Do people working in a lab look at the pics they develop?

[itit49]

In my case, the answer to the question/title of the thread is YES.
I often print a selection of the photos taken with the current digital cameras.
I go to a small shop close to my house. The owner ia a 40-year old man, an amateur photographer. I take a pen drive with the photos, he copies the files on a local PC than he sends the files to a remote lab and after a few days I get the printed photos in the shop.
The shop has only a few customers, (one per hour?), now I am a regular customer and I am familiar with the owner and often we discuss about cameras, lenses, Sw etc.
The first time during the copy from the pen drive we saw the thumbnails on the PC, the guy commented "what is this place?" I answered, Now I do not remember but it was a holiday. Then anytime I bring some photos he always tells me "you always make nice photos of nice places".
I am aware that the guy has copies of my photo on his computer, they are mostly holiday pictures, often in summer with several images of my wife in bikini or skimpy dresses.
My wife is a prude, no nude or sexy pictures. Nevertheless now that I know the the guy looks at the pictures I try to steal some candid sexy pictures of my wife and to include them in the selection.
I am not talking about hard core but in the latest sets of pictures the guy got some upskirts, see-through with lingerie and a see-through with nipple view not explicit but requiring a few basic editing with contrast and brightness (the guy ia an expert photo editor).

[captbobwi123]

Years ago I worked in a large retail store located in a mall in Wisconsin. We offered a photo developing service that you dropped your film off and picked up the pictures a couple days later. Looking at people's pictures, especially to pass time when the store wasn't busy, was fairly common. I probably saw more teenage girls smoking pot than skin but, yes, we looked at people's pictures.

Years later I toured a photo developing lab as part of a photography class I was taking. They pretty much admitted the developing techs became pretty good at spotting "skin tones" and stopping the line for a closer look.

[anonjohn]

As others have explained, quality control and customer service dictate that prints from negatives would probably be eyballed by a human. That's before you get to local laws and company policy regarding "decency". A company with a "puritanical" approach will check as a matter of policy. A company with a "permissive" approach is more likely to tempt (latent) voyeur staff.

I was told by a branch manager of a UK photo chain that it was company policy to check images on self-service digital photo print machines machines, so the company would not be guilty of contravening the properly punitive laws on storing, distributing and making child abuse images. Their self-service terminals printed the pictures behind the counter.

She said that although her branch had not intercepted child abuse images, she was regularly shocked by what people photographed themselves legally doing...

I imagine that self-service machines must store (even in a \temp folder) anything which is printed. The contents of the \temp folder might be overwritten when full. Anyone with sufficient access could, in principle, view and copy selected files. I assume this is where the photobooth pictures (in other threads) come from.

If you were in charge of one of these machines wouldn't you be tempted to check and copy a few?

[Massguy70]

Years ago, before digital cameras, I would take topless and some nude pics of my now ex-wife. I used a local privately owned place to develop them. After the first or second set of photos, the guy always seemed happy to see me when I dropped off film. One day, my wife and I were out so I stopped by so we could pick up some photos. I asked her to go in because I "had to make a call". There were no nudes in that set and she didn't know that he had seen her naked.

[Sails]

I've developed a few nudes of girl friends back towards the "end" of film and the beginning of digital, and they said nothing about it when I collected them. Nothing too hardcore, but lots of topless and some nude shots, posed and candid. I'd also go to a different store each time. It was mostly older guys working at the stores I went too.

In high school I had a few friends who worked at a busy print store and they sometimes came across a few nudes and sex shots. They were told that if they then one of the senior guys must take over, which they did, but after going through them first ofcourse, which I'm sure is always the case. They never made copies of anything though.

I've had a few rolls of film with some nudes come out blank a couple times. Which was a little disappointing and suspicious. I've always wondered how much those guys got to see in the heyday of film. I also used to stand and watch those ones with a public reel showing the prints, but never saw anything.

[Hornyinde]

A few years after we were married my wife and I went to a couples resort in the Poconos. The ones that had the champagne glass style hot tub in the rooms. Anyway, this was a few years before digital cameras (late ‘80’s), so it was polaroids or take a chance with a local photo shop if you wanted nude pictures. It was also when some labs wouldn’t print nude photos (I imagine they kept a copy depending who was developing at the time?).

At a couple of the shows the M.C. mentioned they had staff photographers who could take intimate pictures in your rooms that you couldn’t get developed “back home” or wouldn’t want the local guy seeing. My wife was not as open as she is now with being seen so I thought no chance.

