Author: Fourtoes

17 Feb

Todays lot…

Todays lot…

Not a bad haul from todays antique fair. A selection of cheap tintypes… Some cabinet cards and larger, one of a musical family. Turns out the chap with …

 
By Fourtoes
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14 Feb

Cyanotypes in Portugal

Cyanotypes in Portugal

We recently had a week away in the sunshine in Portugal. I decided to take along some cyanotype chems as its one of the easiest …

 
By Fourtoes
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27 Jan

Rotten shame…

Rotten shame…

A set of quarter plate glass negatives arrived last week, bought for one plate in particular. Its such a shame there is deterioration in the …

 
By Fourtoes
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24 Jan

Frederick Hollyer #3

Frederick Hollyer #3

I’m becoming a bit of a fan of Frederick Hollyer and his connection to the Pre-Raphaelites. I’ve very recently moved the majority of my collection from …

 
By Fourtoes
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17 Jan

Made me look twice…

Made me look twice…

I’ve become quite skilled at searching through large numbers of images on internet auction sites. The other day I had to do a double take …

 
By Fourtoes
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10 Jan

Now on Instagram

Now on Instagram

I’ve been an Instagram member for a while but had never posted anything. During a recent trip to the USA, I was asked a few …

 
By Fourtoes
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01 Jan

V&A Photography Centre

V&A Photography Centre

I totally forgot to blog about my visit to the V&A Photography Centre back in October. That was a busy weekend with a workshop, several …

 
By Fourtoes
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01 Jan

Against the grain…

Against the grain…

I’m still struggling with calibrating my photopolymer plates. Well, its not so much the calibrating but getting a standard where I can actually calibrate the …

 
By Fourtoes
Filed under: Etching Press
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25 Dec

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Merry Christmas everyone. The website/blog is back up and running after a few episodes of down time. Now hopefully sorted. Steph recently asked if she could …

 
By Fourtoes
Filed under: Alternate Processes
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21 Dec

Christmas procrastination

Christmas procrastination

I’ve got household Christmas chores to be doing but keep getting distracted by stuff in my collection. Every now and again I’ll have a rummage …

 
By Fourtoes
Filed under: Alternate Processes, Vintage Plates
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03 Dec

A rotten Kodak No. 4

A rotten Kodak No. 4

In my quest for a rotten Kodak No.4A I found this falling apart Kodak No.4, so 5×4 inches instead of halfplate size. The leatherette was falling …

 
By Fourtoes
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02 Dec

Parkers UV Vacuum frame

Parkers UV Vacuum frame

This might be of use to someone, please take it away and pay what you think its worth. Vacuum still works, needs one additional bulb, one …

 
By Fourtoes
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01 Dec

Oops

Oops

Okay, I realise the previous post talks about getting rid of stuff…. but I couldn’t help myself! Heres todays job lot, bought from a house clearance …

 
By Fourtoes
Filed under: Misc
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10 Nov

For Sale – Winter clear out

For Sale – Winter clear out

First lot for a clear out of the studio to make a little space and raise some funds. My trusty workhorse 5×7 (13×18) tailboard camera with …

 
By Fourtoes
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05 Nov

Dallmeyer 4B on camera at last!

Dallmeyer 4B on camera at last!

This weekend I managed to collect two brass lens flanges, kindly organised by Mark Voce, one of which was for the huge Dallmeyer 4B lens. …

 
By Fourtoes
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20 Oct

Lux Darkrooms & Photogravure

Lux Darkrooms & Photogravure

I’m in London for five days so took the opportunity to ask Constanza Isaza from Lux Darkrooms if she’d provide a workshop on calibrating and …

 
By Fourtoes
Filed under: Etching Press, Misc
Comments: 1
23 Aug

UK wet plate weekend at Guys Cliffe House

UK wet plate weekend at Guys Cliffe House

Another busy weekend, this time at Guys Cliffe House in Warwick. An excellent location this year arranged by Ray Spence. With thanks to property caretaker …

 
By Fourtoes
Filed under: Wet Plate
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22 Aug

Phoenix Alternative Festival 2018

Phoenix Alternative Festival 2018

The Phoenix Alternative Festival asked us back for another year, this time our third, its always great fun even if the weather wasn’t going to …

 
By Fourtoes
Filed under: Wet Plate
Comments: 1
20 Aug

A busy two weeks…

A busy two weeks…

Today is my first day off with my new part time contract and I’m sitting at home exhausted with a chest infection after two weeks …

 
By Fourtoes
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31 Jul

Blank Cabinet cards…

Blank Cabinet cards…

There’s something about a blank cabinet card that I find quite intriguing. Wether its the loss of potential, a missing story or just material that …

