Wet Collodion April 8th 2024 Total Eclipse - Lithographic Gelatin Silver Final Printing

  Last April I embarked on a mission, which took me all the way to Alton, Missouri.  The goal was to see if I could capture the total solar eclipse with both daguerreotype and wet collodion mediums, while having no specialized equipment and with no assistants either.  The journey and it's fruits are described HERE, with finished daguerreotypes can be seen HERE.  Having miraculously secured a 4x5in wet collodion negative of the diamond ring moment of sun's reemergence, I chose to make two editions of prints on vintage gelatin silver paper and using lithographic developer, in order to add even more serendipity to the process.

  First printing focused solely and squarely upon the conjunction of sun and moon, centered and enlarged to almost fill the page.  It then took me some months to process what I wanted to see in the second edition.  I won't bore the reader with repeating what fun lith printing with gelatin silver paper is, as one can find that info in my post about the first round of images, but I decided to stick with that, as well as to continue using vintage photo papers like Kodak's Ektalure and Fine Art, Luminos Charcoal R, and others, but this time I only made prints in 11x14 and 16x20 format, forgoing 8x10 altogether.

  With this second and final edition, I wanted to more personally convey my experience of the eclipse and the emotions that those 3.5 minutes so strongly evoked.  I recall being awestruck at the surreal nature of what was happening, with day turning into night and colors fading before my very eyes. It seemed like reality glitched for a second, and the sky became host to a most amusing and abstract art installation, a fleeting performance by nature of it's best time sensitive installation. I was also overwhelmed by Nature that was happening all around me.  Not only were celestial bodies lined up in most peculiar and perfect ways, but I was also in the depth of a lush forest, an environment I thoroughly enjoy.  Below are some examples of 11x14 and 16x20in prints that were completed recently.  With 11x14in I decided to give a nod to Man Ray and the abstract movement of his time, with somewhat organic shapes mysteriously appearing in random manner in what is usually a clear sky.  In 16x20in images, those shapes are replaced with plant material, and in a way I hear them faintly whispering of work by Anna Atkins and William Henry Fox Talbot.  As with the first edition, each print was selectively bleached and selenium toned. 

  Above prints are available for purchase, feel free to use the email mentioned in contact page her to send an inquiry.   Printing of this negative is now done forever, as I placed a thick layer of varnish on it.  That varnish contains a myriad dust particles, large and small, so the negative itself is preserved, but basically unprintable. I'm elated to have completed this project and to have already sold a few prints from both first and second edition.  My art is my only source of income, and sales allow me not only to survive, but to dream of new heights to achieve within the medium I love so dearly.

Anton

Brief Wet Collodion Adventure - Some Tintypes of the Southern US

   Not long ago, I embarked upon a quick trip to some parts of the country I haven't explored yet, and, naturally, I carried a wet plate setup with me to see what sights inspire me to make some tintypes.  This trip was actually mainly concentrated on daguerreotypes, both historic and modern, but in this post I'll stick solely to collodion, with an additional historical treat at the end.  

  My objective was to explore a little bit of the gulf coast, and visit Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Biloxi, and Mobile, along with a few National Parks that can be found in Texas on the way back home.  The first plates on this journey were made right after I crossed the mighty Mississippi, in Baton Rouge.  I stopped for a bit of a hike along the river, and noticed the overabundance of white, sun-bleached shells that lined the shoreline in all directions.  After finding a shady place to park, as it was about 90F at the time, I first decided to make a plate featuring both the shells and the vast bridge I just crossed.  A 90mm Nikkor lens was used to achieve this with satisfactory, to me, results.  For the second plate, an 8in 1857 C. C. Harrison Petzval was used in order to throw the focus off a bit, and emphasize some of the blades of grass on the hill alongside rivers edge. 

  In Alabama I was rather fond of Bienville square in the middle of Mobile, and the fountain again called for the use of my trusty 90mm.  I decided to challenge myself exposure-wise, and placed the sun directly behind the second top pool, pointing the lens right toward it, so my subject is entirely backlit.  After developing the first plate, which was executed at f11 with 20sec exposure, I was overjoyed to not only find detail in the black ironworks, but also to see clear separation between the sky and the water on very top of the fountain.  For my second tintype on that location I chose to once again go to the Harrison Petzval to focus on the cross, erected there in 1909 by the Alabama Chapter of the National Society of Colonial Dames. 

