Hey! just looking to see if I can get film developed from places I've "explored" at like a Walgreens or something. Very new to photography and am just curious as to if places like that will report someone if the photos contain an area trespassed in. I figure not, but am still curious/anxious nonetheless.

I've never had problems with Walmart or CVS photo centers. They don't get paid enough to care.

Posted by Aran I've never had problems with Walmart or CVS photo centers. They don't get paid enough to care.

fair lol, probably just trying to get done with their day.

I don't think the pictures are, themselves, illegal. The only way I could foresee any issues are if a property owner sees pics of their place online and wants to fight about it, which is incredibly unlikely and an uphill battle if you don't name it yourself.

One reason to make up a fake name for a location is so that your set doesn't show up in a google search for the place.

they wouldn't be able to prove you took the photos anyways....

They normally have no clue where they are from or if you had permission to be there. Nor should they really care as long as it’s not something illegal.

Most large scale developers don't even look at your photos. Get ballsy and learn to develop on your own for best effect.

If there's no risk of criminal liability to the lab, they shouldn't care.

Also, recommend avoiding the big box/drug stores for film developing. They do not return your developed negatives.

Unless it's something that appears to be blatantly illegal (child porn, torture of a live creature, and a few other examples), it'd be a major violation of basic privacy laws and the implied contract with a film development facility for them to turn any images over to a law enforcement agency.

Like some of you old-skoolers/old-timers, I've spent hundreds of dollars getting film developed back in the day -- glad I migrated to a digital camera 20 years ago, and back then, the Wahlgreens, Costcos, etc. that'd develop your film into prints or slides did state they could check each image for quality control, but I expect they had fairly tight rules on what should be reported up the chain of command, ultimately maybe passed-on to a law enforcement agency, and there were definitely criminal cases that resulted from such things, but the photo development place really had to be cautious because what's shown in the photo isn't necessarily proof of a crime (something gruesome could be a movie or Halloween-related). However, there were/are some things that simulated or not, are crimes and reportable, such as something suggesting sex acts with a minor.

But there were probably PLENTY of times were LEAs would 'groom' photo lab clerks in their area to tip them off if they saw something suspicious in the photos -- process the photos as-normal but make an extra set for the LEA, and the LEA then rewards the photo tech with reward $$ and uses the photos as an investigatory lead 'for intelligence value only,' meaning they'd not actually use the photos or say how they got their initial lead (other than "a confidential informant").


As someone who at times has had access to tapping-into people's private/personal stuff, any thrill or interest in it goes-away pretty fast. Society is pretty much the same, and it's kinda like going to a nudist resort -- sounds titillating (pun intended) at-first, but sooner or later (usually SOONER!) you realize it's not all that fun or exciting, let-alone pleasant.



/-/oolie