Wet Plate Collodion images.
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Thanks very much, Paul. I’m very grateful for this honor, especially since Ian Ruhter was one of the judges!
New glass negative made with my Intrepid 4x5 yesterday. The whole collodion negative thing is becoming very appealing to me.
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Thank you John, much appreciated. Or did you mean you'd like me to stop photographing dumb Tulips and make some photos of big fans?? ;-)
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noooo no need to stop ! tulips are good .. 
You guys make me wanna cry that I'm unable to do wet plate. It's my dream. I would totally invest if I had some sort of portable dark box I could work with. Otherwise it would just be me around my crappy apartment with nothing to photograph.
Punker,
When Mark Osterman does workshops, he demonstrates his process to students using a portable darkroom - made out of a cardboard box! (Check it out here) Go to an appliance store or furniture retailer and ask for a large, sturdy box. They throw these out all the time. Get some "blackout curtain fabric, a piece of dark red plexiglass, some duct tape, and you have what you need to make a portable darkroom for wet plate. It doesn't have to be more complicated than that.
I feel I should also point out that the above image of the two tulips was made in a spare bedroom that is in no way remarkable, making do with what was at hand. When Andre Kertesz was quite old and confined to his apartment, all he had to work with was a window, some glass ornaments and an SX-70, and he made some remarkable, elegant photos (<--Click for photos). You are only as restricted as you believe you are.
Wow, beautiful. Really nice.
Thanks, paulbarden. That certainly cheered me up and inspired me greatly. I wanna make it a reality!
Honestly, the only thing stopping you from diving in is YOU! Once you make the decision to get started, the rest is just making it happen. The process isn't as intimidating as you might think.
And as for being stuck in your "crappy apartment with nothing to photograph" - I'd like to point out that the photo below (which took the grand prize in the first annual Modern Collodion Competition last month) was made in my home, with materials I had available to me, in a room that does double duty as a weight room and makeshift photo studio. The room is a messy, disorganized space in a 85 year old farm, and its about as "make do" as it gets. But that doesn't stop me, because its all I've got to work with at home (indoors, anyway).
One of the most important components of making photographs is to be open to the possibilities presented to you by circumstance. Many of the best photos have been made without the photographer ever stepping outside their front door.
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i've been marooned for 17 years. there are interesting things within footsteps of where you are
you just need to see it. when i was held prisoner in a mini van riding shot gun
i exposed 100-200 rolls of film .. .. you just gotta roll with it ..
Wet plate collodion negative on glass, 8X10 inches. (deardorff + Ektar 12" lens)
Collodion: John Coffer's #7, developed in 2 week old, well-seasoned Coffer neg developer. Plate was intensified with bleach + redevelopment process to increase density (for upcoming albumen print attempt)
Collodion: John Coffer's #7, developed in 2 week old, well-seasoned Coffer neg developer. Plate was intensified with bleach + redevelopment process to increase density (for upcoming albumen print attempt)
Thanks, guys. Just to dip my toe in, I ordered some J. Lane dry plates from Freestyle (before they sold out) and a plate holder from theBay. Looking forward to getting started!
Some wise words in this thread, along with some beautiful wet plates!
Sarracenia hybrid - 8X10 wet plate collodion negative on glass.
Made with the Deardorff and the 12" Ektar lens (wonderful old piece of glass!). Collodion used: Coffer's "#7 for negatives" and appropriate developer.
Made with the Deardorff and the 12" Ektar lens (wonderful old piece of glass!). Collodion used: Coffer's "#7 for negatives" and appropriate developer.
The Parrot Tulips have opened fully and now display more shape and texture.Curiously, over the 6 minute exposure, the Tulips actually sagged very slightly, resulting in a tiny bit of motion blur.
This is a wet plate collodion negative (on glass) shot with the Intrepid 4X5 camera fitted with my 203mm Kodak Ektar lens.