 
By Fourtoes
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15 Jul

No more print spots…

No more print spots…

I managed to spend a few hours at the studio yesterday as I was determined to get to the bottom of the mottling in my …

 
By Fourtoes
Filed under: Etching Press, Wet Plate
Comments: 2
03 Jul

Kodak 3A but different…

Kodak 3A but different…

I’ve been looking for rough Kodak 3A and 4A’s for wetplate collodion but prices have gone a little crazy on Ebay. The ones I do …

 
By Fourtoes
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23 Jun

Annual photopolymer gravures

Annual photopolymer gravures

Well that was frustrating. It seems its been 12 months since I last looked at photopolymer printing, its the main reason I bought the etching …

 
By Fourtoes
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20 Jun

Victorian wet plate negatives and some news.

Victorian wet plate negatives and some news.

I realise I haven’t posted these quarter plate collodion negatives on the blog following the April Fools post (sorry about that, especially to those that …

 
By Fourtoes
Filed under: Misc, Vintage Plates
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17 Jun

“Frear” Hollyer Cabinet Cards

“Frear” Hollyer Cabinet Cards

Whilst watching the Argentina V Wales match on TV, I took the opportunity to take a closer look at the Victorian photograph albums sitting in …

 
By Fourtoes
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11 Jun

Quarter plate sliding back camera

Quarter plate sliding back camera

Had a trip out to New Brighton this afternoon, some lunch on the sea front and then on to pick up an ebay camera purchase. This …

 
By Fourtoes
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26 May

A refreshing collodion workshop…

A refreshing collodion workshop…

This is Mike, today he reminded me of what a refreshing challenge it is to teach a non photographer the wet plate collodion photographic process. From …

 
By Fourtoes
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16 May

European Collodion Weekend 2018

European Collodion Weekend 2018

What a fantastic weekend. We’ve just returned from this years European Collodion Weekend, (ECW2018). Steph came along with  me this year. The previous years have been …

 
By Fourtoes
Filed under: Misc, Wet Plate
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09 May

Mobile darkroom number 3

Mobile darkroom number 3

My new mobile darkroom/campervan. A 2004 Renault Master MWB panel van 120 bhp with 105K. I’d been looking for a van for a while but …

 
By Fourtoes
Filed under: Misc
Comments: 1
08 May

Victorian Giants, John Thomson, T-shirts and extortionate ticket prices.

Victorian Giants, John Thomson, T-shirts and extortionate ticket prices.

This weekend we took a train down to London to meet up with some friends and fellow wet plate photographers to see some exhibitions. First up …

 
By Fourtoes
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01 Apr

Full case half plate ambrotype

Full case half plate ambrotype

Today Id like to share this recent purchase with you all. A wonderful full case half plate ambrotype. When it arrived I was very disappointed to …

 
By Fourtoes
Filed under: Misc
Comments: 6
27 Mar

A Dallmeyer 4B lens

A Dallmeyer 4B lens

A huge thank you to fellow photographer and friend, Patrick Ballanger, for inspecting and collecting my latest purchase, proving it is still possible to find a …

 
By Fourtoes
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21 Mar

Lynne – a follow up session

Lynne – a follow up session

Lynne took a wet plate workshop maybe two years ago. Her chemicals have sat dormant for a long while and she was now in a …

 
By Fourtoes
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09 Mar

Mr and Mrs Edward Leigh – Ambrotypes

Mr and Mrs Edward Leigh – Ambrotypes

Here are two framed half plate ambrotypes to add to the collection. Purchased off Feepay for a little more than usual. Mr and Mrs Edward Leigh Both …

 
By Fourtoes
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07 Mar

A salt print by Fran Sanchez Montesinos

A salt print by Fran Sanchez Montesinos

This wonderful salt print is by Fran Sanchez Montesinos. He doesn’t have a website but you can find him via FB, Instagram and Flickr. I’d noticed …

 
By Fourtoes
Filed under: Alternate Processes, Wet Plate
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26 Feb

Wet plate negatives with Andy…

Wet plate negatives with Andy…

I have to thank Andy for visiting me at the studio this weekend. He’d travelled up from Devon for a day of shooting and a …

 
By Fourtoes
Filed under: Wet Plate
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20 Feb

The Wattingers

The Wattingers

Check out the fantastic artwork on The Wattingers latest album, Bad Day At Growlers Rock. Colour photography by Ruud De Korte. Inside case wet plate image by …

 
By Fourtoes
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19 Feb

Doppelgängers and Spectres

Doppelgängers and Spectres

I bid on some nondescript quarter plate glass negatives on Ebay and had a sneaking suspicion they were trick double exposure photography….. or three sets …

 
By Fourtoes
Filed under: Misc, Vintage Plates
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