Manchester Histories Festival
Celebration Day 3rd March 2012 Manchester Town Hall 10.00am – 5.30pm I’ll be attending the Manchester Histories Festival Celebration Day at the Town Hall if anyone …
19 Feb
Remember this….
Remember this….
I have several plates sitting around my desk, I pick them up occasionally to reflect upon, this one was taken in the Polaroid passport camera. …
18 Feb
Scotland for the brave…
Scotland for the brave…
February probably isn’t the best time if year to spend a week in Scotland. We’d not been to “The Machars” before so wasn’t too sure …
13 Feb
Three young ladies outdoors.
Three young ladies outdoors.
This is a lovely crisp plate, shot outdoors, I do like plates that are shot elsewhere than the studio. Not sure if its a Wedding photograph …
04 Feb
A donkey ride
A donkey ride
Heres a lovely little tintype (2 1/2″ x 3 1/4″) bought in the UK, whether or not the family/plate originates from here is another matter. …
03 Feb
Curious Pursuits opening night
Curious Pursuits opening night
Thank you to everyone that turned out to the opening of Porter & Jenkinsons Curious Pursuits last night. It was a great start to a …
01 Feb
Sneak preview……
Sneak preview……
Well tomorrow is the opening event for the Porter & Jenkinson Curious Pursuits exhibition. Curious Pursuits blog link I’ve re-framed some of the plates from the “Things …
26 Jan
New acquisitions….
New acquisitions….
Now that the 12×15 camera is almost ready for shooting I thought I’d see what lenses would cover that size plate and keep an eye …
25 Jan
Pigeon
Pigeon
I’m still having chemistry issues so have started a session of silver nitrate maintenance. Filtered and sunning at the moment, not that we have that …
23 Jan
A lovers spat
A lovers spat
A CDV tintype of a young couple. Now I’m not too sure whats going on here but to me it looks like he’s got a …
17 Jan
Did I mention it was cold…
Did I mention it was cold…
Steph took the day off today and suggested we go shoot some plates. When I say we I mean me, she sits in the warm …
13 Jan
All back together…
All back together…
The 15×12 Billcliff camera is back together again,previously looked like this, the plate holder just needs two brass hinges of the correct size and I’m …
13 Jan
On the ol’ porch
On the ol’ porch
Heres a great little tintype of father and son sitting on the front porch. I really like these outdoor shots, I’ll keep my eye out …
09 Jan
Portico Library & Gallery, Manchester 2nd Feb – 29th Feb 2012
Portico Library & Gallery, Manchester 2nd Feb – 29th Feb 2012
I recently submitted a proposal for the up and coming exhibition “Curious Pursuits” curated by Porter & Jenkinson. It was a little last minute and wasn’t too …
07 Jan
As thick as thieves…literally.
As thick as thieves…literally.
This is what the door to your studio should NOT look like. Had a text from John yesterday morning “We’ve had a break in”, just those …
03 Jan
Outdoor Tintypes
Outdoor Tintypes
Here are some recent additions to my collection of outdoor tintypes, for some reason I find these much more intriguing than the usual indoor studio …
30 Dec
Last of the season…
Last of the season…
The cats have taken the hint and are now leaving their kills outside of the catflap, so no more surprises on the carpet. The downside …
27 Dec
Vicky
Vicky
Here’s a whole plate portrait of Vicky. This is at 30 seconds f4.5 with full bellows extension, I was surprised I couldn’t crop closer with this …
27 Dec
The Boydell Sisters
The Boydell Sisters
Steph and Vicky wanted to go to the studio today to shoot some plates. Vicky hadn’t been before and was visiting from London/Cambodia/Paris? As soon as …
25 Dec
Festive good deeds….
Festive good deeds….
This gem sized plate had been sitting on Feepay US for a while, it started off at a crazy price and slowly dropped over the …
23 Dec
Two Brewers
Two Brewers
Heres another plate from yesterday using the Watson Studio camera. You can see clearly my silver bath need some work doing to it. I don’t …
23 Dec
The painted Lady
The painted Lady
I think this tiny little ambrotype is great, I’ve seen plenty of Gem size tintypes but only this one gem ambrotype. It really is something …
22 Dec
Houston….we have a problem.
Houston….we have a problem.
John shot a couple of plates during his last workshop that showed some peculiar results that were hard to fathom. All of a sudden certain subject …
22 Dec
Gopal returns
Gopal returns
Back in September Gopal visited the studio to have a look at the wet plate process, today he popped in to the studio to pick …
21 Dec
Blackpool tourists 1970s not 1870s!
Blackpool tourists 1970s not 1870s!
I’ve just got back from visiting my family in South Wales, on the wall there hangs this photograph. I can vaguely remember it being taken, I …
19 Dec
The staring lady
The staring lady
I cant quite put my finger on why I got hold of this plate. Its a 5×7 tintype of a young woman, she’s not wearing …
16 Dec
Bellows….at a stretch
Bellows….at a stretch
Okay its the first time attempting to make a set of bellows for the wet plate studio camera. I’d knocked up a lens board out …
09 Dec
An ambrotype – sisters?
An ambrotype – sisters?
I dont have that many original ambrotypes as they tend to go for silly money on Feepay. Heres one I managed to get cheaply probably …
06 Dec
And while I’m at it…
And while I’m at it…
…I might as well strip down the Watson & Sons wet plate camera. The original bellows is very brittle and split in several places, its also …
30 Nov
Grannys spectacles.
Grannys spectacles.
You don’t see many plates where the sitter still has their specs on. Not sure if it was vanity or some technical demand by the …
28 Nov
Match book cases…
Match book cases…
After shooting the small 25mm plates and placing them into pendant mounts I started to look around for what else I could re-appropriate as frames …
27 Nov
How does it go back together again???
How does it go back together again???
I’ve taken apart the Billcliff 12×15 camera, its surprising how much wood there is.. The rotating back I’ve repaired and strengthened, I’ve cleaned off all the …
19 Nov
Tintype of Four Friends
Tintype of Four Friends
Apart from these four gents, what I like about this plate is the background or should I say whats behind the background. These plates were …
15 Nov
Multi lens cameras…
Multi lens cameras…
I really like the small gem size plates and would love a multi lens gem camera but these go for silly money, when you can …
09 Nov
Odd couple.
Odd couple.
This is a large plate, 5×7 inches, that I bought very cheaply off good old feebay. Usually it the man that sits and the woman that …
07 Nov
A still life session with Kirsteen Aubrey
A still life session with Kirsteen Aubrey
On Friday I had a wetplate session with Kirsteen Aubrey, unfortunately David Crow couldn’t make it, so we shot some plates of objects Kirsteen was …
31 Oct
Outdoor couple
Outdoor couple
Heres a lovely little tintype. The detail is amazing. Got to love his casual informal posing. This has to be one of my favourites so far, …
21 Oct
The camera graveyard
The camera graveyard
Today I began cleaning the studio as its in good need of it but to break up the monotony of it all I put together …