Collodion used: Coffer's #7 for negatives, which I suspect has gotten very close to too old to use (dirty negative, streaks and the collodion at the edges didn't sensitize properly). Still, it makes for an interesting result.
This is a wet plate collodion negative (on glass) shot with the Intrepid 4X5 camera fitted with my 203mm Kodak Ektar lens.
Collodion used: Coffer's #7 for negatives, which I suspect has gotten very close to too old to use (dirty negative, streaks and the collodion at the edges didn't sensitize properly). Still, it makes for an interesting result.
Wow, beautiful tones!
The Parrot Tulips have opened fully and now display more shape and texture.Curiously, over the 6 minute exposure, the Tulips actually sagged very slightly, resulting in a tiny bit of motion blur.
This is a wet plate collodion negative (on glass) shot with the Intrepid 4X5 camera fitted with my 203mm Kodak Ektar lens.
Collodion used: Coffer's #7 for negatives, which I suspect has gotten very close to too old to use (dirty negative, streaks and the collodion at the edges didn't sensitize properly). Still, it makes for an interesting result.
Keep these coming!
I went for a 2x3 press camera rather than a 4x5 because my enlarger can handle 2x3 but not LF. But, these have reminded me that you don't always need to (and in the case of collodian images, can't) enlarge. Maybe a cheap plate camera is next on the docket...
Hi, Paul:
Your Wet Plate images are hauntingly beautiful...thanks for sharing.
:Niranjan.
Your Wet Plate images are hauntingly beautiful...thanks for sharing.
:Niranjan.
Sam,
If you want to explore wet plate without getting too deeply into the $$$ end of it, you can make perfectly good tintypes in a Holga! I’ve done it myself, just to prove it works. If you get some very thin glass (yesterday I pursued someone’s suggestion that dollar stores sell cheap picture frames with 1mm glass in them, and it’s true!) you could make 6x6 glass negs in a Holga. (I may try this)
Collodion negatives hold a lot of rich detail that can be enlarged, or simply contact printed. (Or scanned) you have plenty of options!
Thst'd s good suggestion. If I wanted to try that in my press camera, I'd assume I would need a plate holder and could not just use my film holders, correct?
I've done some cyanotypes before and I might do some of those first. Cut down some paper to 2.25x3.25 and make some mini ones because that paper would just slide right into the film holders.
Wet plate collodion on glass.
About 12 years ago I was out for a walk and encountered a dumpster someone had next to their driveway - it seemed they were moving and clearing out a lifetime's worth of junk. maybe 2/3 of the dumpster was filled with brown paper boxes about the size of a single shoe, and curiosity led me to open one to see what it contained. Inside were plaster casts of teeth! There had to have been thousands of these in the dumpster. I salvaged a couple boxes of them, and to this day I regret not going back and salvaging 50 or 60 more boxes of them. They are exquisitely made, and some have a very soapy glossy finish to them. They feel really nice to touch. Creepy, huh?
2:30 second exposure at f11.5 with Coffer's #7 for negatives. Developed in well-seasoned Iron sulfate neg developer.
About 12 years ago I was out for a walk and encountered a dumpster someone had next to their driveway - it seemed they were moving and clearing out a lifetime's worth of junk. maybe 2/3 of the dumpster was filled with brown paper boxes about the size of a single shoe, and curiosity led me to open one to see what it contained. Inside were plaster casts of teeth! There had to have been thousands of these in the dumpster. I salvaged a couple boxes of them, and to this day I regret not going back and salvaging 50 or 60 more boxes of them. They are exquisitely made, and some have a very soapy glossy finish to them. They feel really nice to touch. Creepy, huh?
2:30 second exposure at f11.5 with Coffer's #7 for negatives. Developed in well-seasoned Iron sulfate neg developer.
@paulbarden Agreed! Creepy but cool. I like collecting things like this (I mean, not like this, but you know what I mean) that would be interesting for still lifes, but never really get around to photographing them.
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