Meet the Lab!

Hi, I'm Dan! I'm the [new] owner of OldSchoolPhotoLab.com and Photosmith. In the spring of 2026 I purchased the lab from Steve Franks who founded the lab in 1981, and finally gets to retire after 45 years. I think I am his wife's favorite person this year!

I manage a team of nine very talented and passionate creatives. 

Me? How did I end up here? I'm a photo nerd. My first experience with photography was in 6th grade art class with Mr Joe Shamy making pinhole cameras. In 7th and 8th grade we learned to use an SLR with the Pentax K1000 and developing our film and making prints in a temporary darkroom. The hook was set. In high school they didn't offer a photography class until junior and senior year, and in those years I spent so much time in the darkroom I was the last to leave school, other than the janitor. In high school I also learned photo editing and graphic design, which also has been a life-long hobby / side-gig.

By college, digital was starting to be a thing, and I shot many early Canon digital SLRs. In the late 2000's shooting video on dSLR became a thing, and a new friend nurtured my interest in video, and I went on to write and shoot two of my own short films, and work on numerous short film projects on the seacoast, including a PSA that earned me a New England Emmy Award as a producer (THAT certainly was never on a bucket list... wow!). I have extensive experience in digital, which includes editing and color correction, digital printing, and color profiling.

After 27 years in the Apple dealer ecosystem, managing a multi-million dollar independent business, it was time to find something new to do. I think I saw posts about Photosmith being for sale at least three times before it finally clicked in my head, "Hey, I should talk to this guy" and it was quickly evident that this was the perfect next adventure for me. 

What does this mean for the lab? A commitment to what works, and investment in technology, implementing new systems, some exciting new partnerships to provide great services to our customers, and a doubling-down on providing quality for value. And most importantly, having fun! 

What continues

Most labs charge you once to send your film in, and again to get your negatives back. We don't charge for either. Your pre-paid, trackable label is emailed the moment you place your order. 

Your negatives are always returned to you (unless you really don't want them), cut and sleeved in strips, or uncut in continuous sleeving, whichever you prefer. At no extra charge for your choice. 

We have the ability to process almost any film ever made. We have experience in cross-processing obsolete types of film (like C-22 color film) to black and white to try to recover images off of found rolls. We can process sizes like 126 and 117 which most labs don't have the ability to do. We pride ourselves on saying "Yes" when you ask if we can process... well... anything!

Color film is in and out of the lab in 4–5 business days. Black & white runs 7-10 days and E-6 slide film is 14-21 days, and ECN-II can be three weeks plus. because we run those in batches when we get enough quantity rather than sending them out.

And amazing customer support from our experienced team.

What's coming

We are building a new partnership with Red River Paper to use their superior papers for fine art printing, and we are getting custom color profiles made specifically for their paper on our wide format printer.

We have a new partner for premium metal prints. Metal is a vibrant and affordable way to get larger-scale artwork for your home or business. 

We have also committed to replacing our lab scanner with a new state-of-the-art camera based film scanner. This type of scanner will provide larger resolution files, along with greater dynamic range and color depth. And it will allow us to reduce the costs of premium quality scans and allow us more automation in scanning the odd formats we frequently see. We hope to have this scanner installed in early October. We will be one of the first labs in the US to have this technology! 

Photosmith and OldSchool aren't faceless corporations. We don't hide the lab behind the website. If you are a seasoned professional, just shot your first roll of film in a camera your parents gave you, or have vacation snaps on a disposable camera, we're here for you!