I know so many of you are convinced I’m like a god of photography, capable of doing all sorts of magic with any camera, any process handed to me. I hate to dispel the myth, but here it is. Maybe you should sit down and take a few deep breaths.
I know it’s shocking to hear, but, sometimes I miss. I’m not always perfect as a photographer. There, I said it.
Case in point: Tintypes. I wanted to try out making some tintype photos using a kit from Rockland Colloid. They sell a kit with the plates and some gelatin you put on the plates in a darkroom. Then you expose the plates and develop the plates in a darkroom again. Coating the plates was a lot messier than you might have thought. I was concerned I got too much gel on the plates, but stopped while I was ahead with trying to fix them.
I shot a photo of Tim using my Holga for about a second with one of the plates installed. I also did a shot of the water tower and factories on the west side of Dover, using a pinhole camera for the 4inx5in plate for a one minute exposure. Lets just say that developing the photos was much less exciting than coating the plates. I’m showing the scans I did of the plates, which I converted to black and white. I’d say both techniques “show potential”. I sent an email to Rockland tonight, asking for their expertise. I hope to have something to show in the next few weeks that looks a lot better!
Try to recover from the shock, and carry on as you were before this shocking admission! LOL
Hey David, many thanks for posting this. You are WAY ahead of me, you got actual images onto your plates. I tried their kit a few years ago with absolute zero results. I went the darkroom and enlarger route. I even got a bunch of roofing tin, the thin kind, after I ran out of the plates in the kit, and spray painted them black. NOTHING worked – did not even get the trace of an image.
I should have pursued it then, but did not. So, I am really interested in what you will find out!
wow, Christian! I know you’re Mr. Alternative processes, at least for printing. I’m surprised! I’ll definitely keep you posted on progress!
Hi Dave. I really like the burnt chemical look in the water tower image. If you blow it out a little more, it would make an excellent overlay for any image that you wanted to look old time-y.
That’s a cool idea Brian! I’ll have to try it.