Posts Tagged ‘landscapephotography’
Wet Plate Collodion at -9C, plus carbon print process!
So I’ve received a request if I’m selling also ambrotypes. I don’t because ambrotypes are unique, there is only one and once it’s sold I will never see it again. But I’ve replied that I do sell pre-ordered ambrotype. So when I will go outside next time, I can make an additional ambrotype for a client. If the client likes it, he or she buys it, if not, no problem at all, no questions asked. And pre-ordered ambrotype is also sold for much less I would usually charge.
So here is the result. The client asked if he can buy it in wooden box and so I’ve done some research, I’ve made a boxe from pine-wood and even blast-sanded it. It’s massive wood (not glued wood boards) and pine wood is known for it’s tensions, so it bended. For the next box I’ve chosen cherry wood and this was much better. The final touch is the trophy plate with engraved information about the plate and my signature. How do you like it?
In this video I’m making carbon prints. I love carbon prints. I think it’s the best that photography as a medium can offer. Of course this is a subjective opinion, but please object only if you have seen a good carbon print on glass – in person. It’s translucent silkiness of carbon prints can not be compared with any dot-on-paper principle printing process. It’s unique.
To fund my work I have to sell these babies. The carbon print on paper is listed HERE and the carbon print of glass is listed HERE.
I have a stupid anecdote to share. We had an attempt of burglary in our house. The attempt failed, since I had my German Shepherd – Mike in the house and that convinced the thief to retreat. After that I thought, shit I’m keeping all my savings in a drawer! I must hide it somewhere. And I did. And the very next day I didn’t remembered where I’ve hide it, now I’m totally without any cash whatsoever. Luckily I have some money on my paypal, so I can fill up the gap and pay the bills, but
imagine how stupid do I feel! Plus I searched the whole house again and again, but without success. Anyway I’m telling you this because I do feel stupid and I want to “enjoy” the suffering so much that I will never repeat it again!
Listed on ebay for 7 days!
Listed on ebay for 5 days!
ON THE WET PLATE COLLODION AT -9C
OK, I’ve done three videos on the subject how to do wet plate collodion at cold temperatures and none of them covers the all aspects. It’s impossible to cover all the aspects because everything needs to be reevaluated. Ditch the timer, you don’t need it. For instance in collodion manuals it is usually written that sensibilization time is 3 minutes for ambrotype. The truth is that the sensibilization time varies on the working conditions, the acidity of the silver bath, the strength of silver bath, the freshness of the silver bath, the level of iodine in silver bath and so on. What I learned from Mark Osterman is to evaluate the sensibilization visually. Do this tests and you will appreciate his wisdom.
Sensitizing
- pour the plate and dip it in silver nitrate bath as you usually do.
- after 40 seconds, in safelight conditions, take the silver-plate out and look at it, then immediately dip it back in siverbath.
- repeat after 90 seconds, 120 seconds, 180 seconds
- observe how the surface of the plate is changing. You will notice the following pattern. At the beginning silver will be on the plate in drops, very oily kind of pattern. Then longer it will stay in the silver-bath, collodion will accept more of the silver-nitrate, more smoother the silver will flow on the surface of the plate.
- when there is no more silver drops on the collodion plate, when silver nitrate flows smoothly, the plate is ready to be taken out.
- In some cases, when I had 9% solution, that was freshly boiled and working in temperature of 25C and I was agitating a bit, the sensibilization times were less then a minute! In times when it’s cold, times might be 6 minutes. Of course judging visually!
