How to emulate wet collodion with normal 35mm equipment?

[Ko.Fe.]

Looks like regular photos

I remember one person who was making LF cameras in Europe and using Leica with plates. This is the only way, you can’t emulate. Your photos shows it.

 

[darkosaric]

Yes, it is true. At least now I know, in Berlin there is a guy who makes weekend seminar on wet collodion. Also he sells chemical kits, I will buy one of those cheap 6x9 plate cameras.

 

[removed account4]

hey darko
love the look + image you made !
if you go head-long into WP you can start out small
by getting one of those big old box cameras and varnish the film gate
and put your plates in there. i think bostick and sullivan used to sell
starter kits made from these cameras, and they are a lot less $$ than a big old plate camera
and small plates seem easier to coat too
have fun !
john

 

[removedacct1]

I use a Brownie 3B to make wet plate images sometimes. It’s a very good box camera to adapt for wet plate.

 

[NB23]

Which blue filter?

The tiffen 47 is the one to use, definitely.

 

[darkosaric]

Which blue filter?

The tiffen 47 is the one to use, definitely.

Will check later, not sure.
I will also try one more thing - coat liquid emulsion on the glass, and develop print on the glass.

 

[Ray Morgenweck]

Well.....Here’s a black glass Ambrotype. Just How you going to do that with film, modern camera and modern lens?

 

[darkosaric]

Not possible Ray

 

[radiant]

Well.....Here’s a black glass Ambrotype. Just How you going to do that with film, modern camera and modern lens?

Really long exposure time (to get some movements to the models face), large aperture as possible, overexposing film 4 stops (to get blown highlights), printing in high contrast through a glass plated (scratched, smudged whatever from the side where it touches the paper). Full blown sepia toning.

Wish I had time to try this. I already shot some Foma 100 thru blue filter to get some ortho style emulation but that wasn't enough

 

[removed account4]

View attachment 238159 Well.....Here’s a black glass Ambrotype. Just How you going to do that with film, modern camera and modern lens?

could emulate that with a paper negative and a big camera, crappy old lens, long exposure with a little creative toning .. maybe, ... maybe not

 

[removedacct1]

I do wet plate work, and I can't imagine any combination of film/equipment that will come close to how collodion photography looks. There is nothing like a well made Ambrotype.

 

[Ray Morgenweck]

........as John Coffer said, “Ya gotta git yerself a New York lens”. There is pure magic in a C C Harrison or Holmes Booth and Haydens Daguerreotype lens.

 

[radiant]

A bit on this subject: any ideas how Mats is achieving this kind of style on gelatin prints:

 

[removedacct1]

A bit on this subject: any ideas how Mats is achieving this kind of style on gelatin prints:

If you look at his Instagram account, there is a similar image of a poppy made a few posts before the one you’re referencing, and it has the exact same edge artifacts except rotated 180 degrees. That suggests he’s doing work in photoshop to manufacture the effects digitally.

 

[radiant]

If you look at his Instagram account, there is a similar image of a poppy made a few posts before the one you’re referencing, and it has the exact same edge artifacts except rotated 180 degrees. That suggests he’s doing work in photoshop to manufacture the effects digitally.

It could be also some kind of glass mask over the paper too?

 

[Peter Schrager]

I use an old uncoated brass lens and print on POP PAPER and it has it's own nice look

 

[removedacct1]

It could be also some kind of glass mask over the paper too?

Yes it could be.

For a definitive answer, why don't you ask the photographer himself?

 

[darkosaric]

A bit on this subject: any ideas how Mats is achieving this kind of style on gelatin prints:

To me it looks like there was a lot of digital manipulation there. But looks nice in any case.

 

[removed account4]

It could be also some kind of glass mask over the paper too?

it looks like he made a texture screen and printed through it ... glass plate with gelatin on it that were altered to give that effect
or flexible collodion purchased at the pharmacy ( or clear nail polish or urethane or pretty much anything that is translucent. ... ).

 

[radiant]

My experiments for some part of this emulation:

 

[darkosaric]

My experiments for some part of this emulation:

Nice results !
Maybe it is just my screen, but it looks little too bright (overexposed?), little more exposure on the print / darkening and I think it will look even better.

 

[radiant]

Nice results !
Maybe it is just my screen, but it looks little too bright (overexposed?), little more exposure on the print / darkening and I think it will look even better.

Thanks! Yes, you are probably right. The prints are bit too contrasty too - maybe it is the same thing. I have some really old low contrast paper, that would give nice effect too.

 

[Donald Qualls]

I just scanned the thread, but here's a suggestion: reversal process your film to get a film positive, then use your enlarger to project onto actual ambrotype or tintype plates. Got to be easier than dealing with wet plates in the field, and you'll get actual wet plate positives.

 

[M Carter]

Another tip that few people seem to have tried - with many B&W films, you can wash out the AH layer before you shoot the film. I've tried it with HP5, didn't do much... but man, Rollei IR, I just did a half roll to test and nothing serious, but very promising. And Rollei IR works well with regular B&W filtering, a deep red filter gives it a more surreal look, and a full IR (720nm for this film), you get all the white trees and so on.

I do need to wash out a roll or some sheets and try some nudes though. For roll film, just spool it onto a reel as if you were developing it. Give it a 5 minute water soak, rinse, and then a final distilled.photoflo rinse, and hang in absolute darkness. When it's dry, spool it onto a bulk load cassette (35mm), or roll/tape it back onto its backing paper. This also seems to add a half stop of speed.

This is a lith print on Ektalure of Rollei IR with a tri-red filter (but I didn't wash the AH layer from this, just an idea of how cool it can look- I really love it in Rodinal, but Rodinal makes it more of a 100-speed film IMO):

 

[radiant]

This is a lith print on Ektalure of Rollei IR with a tri-red filter (but I didn't wash the AH layer from this, just an idea of how cool it can look-

Does removing AH layer makes the photo look like it is printed with lith?