When I suggested the third or fourth time she consented. We made an appointment and the guy showed up at our room. Started with a few soft core shots; poses of her naked, poses together, and he suggested we probably wanted hardcore but were afraid to ask. He was right. So he took more pictures of us doing oral, and intercourse in different positions. She was super turned on during it - she’s a bit of an exhibitionist I learned later but it needs to be pulled out.

We picked up our pictures the next day at the office. They did a pretty good business with the pictures, that’s for sure. Even though they gave you the negatives for the pictures, I’m sure they may have kept copies of ones they liked. I’m not going to suggest of all the sex pictures they took, ours were worthy of keeping, but I’d like to think they kept a couple. I wonder what happened when the photographer left, or when the hotel closed a number of years later.

I keep hoping to see “us” show up on some vintage site, LOL.

[nectcouple]

Originally Posted by Hornyinde

A few years after we were married my wife and I went to a couples resort in the Poconos. The ones that had the champagne glass style hot tub in the rooms.

At a couple of the shows the M.C. mentioned they had staff photographers who could take intimate pictures in your rooms that you couldn’t get developed “back home”...

He suggested we probably wanted hardcore but were afraid to ask. He was right. So he took more pictures of us doing oral, and intercourse in different positions.

I’m sure they may have kept copies of ones they liked. I wonder what happened when the photographer left, or when the hotel closed a number of years later.

Funny you should mention that place...

When my (now ex)wife and I got married back in the '80's, we had decided on that place for our honeymoon. Unfortunately, we heard a rumor just before our scheduled trip. I don't remember if I heard it on the news or somewhere else but the story I got was as follows:

A couple enjoyed their honeymoon at that place and made liberal use of the champagne glass hot tub, along with many other items of furniture to do what newlyweds are known to do and in the end, were very happy with the experience. So happy in fact, that they decided to go back there for an anniversary trip.
On their second trip there, they decided to rent one of the many X-rated VCR tapes the resort had available. Unfortunately for them (and resort management), the video they rented featured themselves from their honeymoon! It seemed that hidden cameras had been placed in their room and had captured their various trysts. The couple were upset at the invasion of their privacy and so the sh*t hit the fan.

I have no idea if the story was true or not, but your story may lend credence to the story I heard. I know that the story we heard was enough to make my bride slam on the brakes, grab the steering wheel and steer our thoughts to another location. We ended up heading to Key West.

[wmbarker]

You are so lucky that you skipped your original destination and went to Key West. Nothing that happens in Key West ever turns up on video, right?

[nectcouple]

Originally Posted by wmbarker

You are so lucky that you skipped your original destination and went to Key West. Nothing that happens in Key West ever turns up on video, right?

Not from hidden cameras placed in your room where you expect privacy.

[Hornyinde]

Originally Posted by nectcouple

Funny you should mention that place...

When my (now ex)wife and I got married back in the '80's, we had decided on that place for our honeymoon. Unfortunately, we heard a rumor just before our scheduled trip. I don't remember if I heard it on the news or somewhere else but the story I got was as follows:

A couple enjoyed their honeymoon at that place and made liberal use of the champagne glass hot tub, along with many other items of furniture to do what newlyweds are known to do and in the end, were very happy with the experience. So happy in fact, that they decided to go back there for an anniversary trip.
On their second trip there, they decided to rent one of the many X-rated VCR tapes the resort had available. Unfortunately for them (and resort management), the video they rented featured themselves from their honeymoon! It seemed that hidden cameras had been placed in their room and had captured their various trysts. The couple were upset at the invasion of their privacy and so the sh*t hit the fan.

I have no idea if the story was true or not, but your story may lend credence to the story I heard. I know that the story we heard was enough to make my bride slam on the brakes, grab the steering wheel and steer our thoughts to another location. We ended up heading to Key West.

Yeah, funny you mentioned that. I heard some stories/rumors/urban legends about that happening at different hotels. I don’t know if it really happened or not. I wouldn’t rule it out, but it also seems pretty improbable that the one tape they rented had them in it from years past.

I would be upset at invasion of privacy, but also turned in that others had seen us having sex and used it to masturbate or have sex. In an odd way, it’s quite an affirmation that you excite others sexually. Lawsuit over it, for sure.

I guess you never know I there are cameras these days. Unscrupulous cleaning staff could hide something in a room pretty easy. I do know that “hotel sex” is definitely something we step it up a level.

Edit: I heard the rumors/stories about that long after we went to the resort. If we heard it prior, my wife would have definitely suggested somewhere else. Like I said, she’s got s bit of exhibitionist in her now, but she would want to know who is watching her/us and the situation. That wouldn’t have been something she would have approved.