My wet plate photography - A look behind the scenes...
While historically old, wet plate collodion is still a fairly new process for me. I started working with it in fall of 2017. It has quickly become one of my favorite photography mediums! Unlike digital, wet plate takes approximately 10-20 minutes per photo, and you don't know what you'll get until you get into the darkroom to develop, so it's always a satisfying feeling to watch that image first appear and come alive on the plate. No matter how many times I've done this, each time I see that photo emerge, it's like the first time - exciting! The uniqueness of each image, small artifacts and imperfections left behind from the process, the contrast and tones. For a process that's over 150 years old, I feel this is one of the most beautiful and robust.
The hardest part, so far, has been trying to find the space to work! For well over a decade, I've been shooting digital, where all that was needed for prep, post processing, darkroom, and prints was the computer in my office. Now, I ACTUALLY need space for prep, post processing/darkroom, and print. So, I did like most in my situation - I used the master bath. LOL! It's the only room with enough space, lack of windows, and water sources, all within reach. It'll have to do until I can get around to building myself a proper darkroom. ;)
Some of the images below have descriptive captions. To view, open the image and hover over it (if on a mobile device you may have a dot on the lower right corner of the image. Click that to view the captions.)
