.com/index.html
- Holga Camera at Freestyle Camera
- http://www.dcviews.com/ Digital Camera Information
Specialty Photo Sites
These are sites that offer additional features / services other than just printing your pictures.
- myDaVinci.com creates pencil, oil painting, watercolor, or a color pencil sketch from your print. Over 20 different styles to choose from.
- Pip Squeeks Images allows you to use their or your own images to be printed on wide range of items.
- Jenni Bick Bookbinding is a way to create your own photo album. Other services on the site too.
Online Photo Processors
Hidden Costs
There are a lot of online photo processors. These are firms, both old and new, that cater to 35mm and digital aka "film less" camera users. The costs look very reasonable but check to see what you give up, what you gain, and what other equipment you need at home to have the same ability as the local camera store provides.
Some Online stores
- AOL has You've Got Pictures (AOL Keyword Pictures)
- http://batterymart.com/ Batteries are always needed and this site is just for them.
- Batteries Plus is another great source. They also have brick stores and there is one in Beaverton.
- Club Photo
- dotPhoto
- ezPrints
- FotoWire (out of Switzerland, most likely requires a numbered account instead of a named account (LOL!)
- ImageStation
- www.printatkodak.com
- KEH
- www.ofoto.com
- Pix
- PrintRoom
- PhotoAccess
- www.photoworks.com
- OurPictures
- www.pix.com
- www.ritzpix.com
- Shutterfly
- Snapfish
- SmugMug
- ShareGea
- Wal-Mart
Each site does photos slightly different. Some you send in film and they post the prints to download - - and that is the only place you can get them. Some do both, some create CDs, others allow you to place your photos on objects (mugs, t-shirts, mouse pads and so on which Pix does), some have two day return some 10. The cost for a Picture CD (there are now three picture formats for photos: Picture CD, Photo CD, Picture Disk) varies from $8.99 and up in U.S. dollars. What is not stated, but implied, is that:
- You have a PC
- You have an ISP Connection
- Color Printer
- Long term storage method in place (if digital only images)
- Time to upload and download 15+ megs of images per roll in each direction.
I have NEVER seen any of the "back end" needs ever addressed in any article on digital photography. Think about what you want / need to do when everything goes digital. B&W film has lasted 150+ years with no loss of ability to print from the negatives. KodaChrome will go 125 years before 1/10 of 1 percent color loss. Epson started marketing (August 2000) an inkjet printer that has inks that will last 200 years. A CD will last 50 years. Wait! you have to CREATE the CD - - you now need a CD-R drive in your PC or else when the hard disk fails (and it will on average every 6 years) unless all those digital images are stored somewhere you lose EVERYTHING.
These sites allows you to upload your pictures to share with others either for a fee or a certain amount of time till they "fall off" the site. Of course most ISPs allows you to have your own web site so you can do the same now anyway. Difference is that the time limited or fee sites manage the uploads and deletions for you. Here again is the age old question of paying someone else for convenience or learning to do it yourself.
Printer Supplies - Ink and Paper Sources
Deciding to do digital processing means either printing your own images on your own printer or doing all the processing and then taking it to someone else's printer. Either way you need to know a lot. Finding the correct inks and paper for your printer is important. As always, read the warranty on your printer before using any non-manufacturer brand inks in your printer.
- Lyson This firm helped design inks for Epson
- MIS Associates Good glossary of ink and printer terms on their site.
- LexJet is a firm out of Sarasota Florida that stocks an extensive array of supplies for digital work. Banner paper, roll from Epson, HP, Avery, ENCAD, and many others.
- inkjet2Go.com discount inks for printers.
Wedding Reference Links
The weddings reference list of firms that support weddings is on a separate page since they that list is specific to weddings.
Photographers
- Tom Philo Photography, 17503 SW Kimmel Ct, Beaverton, Oregon 97007-6877; 503-591-3227
- Nancy Lynne, 173 NE Highway 20, Suite #2, Toledo, Oregon 97391. Oregon Coast photographs.
- Highlights Photography Mike & Suzanne Dean ,1115 SW Brockwood, Hillsboro, Oregon 97123 . (503) 648-2057