The Phoenix Alternative Festival 2019
Last weekend we attended our fourth Phoenix Alternative Festival in Llanfyllin, Wales. Andy (Moo Pa), Patrick, Laura and myself shooting wetplate portraits with funds going …
06 Aug
Houghton & Sons 12×15 Camera
Houghton & Sons 12×15 Camera
Since I’ve sold the Hunter Penrose camera I though I might as well fix up one of the project cameras that sit on top of …
10 Jul
Hello from Latvia
Hello from Latvia
Here’s the new owner of the Hunter Penrose, Maris Locmelis, of Riga, Latvia. It all arrived intact. Phew. Maris is an exceptional wet plate photographer, we’ve …
06 Jul
Hunter Penrose no more
Hunter Penrose no more
Well that happened a lot quicker than expected. I’m still surprised that its gone. I had mentioned on Facebook that I might consider selling my Hunter …
14 Jun
Neg re-touching frame
Neg re-touching frame
Saw this bargain on Feepay.A wholeplate glass negative retouching frame. It has a slide out drawer as the front support.Ground glass upper with a white …
04 Jun
Brightly coloured cased print
Brightly coloured cased print
This strikingly brightly coloured cased arrived today. It’s whole plate in size and in surprisingly good condition. The detail in painting close up is really …
24 May
The British School at Rome
The British School at Rome
I recently had the pleasure of being invited to The British School at Rome, to provide a wet plate collodion demonstration to the Ashby Patrons, …
16 Apr
Kiev 88
Kiev 88
I borrowed this Kiev 88 from Gwen, a friend and fellow photographer at work. I’ve been looking for a 6×6 camera with a waist level …
10 Apr
The BIG wet plate tent…
The BIG wet plate tent…
Last year four friends – Moo Pa, Patrick, Laura and I thought it would be a good idea to buy a large tent for wet …
26 Mar
Julia Margaret Cameron
Julia Margaret Cameron
This original print is in the Special Collections of The John Rylands Library, University of Manchester. Margaret and Adeline Norman by Julia Margaret Cameron 1874 Description:Portrait of …
06 Mar
ColouriseSG – Machine learning.
ColouriseSG – Machine learning.
ColouriseSG is a project by the Data Science and Artificial Intelligence Division, GovTech Singapore. Andrew Tan, Quantitative AnalystPreston Lim, Software EngineerTan Kai Wei, Data Scientist …
02 Mar
How do you back yours?
How do you back yours?
I was recycling some picture frames at the studio today and noticed that one of my early whole plate ambrotypes looked a little weird around …
01 Mar
Postcard photographers
Postcard photographers
Got to love a good old seaside postcard. I’ve blogged about some from my collection in the past. Heres two new ones of Childrens Corner, …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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. …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …