My little friend again, Samy.

Today my little friend (my nephew) visited us. Ofcourse he wanted to be a sitter again.
Is very interested in the whole proces and the first thing he always asks when he's bringing a visit : "are we going to make plates ?"

He's a perfect sitter. Only 8 years old, tiny but very intelligent.
I had to stock the chair with a box and a pillow, otherwise he's to small for the head stand......
I still can't believe how collodion can change someones "look"

"Samy"

Hermagis 420mm 4.5

Black glass ambrotype

exposure time 7 secs

KCN Fixer

How to finish an ambrotype

After you have varnished your plate there might be some varnish at the back of the plate.
First let the plate rest for a few days. Fresh varnish is very fragile.

When cleaning the plate lay it flat on a clean piece of paper.
Use a razor blade to cut of the varnish from the back of the plate.
Put some alcohol on a clean paper towel and clean the back a few times untill you will see no cleaningmarks anymore.

Than use a simple paint roller and black acrylic paint to paint the back.
You will have to do that twice for the best result.
Now your plate is ready to show.

If you store your used roller in a simple glass jar you can keep it ready for use for months.

Gathering with Maartje and Rien

After a long wait Maartje and Rien were finally able to join me in the "wet plate world"
Maartje, a photographic teacher and creative as she is, has talent!
During pouring her plates she hasen't spoiled a single drop of collodion.
I have never seen that before !
Rien, also a shool teacher loves to experiment with old photographic processes.
At shool he has a cabinet filled with all kinds of chemicals.
A real childrens playground for adults.....

A brief impression of this long day.

Great source for black aluminium !!

Thanks to a participent of my workshop i found a great supplier of black aluminium over here in Holland. I also think its one of the very few in Europe.
It's a small firm located in the  south of Holland in a place called Schinnen.
So also close to Germany and Belgium
We already made some testplates and they work just fine.
They are able to cut in any sizes you want and they are also willing to ship all over Europe. The thickness of the material is aprox 0,7 mm
Getting it from the US might be a just bit cheaper but this source is fast and accurate !!
No problems with the customs anymore.

If you are interested just contact my contact person, Daniël Putters.
Website : http://www.graveerbedrijf.com/
E-mail : info@graveerbedrijf.com
Phone : Tel. +31 (0)46-4428442

Cornelis le Mair

After a long wait today i finally had the oppertunity to make some plates of Cornelis le Mair. He's a very talented Dutch fine art painter.

I quote from his website : "Born in Eindhoven, the Netherlands in 1944, fine arts painter Cornelis le Mair can rightfully be called a natural talent. At barely five years old, he had to show his drawings to all of the other Kindergarten classes. After finishing High School, he started his art studies at the Kunstacademie in Den Bosch.

For the talented Le Mair however, this art education is limited to teaching “free expression” and a talent for drawing is considered an obstacle on the way to finding “true art”. The teachers there are not able to instruct him in the things he finds interesting. He heeds the advise of a helpful teacher and switches over to the Koninklijke Kunstacademie in Antwerp in 1965, where the old painting techniques are still being taught. Fortunately his teacher, professor Victor Dolphijn, takes these traditional painting techniques seriously. In 1968, le Mair graduates “cum laude” in portrait and figure painting and, guided by Dolphijn, starts painting still lifes, a subject he has continually learned to master. In 1973, Le Mair moves to a farm in the countryside in the vicinity of the city where he was born, and starts his career as a fine arts painter".

More on his website : http://www.cornelislemair.com/

Despite of the difficult circumstances i am very happy with the final result. It was very dark in his atelier.
He has collected an extremely beautiful collection of curiosa during his trips all over the world so i had to manoeuvre in a very small room paying attention not to damage anything

I have used two strong lights in umbrellas and my Calumet c1.

Ambrotype on black glass

Exposuretime 7 secs

KCN fixer

Hermagis 350 mm f 4.5

Wet platers from Italy

A few months ago Filippo and Guiseppe contacted me for more information about the wet plate process. So we exchanged some e-mails and we settled for the date.
But just about one week before "D-day" i got an e-mail from Guiseppe. '
He had a serious injury at his foot and needed a surgery.....
BUT, he had asked his surgeon if it was ok to go to Holland by plane which was confirmed positive.
So with the help of a wheel chair and large elevator they got him into the plane!
Flying was very cheap, only 30 euro for a return ticket at Easyjet !!
I arranged them a nice bed and breakfast nearby my home and on Saturday at exact 09:00 they were standing on my doorstep.  

Flowing there first plates just went great. They hardly spoiled any collodion.
As usual, the fixing stage is the most interesting part.
I have heard this so many times : WOOOOOW !!!!
We made some really nice plates together on clear and black glass.
On Saturday night we had a nice dinner in Eindhoven and on Sunday morning they collected their plates and Guisppe took his "new" Darlot lens back home.
I just wonder if they have ever seen wet plates passing the x-ray scanner at the airport........
Guiseppe and Filippo, thanks for joining me and you interest for this beautiful process.

As i can't get it working on my ipad :
http://www.youtube.com/user/alexcollodionart?blend=3&ob=5#p/a/u/0/ySUSksxoZ_U