Lisa

Inspired by a picture of Ed Ross i finally was able to get my daughter in front of my camera again.

Clear glass ambro

18x24cm

exposure time 4 secs

Dallmeyer 3b open
Alex collodion mix
KCN fixer

Gathering with two Belgian photographers

Last saturday Kelly and Michel, both professional photography teachers,  visited my small studio. They were eager to get more knowledge about the wet plate process.
It was funn working with them. It's always nice to see that everybody has it's own vision about photography.
So we made some plates together.

8x10" (black and normal glass)

alex collodion mix ( no additional ether)

Dallmeyer 3b wide open.
exposuretimes aprox 4 secs.

KCN fixer

 

Three fixer test

Recently I bought Amaloco x-89 rapid fixer as I was wondering if it would work with Collodion. Well it did, and I was surprised by the result.
Is it a scientific test. NO !  but I tried to show you the differences using three different fixers.

The result ? Well they are close to each other. The KCN gives a bit more yellow look.
Can you call it warmer ? Maybe, but the differences are really close.
Different kind of varnish will have much more influence on the color than the fixer itself

The other two show a little bit more magenta/red tone. But again, it's close.

Just one remark. It looks like the KCN also has a bit influence on the exposure ???!!!
It looks just a tad brighter.

If you make two identical pictures (which is almost impossible with collodion) and you lay them side by side you might notice some difference. But when showing just a single plate for me it is almost impossible to tell wich fixer was used.
So, do you really need KCN to get the famous "coffee and cream" color?. NO!
They only downside is when using a rapid fixer or hypo is that you need a longer washing time for your plates as these two chemicals dissolve less easy in water.
So when working in a studio there is no need at all to use KCN

From left to right
1. Amaloco x89
2. KCN fixer
3. Natrium Thiosulfat (HYPO)

First I pre cutted a plate so it was easy to break it after the developing stage.

 Three fixers. from bottom to the top : Amaloco, KCN, Natrium

After developing 

Again, from left to right : Amaloco, KCN, Natrium Thiosulfate
Plates were still wet.

When dry the difference is even closer.

Got published in Fuzion magazine

A few months ago i got in contact with Gabriel van Ingen.
He's a very talented wedding photographer http://www.gabrielvaningen.com/ but also publisher of a fantastic photographic magazine called Fuzion magazine.
If you are a lover of analogue and conceptual photography than this is a must to read.

This time Gabriel dedicated the whole issue on Collodion Photography which exposes beautiful work from "wet platers" all over the world.
You can download the PDF for free or get yourself a hardcopy for only USD 20,=

Have a nice time reading this beautiful magazine : http://www.fuzionmagazine.co.uk/

Gabriel, many thanks for offering me this opportunity

Alex

Wet plate demonstration

Yesterday a friend of mine organized  a open day at his photographic education centre at Veldhoven ( near Eindhoven). http://advance-cvf.blogspot.com/


There were a lot of visitors who were interested in the wet plate process.
This time i have used my Calumet c1 with a 13 inch Hermagis petzval
I was able to give some demonstrations despite the lack of a real darkroom.
I used my "grow tent" again which is a very good alternative. The size is just perfect and can be build up in about 10 minutes.  The only thing is that you cant open the zipper from the inside, so you always have to be with two persons.
I seriously have to start working on a mobile box'.........(lack of time)
A brief overview of that day.

The following pictures were made by Henk Peters.

Many thanks !

Clear Glass Ambro

13 inch hermagis petzval

poorboy collodion

KCN Fixer

exposuretime 6 seconds