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