Bellinissimo…the Director’s Cut!

Originally Authored in July 2020 This article about the photochemical DNA of BellinoFoto and Nik & Trick…a tale of two businesses and their people…gets a 2023 update!

To begin with, this piece it will may seem like a bizarre way to begin an article about this particular subject perhaps but bear with me here….

That almost chance encounter was exactly how and exactly why, we first met Mr Bellini and Filippo…

Precisely how it was that we even came to hear of their company and their products…and from that point on, we’ve always got on so well together, the DNA of our businesses is now intertwined.

It was a lovely first discussion, fun and relaxed and very very interesting, and relevant: you see, we weren’t at that time, moving much by way of colour chemistry at all, so it was a great opportunity to take on and be seen to be offering something different, something nobody else (in the UK) was doing. We thought Bellini C41 kits would make a neat alternative to the usual selection.

As film devotees in person both, not just as a business, we always try new things first, we are known for doing that.

With gusto then, we set out marketing this fantastic product to our followers. Within weeks word was spreading, then through social media too.. and our turnover of C41 chemicals grew and grew in line with those now trying colour processing at home with this easy to use product…it is now widely regarded by those processing at home as the best there is.

Of course, it didn’t stop there…

Everything we tried, product by product, that came from the Umbrian factory was just outstanding…and since then, between us we have brought more new products to the photochemical market than anyone else.

More on the new stuff a little later on, in the beginning we found the E6, black and white, even the raw chemistry so good that we couldn’t broaden our range fast enough, it got to the stage that we couldn’t keep up with sales and ordering at times…

We’re told that the factory office have a running joke with the production line, shouting across the factory to Stefano to keep adding more units to his runs;

“Stefano…another email from Nik & Trick”

Our relationship throughout has involved that level of good humour, great teamwork but above all total professionalism. For us, mutually, there just isn’t any other way, it is that shared ethos that makes so much happen.

Hopefully Nik & Trick played some small part in the factory having the necessity to move to larger, more modern premises in 2019…maybe we flatter ourselves? But….it naturally meant that it was absolutely and utterly necessary that we go there personally to see the new factory….and to visit our lovely friends at the same time of course!

Also, a nice way to have a little bit of a break in a very beautiful part of the world after a very busy time converting more people to film photography and in particular these Italian products 😉

Admittedly always the awkward type….

….thanks to the luggage thing with Ryanair I thought I’d forgo all bulky digital gear and just take my Pentax LX (her Super Program too) and a bunch of SMC lenses…

I was determined, for good or for bad, to be doing the photos for this exercise on film.  Which was only right and proper I felt…

Now we’re not looking for artworks here, but in advance, we wanted it to be known that there would be no digital photos (except one!  An important one) used in the making of this essay!  

Every shot here taken on Kodak Tmax 400 or Portra 800 film and processed accordingly in Bellini chemistry…just to ensure 100% adhesion in terms of practicing what we preach!

The factory itself is in a nice location, just a few kilometres from the beautiful and ancient city of Perugia, where they now have a nice spacious modern unit that allows BelliniFoto to be completely self-contained.  

Two thirds or so is given over to storage of chemicals pre and post production with space aplenty for their really rather tiny production line.

So from an visual point of view there really is not so much to show you, put it this way; it would never feature on “How it’s made!” 

There are bits of interesting looking equipment around, including the new machine for manufacturing colour bleach and fixer that they are so proud of, lots of big stainless vats that would be seen in almost any other type of brewery and so on….

So we’re not going to say a lot about how they make things…..though we must impress upon readers that making good photochemistry is pretty far from being just a matter of throwing raw chemicals into water and “Hey presto” a chemical is created…

We oft catch sight of amateurs, sellers etc out there offering all sorts of dubious products, making all sorts of wild claims to distract from the fact that that they are essentially made with little comprehension that is an inherent and legal requirement of a professional factory such as this.

Something as simple as black & white fix for example, may not really be properly brewed until the ingredients have had a good few hours to interact and form other elements…

Most vitally, there are things we don’t consider….certain elements that go into colour chemistry for example, require boiling in a vacuum for 24 hours to be correctly made. Proper alchemy!

So pushing all of that aside, what this article is really about the people and that’s what we’re going to show you, the guys we know and love in their own environment!