Lianne is a post grad photographer from Newport who had contacted me about a tintype tutorial. I like to get people to shoot a few glass plates as well, as I think its a good skill to have. Lianne soon agreed.
She had taken a very early train to Manchester and by 6pm she was just about done in. I’ve invited her back for another session as I appreciate a one day session on wet plate can be pretty full on. Maybe I’ll start offering a second day if needed.
Here are two half plate tintypes she made. Initially her collodion and dev pours were a little “entertaining” but she soon got the hang of it. Her varnish pours were a lot better.
Lianne was interested in using her Mamiya Super 23 camera for wet plate but wasn’t too hopeful, its not a camera I’m familiar with but now I’m hooked.
Heres a Mamiya Super 23…
Its a weird looking thing but these 6×9 cm plates have a real nice look to them, and the 50mm lens that she had was surprisingly super wide.
It even had a ground glass screen accessory… wonder if theres a version without the rangefinder section.
6×9 cm tintypes… 2 minutes at f8 with bounced Interfit lights
6×9 ambrotype (quickly inverted on mac)
I’m looking forward to seeing what she does with wet plate as she had mentioned a couple of great sounding projects she had in mind.
A wonderfully interesting day at the studios with Tony. Friendly, patient and thorough tuition that was practical and hands-on from beginning to end, I am utterly charmed with my box of tintypes and glass plates.
An intense, non-stop day that will push your abilities in a very positive direction from cutting and preparing the glass, setting up your own still lives and portraits and of course development, fixing, washing and finally varnishing the plates. Beautiful antique large-format cameras were a pleasure to work with and Tony’s enthusiasm for trying out less traditional equipment for use with wet plate collodion was refreshing, as I have a curious rebellion for experimentation. No question went unanswered, every chemical known to the world of collodion photography was available to be safely tried out with Tony’s seemingly unlimited knowledge.
I look forward to collating a few of my own ideas based on this wonderful process and trying them out at this great studio space on a return visit.
Tony is a very patient man, laid back and incredibly down-to-earth for a man of his expertise.
Very kind words, thank you Lianne. I’m glad you enjoyed the day, look forward to seeing you again.
Tony