Pouring collodion
So this is the most important advice I want to give you. Of course take special attention to poured on plate, if collodion has set. Touch the pouring corner and if finger-print is overflown by collodion again, then wait few more seconds and repeat the test and when you can see that the collodion does not flow anymore, then dip it in silver nitrate. You might make a collodion that has solvents in ratio 65% of ether, 35% of alcohol. It will dry faster, but I work with my usual 50:50 ratio. During summer I do change the ratio to 30 ether : 70 alcohol. Plus more ether makes better ambrotypes, more alcohol makes better negatives. (More in the Collodion Manual)
Developing
I can not tell you the time of development, nobody can, you have to judge it visually. Of course if you’re an avid collodion photographer you do this routinely. If you are not, let me say few words. When you pour developer, observe the plate, count seconds loudly. So when the highlight will start to appear, multiply the time with three. So if the highlights are there already at 4 seconds it will be around 12 seconds. If the highlight will start to appear at 10 seconds, the developing time might be more like 30 seconds. OK, when I say highlight, it can be highlight of a face or a sky. Of course sky will appear much faster then a highlight patch on a nose, so take my advice on seconds approximately.
Developer
At freezing point I usually have 10 gr of ferrosulfate in 100 ml of developer. If it’s hot I reduce it down to 3,5 gr.
Heating plates and chemistry
I don’t recommend it. If you do not have a camper with permanent heating, then I don’t recommended. Because the heating will cool down, so you will not have a steady temperature and your results might be all over the place. My advice is that you do not heat up anything, so you will have steady temperature, which might be -5C, but at least when you will figure it out, you will have steady working conditions! The worst is that you get a good result, but then the temperature of your chemistry has dropped and you will have different results and there are so many variables, that it’s very likely you will get many problems. The only heating I recommend is long underwear and double socks.
Freezing water
In the video I forgot to put table salt in my water. One teaspoon of table salt will prevent water from freezing even at -6C. I’m adding salt even during hot temperatures, because salt will react with silver-nitrate and stop developing process immediately, thus clear blacks.
That’s about it! Enjoy making ambrotypes or better ambroice, a term coined by Scott Anton.
About this
Last but not least, I thank you for supporting my videos, blog posts and my work on general. You can do that by becoming my Patreon, bidding on my ebay auctions, buying work from me directly, taking my workshops or even sending me a tip on paypal directly. My paypal address is borutpeterlin and every cup of tea is welcome. As I confessed I developed a habit – being an artist…
Again I’m making an Ebay auction and again I’m listing prints that are by my opinion perfect! I hope you like the making-of-video and if you think it’s worthy don’t forget to subscribe, like and share.
And as always: TOPSHIT HAPPENS!!!
Infrared film photography with a camera FUJI GSW 690
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Here is a shot that is really dear to me. I grabbed my second favourite middle format camera FUJI GSW III 690 and some infrared film and decided to have some fun time it in the forest. And oh, I had also iPad, so this film happened.
This blog and videos are crowd-funded, through Patreon platform. I’ve started only a month ago and this month I could buy 200 gr of silver nitrate with your donations. I will do my best to deliver and over deliver my promises. If you can spare a dollar, five or more per month, it would be most appreciated to make more videos with this kind of content.
(OK, less mushrooms and more bears, got it!)
And oh, don’t forget to subscribe to my youtube channel. Only lately I have learned that it’s jolly good to have a subrscriber or two on your youtube channel, but I guess you know better then myself, because I equally shocked I’ve learned that I have already 1673 subscribers. Look mom, I’ve made it!
And if you are on it, I also started a FB page, Topshit Photography, don’t forget to tap my ego there too. LINK.
PS: OK, I wanted to list the print on ebay as an auction, but I was reluctant to, but I received a request to do so, so I’ve done it! Here it is. I do follow a spiritual motto:
Everything is on sale except my kidneys! (officially)
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A Tribute to Ansel Adams workshop. Topshit workshop!
