Perhaps the most popular place for ex-pats in Al Ain to get their photos printed is Sophie Studio, next to the entrance to the Hiltonia Club, which is to the right and behind the Hilton Hotel. This is what it looks like…
This is what it’s like inside…
The room to the right is a studio with lights for taking portrait photos, with various optional backgrounds.
Prices are fair: 1 dirham (18p/US$0.29) for a 6×4 inch print, 2 dirhams (36p/US$0.58) for a 5×7 inch print.
Affixed to the wall in the photo above you’ll see 8 versions of the same girl, printed at different sizes: all are mounted on foam, and can be fixed to a wall with double-sided tape as they are so light. The smallest block on the left, 5×7 inches, costs 22 dirhams (£3.90/US$6), and the largest on the right costs 235 dirhams (£40/US$65). (If you supply a digital file you’ll get the finished results a week later (as the work is done in Dubai).
You can’t email photos to the shop for printing: you have to take them in. However if you drop off a file by closing time at 10pm, you’ll get the prints back the next day.
Opening times…
Sunday to Thursday: 9am to 1pm then 4pm to 10pm .
Friday: 4pm to 10pm.
You can ring the studio on 03 768 8866.
The owner of Sophie Studios is Georges Robehmed, who is well known in the town as Georges Marbles as he used to sell marble.
Georges is also a weddings and events organiser, as well as organising outdoor video and photography for all occasions.