Re: Collodion - Wet Plate Images
so this 120mm lens is pretty wide
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/660/2...f43ea1ac_b.jpg
one I did before was way cleaner but overexposed :( doesn't look it in the pic, but it's still wet... when it's dry it will be faded as hell and I don't think varnish will save it?
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/660/2...6f7fc960_c.jpg
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Also I can't remember who here told me to develop along the short edge but I tried that today and definitely much better result. Should have been doing that from the start!
Re: Collodion - Wet Plate Images
It's a great plate. Or at least it comes up as one on my computer monitor. And it's a surprise to see a really wide angle (Nikkor-SW 120mm?) landscape image instead of the excellent portraits you've been doing. The Tasman Bridge curves right from the Topham Street vantage point and I was nonplussed to see it go left. Then I remembered it was wet plate with a left to right flip. Slaps forehead!
Re: Collodion - Wet Plate Images
Really like this. I love wide angle tintypes.
"one I did before was way cleaner but overexposed :( doesn't look it in the pic, but it's still wet... when it's dry it will be faded as hell and I don't think varnish will save it?"
Blown highlights unfortunately can't be saved by the varnish. The plate here looks good.
"Also I can't remember who here told me to develop along the short edge but I tried that today and definitely much better result. Should have been doing that from the start!"
Glad that works for you. Joni Sternbach taught me to do it that way and I saw John Coffer develop plates like that as well.
Re: Collodion - Wet Plate Images
THanks Maris and cuypers
There's no blown highlights on that 'overexposed' plate, there's detail everywhere and really good detail in the shadows particularly under the bridge... unlike the scanned plate where there is no detail there. Perhaps overexposed is not the right term, probably overdevelopment. I stuck to 16 seconds. I should have pulled it back a bit... I still don't have the skill to recognise when the plate is fully developed in the dark because I'm only using a head torch and I'm kind of hunched over in the back of my van.
Detail everywhere, but it just looks faded because of the overdevelopment. Maybe I could try varnishing it and see how it looks. As it is now, dried, there is very, very little detail in the distance but you can just make out the far hills and end of the bridge. The other thing I've noticed with WPC is that distant objects kind of fade out with the haze or something I'm guessing, so having a landscape leading into the far distance like this is tricky because of that haze...? am I right or wrong there? I've just noticed it a few times now.
Regarding the wide angle lens... not sure how I feel about it... definitely a special occasion lens.
I'm looking forward to trying it against some trees :)
Re: Collodion - Wet Plate Images
If you can't see where to stop developing, spent some time tuning your lights!
I had a rubilith film (red)on a low wattage bulb in my lab and it was a pitty to work with, I switched to "bug light" (yellowish light for outdoor) It's a wolrd of difference, as you see quite like in full light.... just find one, set it up and make some plates without exposing in your camera to see if there is fog...(source is a private talk with Mark Osterman)
Deep amber is working like a charm, once you get the good light, life is easier
Re: Collodion - Wet Plate Images
Yeah I could imagine life would be much easier with a brighter light. Usually it's not a problem but every now and again I hit hiccups like this when I incorrectly guess an exposure time (and now this batch of collodion is aging I'm probably over-compensating with exposure times)
I have a very large sheet of rubylith here at home that I was going to use to cover the entire rear window of my Toyoto van (as that is my darkroom)
Would a very large source of red light like that be too much? Or not...? I suppose judging by Anton Orlov's transparent camera then perhaps not... my other option would be to go and try find a brighter red light somewhere but I do not have the time for that at the moment as I am going away to sea for a few months next week.
Re: Collodion - Wet Plate Images
Re: Collodion - Wet Plate Images
Re: Collodion - Wet Plate Images
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cbk
Wow! That's lovely!
Cheers!
Bill
Re: Collodion - Wet Plate Images
Love the colored plate. Is this scan before or after varnishing?