Should I have my lab color correct my images?

Question

The labs that I deal with to get my images printed offer the option to color correct my images prior to printing. One example of what they do is:

Per file color correction is available. We color correct the entire file for balanced skin tones without causing blown out or color casted highlights.

Is it a good idea to have them do this? When is or isn't it a good idea? Am I taking away my creative abilities or am I giving the images a 2nd opinion before printing? Do you find that they only correct skin tones, what if I have a landscape image? Experiences would be appreciated.

I am not talking about this kind of online color correction: Which online color correction services give good results?

Answer

Letting the lab do color correcting (assuming its a good lab that does good job with color correction) is like using the auto mode on your camera - the lab will make sure everything comes out ok and correct the obvious mistakes but you will lose creative control.

This will help with family photographs edited on non-color-profiled screen but probably a bad idea for fine art, pros or any picture with anything special (deliberate under or over exposing, extreme color effects or even an unedited photo of a subject with unusual colors)

Edit: dpollitt's comments got me thinking - if your output is only prints (not digital files) it makes perfect sense to outsource the tedious and thankless job of color correction to the lab - especially if you are a pro and you can earn more money when taking pictures then when color correcting them.

but:

1. If your output is digital files + prints you have to do the color correction yourself anyway fro the digital version so there's no point in letting the lab do it.

2. If you want consistency and repeatability (that is, be able to re-print the image and get exactly the same printed image) then you can't let the lab do it - you can't be sure you will get the same technician and that the technician will make the same choices if you reprint months or years from now.

3. If the picture is not a standard "well exposed" middle-of-the-road image then you can't let the lab co color correction because they don't know what you want to picture to look like (and this will probably completely throw off any automatic correction they might use ).

So - if you are a pro (as in get paid for taking photos), you're main product is prints and you don't sell or care about digital versions (point 1) and you don't care about reprints (point 2) and you take boring pictures (point 3) then you should absolutely let the lab color correct your pictures.

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