In my previous life writing for a skateboard magazine, I found out it was not common for photographers to print their own photos. Printing can be really finicky and is a skill onto itself ,especially with colour; it's best left for the experts. From what I understand there are only a couple places in the city where they print really well, one of them being Custom Color.
Being the type of person who regularly would get photos processed at Costco, I wondered how did they find out about this place? The community of photographers in skateboarding and snowboarding in Vancouver is pretty close knit so after asking around, it appears as if patient zero is none other than Dano Pendygrasse...
Here's what Dano had to say about Custom Color:
When I first started shooting slide film I used to send it from Whistler through Whistler One Hour photo and I think they sent it to G King, but I asked a couple of the old ski dawg photogs where they sent their stuff, and it was Custom Color. I can't even tell you how many times I've sent pro photographers from all over the world there. Well, I sent them to Homer and Helmlecken, they've since moved. Over the years I got to know the staff there and they always treated me really well.
One time I lost or forgot my credit card when I was going to rent a lens somewhere else, and Paul from Custom Color actually put the rental, from some other shop, on his personal card. Amazing. I stopped shooting film full time and went to digital right around the time I moved to California, so for 3 years I didn't walk into Custom Color. Finally, after moving home, I needed to make some prints, and I walked into the location on Beatty street, and Bobbi looks up from behind the desk and says, "Hi Dano" like I'd been coming in every week ever since. She pulls out the envelope and writes down my last name, spells it right, and everything is good in the world.
I was in there again yesterday. I'm so glad every time I sell a print, because I get to interact with an awesome Vancouver business.
