Standard Photo Studio (MacPherson)

Standard Photo Studio’s MacPherson branch is the company’s full studio, on the third floor of 565 MacPherson Road near Tai Seng, and the newest part of a long-established photo business.

It bills itself as the XL photo strip place, and the oversized strips are the point — printed larger than the usual booth format. The Flash & Dash studio, recently revamped, shoots against classic and antique backdrops, and packages start around $40: Snap & Beads pairs a shoot with a beading session, in colour or black and white, and Paws & Play at $55 is set up for photographing pets. The counter also develops film — roughly $10 a roll, back in two or three working days — and doubles as a Shopee collection point, which is how a good number of customers first walk in.

The hours are shorter than a mall studio’s: 10am to 5:15pm from Sunday to Thursday, noon to 7:15pm on Friday and Saturday. This is the rare studio where the staff are the reason people come back, remembered by name rather than as whoever was behind the counter. It suits couples, friends, pet owners and anyone wanting something more considered than a booth in a mall corridor.