Film lives here.
A hometown photography shop since 1999, with two stores: Quakertown, PA and Flemington, NJ.
Welcome to the family.
At Black Lab Imaging, we’re not just a business, we’re a community. A retro photographic artist community, to be exact, with a deep love for everything analogue. Our hearts beat to the click of a shutter and the countdown of a darkroom timer.
We develop color and black and white film, restore damaged photographs, and preserve old memories by digitizing them: prints, negatives, slides, video and audio tapes, and motion picture film. We make prints and scans, build custom frames, run a traditional darkroom, and teach classes in film, darkroom printing and digital photography. And if you’re in the market for vintage photographic equipment, we might have just what you’re looking for.
Our team is our strength and our customers are our friends. Word of mouth is our legacy, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Drop by, get to know us, and become part of the community.
Named for Fitz.
Fitz was my dog. He walked the paper route with me when I was a kid, and years later he spent his days at the Flemington store, greeting whoever came through the door. He passed away peacefully in 2013, at sixteen and a half.
In college, the final assignment before graduating as a professional photographer was to create your own photography business. I didn’t want to call it Robert Heil Photography. I wanted something bigger than my own name: more of a co-op, a community, something other people could belong to. I looked over at my pup and had it. Black Lab Studio.
In 2019 we became Black Lab Imaging, because by then we were doing a lot more than studio photography. Fitz is still on the logo, camera in paw. He earned it.
Bob Heil, owner
Twenty-seven years, two stores. Est. 1999
| Year | What happened | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Black Lab Studio founded, a college final project that stuck | |
| 2000s | Event photography, plus a mobile studio for pet and family portraits | On location |
| 2009 | Temporary studio | Somerville, NJ |
| 2010 | Flemington store opens, October 2010 | 24 & 26 Main St |
| 2019 | Renamed Black Lab Imaging, since we do far more than studio work | |
| 2023 | Flemington consolidates into one storefront | 26 Main St |
| 2026 | Quakertown store opens, July 2026 | 308 W Broad St |
Both stores, full film labs.
Each store develops film on site, makes prints, and takes in archiving work. Custom framing is built in Quakertown and can be ordered at either store. Darkroom rentals are in Flemington, by appointment.
What you can count on.
Fresh chemistry, every run
We mix and replenish our own black and white and color lines on a set schedule and check them with control strips, so your film is processed the way it was meant to be.
A real person looks at everything
Every roll, scan and print is checked by one of us before it goes out the door. If a frame needs another pass, it gets one.
Back in two to three days
Film developed in our lab comes back in two to three days. In a hurry? Same-day and one-hour rush service are available. When we give you a date, we mean it.