A Student’ Point of View: The ISL facility

Hi everyone, this is Ashley Crichton writing again for RIT Photo! Today’s post is going to feature the Imaging Systems Lab which is one of the other fantastic facilities located in Gannett Hall. The Imaging Systems Lab is usually called ISL. I mentioned ISL in my third-floor blog post, but I wanted to go a little more in depth on it in this post!

ISL is a professional full-service lab for film processing as well as the production of photographic prints using inkjet or Lambda printing that utilizes a wide variety of substrates and sizes. Their mission is “to provide a professional-quality service bureau supporting the photo and digital output needs of RIT Photo students, faculty, and staff.” ISL is here to help everyone make good prints of their work, process their C-41 color film, and generally help figure out any problems getting work into the physical world. Although ISL is in the photo department, you don’t have to be a photo student to use it. I have friends who are film students and do photography as a hobby, and they get their 35mm film developed there as well.

I don’t use ISL all that often because I do most of my own printing myself, but every time I have used it, they have been extremely helpful. You can print on all sorts of interesting papers. I like to go in and touch all the example pieces of paper they have to figure out which is my favorite kind. They have this interesting Japanese paper that has swirls in it, metallic paper, and you can even print onto plastic film transparency material. I wouldn’t be able to print on any of those on my own so to have a place where I can take my files and know I’ll end up with a beautiful print is a big help. They can also help you print images more massive than you would be able to do on your own. Last year I got a print made that was 6 inches by 6 feet. I see people make prints for backdrops that are around 4 feet by 6 feet. The prints you can get from ISL are amazing.

You can also get C-41 and other chromogenic films developed there. The few times I have shot on film while at RIT, I have gotten it developed there and it makes life so easy. The person working has always patiently walked me through the process. It’s not that hard to do, but I still manage to be confused. They’re also so fast at doing it. Recently I dropped my film off in the morning and was able to pick it up by two that afternoon. It’s just so convenient that it’s right around the corner from all my classes and everyone there is so helpful.

Ashley Crichton is a 3rd year advertising photography student from California. You can read more about Ashley by following this link.