My first tin type, wet plate collodion

[MK3Brent]

I recently took on this project to make my own tintypes.
After accumulating all the chemicals and mixing them myself, I was able to make my first plate.

I have a cadet 4x5 view camera and I modified a sheet film holder to accept a quarter plate.

My first plates are pretty bad... but I'm trying to get the process down.
The developer for these wetplates are very short.. around 15-20 seconds, and I'm having a little bit of difficulty getting the exposures correct and also keeping the plates properly light sensitive out of the silver nitrate bath.

Here are a couple pictures of what I've done so far.

The camera:

All the chemicals I needed:

Modified film holder:

And my crappy first plate, haha:

And, here's the best one I could do today.
Light-years better, but still awful:

The blotchy white areas are most likely hot spots from handling the plate after the silver bath, and the exposure + over developing accounts for a lot of the collodion artifacts. My goal is to have an artifact free plate with total control over the process.

I'll update this thread with more plates as I get better.

Thanks for looking!

 

[slackercruster]

How much time did it take to do it? Learning, chemical procurment, making plates? You must have worked a long time on it. Very impressive.

 

[limr]

How exciting! Even if the images are not where you want them to be, it must be so satisfying to get recognizable images (and what a pretty Pentax, too ) Well done!

 

[Light Guru]

First off vary nice for a first try. I've been wanting to try it myself.

Second, the tittle of your post is quite off. You have not made your first Daguerreotype. The Daguerreotype process is quite different then the collodion process.

 

[timor]

Very cool ! Keep good notes of everything you do, one day we might ask you for advice.

 

[MK3Brent]

How much time did it take to do it? Learning, chemical procurment, making plates? You must have worked a long time on it. Very impressive.

Not very long. (About 3-4 weeks.)
There are several videos on youtube that are great inspiration. The following is on of my favorites:


I registered at Wet Plate Collodion Forum and just read everything I could.

My chemicals came from http://www.bostick-sullivan.com

Thanks!

How exciting! Even if the images are not where you want them to be, it must be so satisfying to get recognizable images (and what a pretty Pentax, too ) Well done!

That IS the best part, as rare as it is though... I must have gone through 13 plates of just NOTHING. Shot after shot of various exposures and develop time, and just pitch black plates. I think my silver nitrate bath isn't working very well horizontally.
Currently, I just put the plates in a small tupperware container lying horizontal. Perhaps this isn't best as most baths I've seen are pretty much vertical.

First off vary nice for a first try. I've been wanting to try it myself.

Second, the tittle of your post is quite off. You have not made your first Daguerreotype. The Daguerreotype process is quite different then the collodion process.

Thanks and sorry, my mistake.

Very cool ! Keep good notes of everything you do, one day we might ask you for advice.

Will do!

I'm going to try again today after I make a different silver nitrate bath container.

 

[terri]

Very good work! You are exhibiting THE skills it really takes with alt processes: patience, patience, and more patience. If you have these skills, you will get to where you want to be.

That second image is definitely recognizable - huge improvement. I know you are after perfection, but a little bit of artifact is part of the charm - kind of like the "dry" emulsion lifts I used to do with Polaroid film, knowing some of the emulsion would tear off. It's both a controlled but uncontrolled process...you can visualize something, and the results may be different than your vision, but sometimes even better, if that makes sense.

Looking forward to seeing more of your work!

 

[terri]

First off vary nice for a first try. I've been wanting to try it myself.

Second, the tittle of your post is quite off. You have not made your first Daguerreotype. The Daguerreotype process is quite different then the collodion process.

I've edited the title for the OP, so it reads more exactly now.

 

[MK3Brent]

Shot about 10 plates today using some lamps for lighting.
None came out. Very frustrating.

I think I have to shoot these under overcast/sunny light.

I also think my developer was a tad too concentrated, so I mixed some new developer.

Will try again tomorrow in the sunlight and see if there's any difference.

 

[MK3Brent]

Very good work! You are exhibiting THE skills it really takes with alt processes: patience, patience, and more patience. If you have these skills, you will get to where you want to be.

That second image is definitely recognizable - huge improvement. I know you are after perfection, but a little bit of artifact is part of the charm - kind of like the "dry" emulsion lifts I used to do with Polaroid film, knowing some of the emulsion would tear off. It's both a controlled but uncontrolled process...you can visualize something, and the results may be different than your vision, but sometimes even better, if that makes sense.

Looking forward to seeing more of your work!

Thanks!

I spent all day and no progress. I guess that's how it goes when you're learning.

 

[maris]

That second plate, the one of the Pentax, is pretty subtle for a first timer. Who else would think of shooting the Pentax via a mirror so the name wouldn't come out backwards!

 

[MK3Brent]

That second plate, the one of the Pentax, is pretty subtle for a first timer. Who else would think of shooting the Pentax via a mirror so the name wouldn't come out backwards!

I tried to do 10 more today... and couldn't get a single to develop.

I've got a fresh plate with collodion soaking in the silver nitrate bath over night.
I'll pull it out tomorrow night in an attempt to iodize the silver bath more sufficiently.

Then... I guess try again.

Maybe the first plates were lucky, because every subsequent plate after were just worse and worse.

 

[webestang64]

Very cool. Look forward to seeing more.

 

[amolitor]

It is remarkably hard to get this stuff straight.

Taking a class and watching someone do it might be a good idea?

 

[vintagesnaps]

Are you familiar with Mark Osterman? He did a tintype excursion on the Erie Canal sponsored by the Eastman House and was posting photos of it over the summer. He teaches workshops but I don't remember offhand if he has instructions or resources on his website. I think it would be an interesting process to learn.

Terri thanks for the clarification; from what I understand daguerreotypes involved a hazardous process using mercury which could potentially cause brain damage (similar to a millinery process used in the past and where the term 'mad hatter' came from.) Which is why they switched to tintypes!

Photobooth SF in San Francisco does tintype portraits among other things. Photobooth | About Tintypes

(And now that I look at the link, I see they have some resources including Scully & Osterman who have a new book out that I hadn't seen before - Freestyle carries it.)