Last weekend I had a workshop, A Tribute to Ansel Adams workshop. We were doing mostly analogue photography with large and middle format cameras. Next workshop is in two weeks, that’s 30., 31. of October and 1st of November 2015. I have two more places open. The same location, Baza 20, Kočevski rog, Slovenia. Photographers under 26 years and local photographers have a massive discount. My email is borutpeterlin@gmail.com More info on: http://www.topshitphotography.com/
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Minuli vikend sem, v sodelovanju z Dolenjskim muzejem, priredil fotografsko delavnico in ta isti program ponavljam na delavnici zadnji vikend oktobra 2015. Slovenski fotografi in mlajši od 26 let imajo konkreten popust. Na voljo sta še dve prosti mesti. Več informacij na mojem emailu in strani: http://www.topshitphotography.com/
Logotip Topshit Photography je kreiral Tomato Košir
Internet stran pa http://www.amaroo.si
I developed a new behavior disorder – Land Rover 109, year 1972
Last week I’ve bought a “new” car, Land Rover 109, Station Wagon, model year 1972. It used to be imported in Yugoslavia (RIP) in 1982, serving as a firefighter’s car and in 1999 was a gift for a fiftieth birthday of a car mechanic which restored it entirely but never registrate it, so it was standing in a garage for last fifteen years. Last week I’ve bought it. In two weeks I’m turning forty and this is a gift and a tool I bought myself. Otherwise I hate cars. If I could I would rather spend hours on bicycle or running to do my travelings, but I can’t. If I need a car, I wanted to buy a car that is not boring and let’s face it, cars are boring as hell! They all look the same and the mantra of consumerism is “comfort über alles”. Guess what? COMFORT IS OVERRATED! And on top of that comfort is booooooooring to death!!!!!!
An ambrotype format 10×12″ (25-30cm).
When I’m making my collodion landscape plates, I make two or three plates of the same motif and so if a person want’s to buy an ambrotype from me, he or she have two options:
Either pick it up from a gallery (that I’ve haven’t set up yet) and pay for the full price of an ambrotype 10×12″ that will be US $999.
Or the second option is that she or he can pre order a plate from me, so when I go next time out to do my art, I make another plate for the buyer. In this case the buyer can not choose a plate of his choice, it can only take the one I’ve made that day or decline it, no questions asked. The price in that case is less than half of it, US $399.
Sounds like a good and fair game right? Yes, I know, I would rather not be in a position that I need to sell my ambrotypes, but if you develop two habits like myself, you need to find a way to feed them!
My email is borutpeterlin@gmail.com and my website is www.borutpeterlin.com
PS: In my life I had several cars. They were all boring to death, except my very first car, Renault 4.
A portrait of myself from the year 1998 by Jože Suhadolnik. That’s my first car, Renault 4. The sticker was real and it goes:
THIS CAR IS DRIVEN BY: and my signature.
A monster tree with a swing! Photographed in wet plate collodion and printed in carbon print and albumen print
With my daughters at ArtMarket Budapest with my photographs in the back.
Here is a new video. It’s pretty long, 10 minutes, I went through few times and edited out as much as I could to make it shorter, but there is quite a lot of information included, so I hope you will find it worthy of your time. The prints I’ve made I’m not putting them on ebay auction, since last two auctions didn’t went that well, to be honest. Plus last week my work was being presented at ArtMarket Budapest, an international art fair, by Photon Gallery. I am on the right path, my work received good attention, I’ve met some very important curators and collectors and I’ve realized that all I need at this time is just a little more patience and I reckon one more year to catch up with boys & girls from the first art league. I know I will get there, but I’m not there quite yet. I will stop with Ebay auctions for now. The prints are still on sale, of course just send me an email of inquiry CLICK.
Music by Robert Jukič
Video about split toning with sulfide and selenium toner
Ciao tutti,
As I’ve announced last week, I’m going to publish more videos about my workflow and list more prints on ebay. It takes so much work to do a video, make a print, edit the video and everything that comes along. It took me the whole week to do this video and that’s why I’m listing three prints. Perhaps the price will not reach as high as it would if I would sell only one print, but I am a professional collodion artist and I will try to make a living out of this! Plus my storage room has about half a ton of prints in boxes. I know, because I was moving it recently and it was too heavy for a car transport. I’m printing since age 11, so in 29 years you can imagine how many boxes piled up.
