Nations Photo Lab Turns 18!

By Lizzie Russo - September 26, 2023 - #06

A message from our President, Harvis Kramer:

This year marks a special year for Nations Photo Lab as we celebrate our 18th anniversary. NPL started in 2005 as a photo lab built by photographers for professional photographers. Our founder, Ryan Millman, wanted to build a lab dedicated to high-quality products and services. I joined Mr. Millman in 2002, as his second employee. We were running a college portrait/event photo business (GreekYearbook, NPL's sister company). We were displeased with the quality and service available in the industry. So in 2005, we decided to bring fulfillment in-house. We purchased our first Noritsu printer and some white plastic tables, built a website, and started printing photos.

2005, NPL'a first Noritsu printer.

2005, The first Nations Photo Lab website!

Along our journey, we continued to do things no one else had done before and played a significant role in the industry – from being the first to invent a suite of photo products made out of wood, to starting as a digital-only photo lab, and building a next-generation web ordering platform for photographers. We were fortunate enough to win awards deeming us the best photo lab in the United States for our true-to-life color management and high-quality packaging and customer service.

2005, NPL Company Picture. Harvis and Ryan are in the front in black!

Fast forward 18 years later, Nations Photo Lab and its sister companies employ over 200 creatives, create hundreds of photo products in over 100,000 square feet of manufacturing space, and continue to live our vision that Life's Explorations Deserve Unforgettable Presentation.

2011, Staff photo when we first moved to our Pepper Road facility in Hunt Valley, MD.

2023, View of NPL's Pepper Road production facility now.

As NPL celebrates its 18th anniversary, we are entering a new phase as a photo lab. There have been several photo labs over the past few years moving away from silver-halide photo printing. This is due to companies like Kodak no longer providing photo paper, increased material costs, and other factors. To continue to live our mission and vision, we are dedicated to providing only the highest quality products, which include silver-halide photo prints.

2023, Harvis stands in front of the new NPL truck

2023, Members of the NPL team in front of our new truck.

This year, we will also be offering a new web ordering platform & app (coming very soon!), and launching new exciting products. We are continuing to enhance our operations by investing in our people and process, which you will see with enhanced service levels. Happy Birthday to Nations Photo Lab. Thank you for your continued support, we look forward to printing your photo products! Yours in Photo, Harvis Kramer President Nations Photo Lab