Anyway, here are new prints. I’ve explained everything on video. I want to add that this split toning technique I’ve learned from Mark Osterman and he is the best address if you want to dive into alternative photography. And oh, you must check this out, George Eastman House published their program of workshops for year 2015! I’m going to take at least two of them!
One last, but very important note. I’ve you’ve seen this video after the auction is finished and you would want to buy a print from me, check my EBAY SHOP or if you want to buy that exact print, copy number 5, you certainly can, just send me an email. As a professional collodion artist I have a motto:
EVERYTHING IS FOR SALE, EXCEPT MY KIDNEY!
(officially)
Ebay listings:
Edition 2/12, a silver gelatin photograph, from a wet plate collodion
Edition 3/12, a silver gelatin photograph, from a wet plate collodion negative
Edition 4/12, a silver gelatin photograph, from a wet plate collodion negative
Flooded tree in wet plate collodion negative
A flooded tree by river Krka. This is a digital scan from Wet Plate Collodion negative, format 5×7″. Photograph taken with (modified) Plaubel Peco camera and Voigtlander Heliar 300mm, f4.5, lens. Exposure 10 seconds at f/16.
Two days ago I saw this flooded tree and I knew immediately it will look good on picture, but there was too much water, I couldn’t come near the tree. Yesterday I saw the water level has fallen, but didn’t had time to make the picture and on other hand I knew the flood will be gone by tomorrow, so today I decided to make the picture. Only problem was that I had to work in Ljubljana, to make half a dozen on location portraits for Mladina weekly. OK, I did it with digital camera, but still a lot of work. I decided I have an hour to make the collodion image, no more. I drove to the place, set up the tent, made a test and then also the plate. All that in 42 minutes. I cleaned the set up and head to digital work.
Wet wetplate photographer
Weather is horrible everywhere and forecast is not promising, so when I saw that raining stopped for few hours, I packed my wetplate kit and head to the river Krka, to make new plates. In a month time I have an exhibition in Galerija Krka in Novo mesto, Slovenia, so I need to make a good use of every moment that is left. I had to work fast, so I decided to use my fuji darkbox and Kodak Folding Brownie 3A. I decided to go for wetplate negatives. It was quite cold, 4C degrees Celsius, so I was sensitizing plate for 7 minutes, but real problem was developing. The key to make a good negative is proper developing that goes from 1 to 3 minutes. I was developing in my dark-box, but while I was breathing, glass was starting to fog and after a minute I couldn’t see nothing, so I continued for a while, then I stopped. Consequentially negatives were weak. Then raining started again and I got all wet, but that’s appropriate for a wet plate photographer isn’t. At home I redeveloped the negative to build up some density. Now I’m looking the plates and I see the first one, that had a hole in the center of the image is actually more appealing then the second one that is technically better.
Before and after effect of redeveloping after fixing.
#TreeTuesday 18.12.2012
I’m joining #TreeTuesday group on social network as an excuse to take more images. Today’s wetplate is done with Kodak Folding Brownie 3A from year 1905.
Wet Plate Collodion photography in the morning at 4C (39F)
This morning it was temperature 4C (39F) and it was perfect to try out how does Wet Plate Collodion process work at this temperature. I had an alcohol burner (not my liver) with which I could heat up chemicals if I would need to, but it was surprisingly not needed. I did prolonged time of sensitizing a plate from 3min to 6 min and developing was a bit longer, but that was the only difference of usual procedure. I photographed an old apple tree that was sunbathing.
I used my Kodak Folding Brownie At my first exposure I didn’t fixed lens properly and it was out of focus. I repeated the shot, but I kind of like the un-fucused picture just as well. This two pics are tintypes then I repeat the shot, but I poured collodion on glass plate. I’m attaching a picture as a glass negative looks on a black velvet. That principle of backing a collodion negative with a black background it’s called an ambrotype. Check this negative bellow, half it’s on a black velvet and half is on a white paper. A pure magic, I tell you!
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