  After that it was back to New Orleans.  I found the hustle and bustle of Bourbon Street to be too overwhelming at night, filled with cacophony and inebriation, but in the daytime it was rather nice, and so I set up on the corner of Bourbon and Orleans streets to make a few more tintypes.  As the light was fading, a group of travelers showed up, and kindly posed for my last tintype at that location. 

  In Houston, I stopped by the San Jacinto Museum.  Located on historic battlefield where Texas gained it's independence from Mexico, it has an impressive 567.31ft obelisk, which wasn't easy to make look interesting and different in a single frame, but I did try my best to do that. The wind really did do a number on the chemistry in this plate.  Generally I would have tossed this plate and made another attempt, but somehow, unlike in most cases with dirty plates, I think the artifacts work with the subject here rather than against it. 

  While washing the above plate, I noticed that through the trees surrounding museum grounds, I could see an enormous flame of a gas mining facility, and thought to myself that I just might be able to make it within a shot range of it right at sunset, which would let me capture some of the clouds as well as accentuate the flame, and maybe even retain a bit of detail in the post-industrial landscape that gas mining places afford in droves. I used a 400mm Tele-Fujinon for these images, and at f11 these exposures were 10 and 50sec, as the post-sunset light was fading fast, and I wanted the second image to be a bit brighter than the first.

  During the night, I made it all the way to the entrance of Big Bend National Park, which borders Mexico along the Rio Grand.  There's some great wilderness and geography there, and it's definitely worth visiting, especially with more time on one's hands to spend there.   At the first location I only made one tintype, using a Schneider 150mm lens, before taking a dip in the river and cooling off.  This was the hottest day of my travels, and my car thermometer showed all the way up to 98F when I got back in after washing this plate and wrapping up the dark box and chemistry.

  Instead of calling it quits due to heat, I decided to drive about a bit more, wait for the air two drop at least a couple of degrees, and made it to the second Rio Grand overlook, where I could once again capture two countries at once in my compositions.  Finding a nice bluff that offered ample perspective, I chose the 210mm Fujinon for the view down the river, before switching to 400mm Tele-Fujinon for the upstream view.  I think while the compositions of the last two plates here are indeed very similar, I did make the second plate for a very specific reason.  The viewer may be pleasantly surprised to find one small addition within the last frame, an addition that occurred naturally, and which is a relative rarity to be captured in tintype format.

  I apologize to the viewers for the slight mismanaging of the color balance of the above tintype copies.  For some reason my copy camera (i.e. my iPhone) decided to play tricks on me this time.  Regardless though, I am happy with my little wet plate haul from this trip, and with being able to add another three states to my having visited list, now only Alaska and 4 southeastern-most states remain unexplored. 

  I'll leave you all with a call to action.  No, not the usual "support us on Patreon" stuff we're all used, to, although if someone wished to purchase one or more of the above tintypes, they are indeed for sale (with prices ranging from $250 to $400), but with a strong suggestion to go to Austin as soon as possible.   Why Austin, you may ask?  Well, because there, within the walls of Harry Ransom Center, you can find the very first photograph ever taken, and be in it's overpowering presence.   I say overpowering, because after having seen it in so many history books, having learned about the ling and frustrating path the led Niepce toward his fist successes, which he dubbed Heliograph, it is truly marvelous to be able to stand just a foot away from the actual plate that gave him the first surviving semblance of chemical image.  By golly what a treat, go and see it as soon as possible.  The installation that surrounds it is rather robust, but I don't know how much longer this seminal work will remain on public display.  The metal plate is larger than you would imagine, and the image itself is nearly impossible to see, save for when it's lit just right, and even then only on parts and at varied angles.  Due to that, there are many variations of the image online, because most all images you'll see online or in print have been heavily altered view editing in order to make the image make sense, and when I just googled it, the overzealous AI answer for first image ever was even artificially colored for some baffling reason.  No, go stand next to that plate yourself, and you'll see what I mean - the precursor to so much great art is waiting to be seen by you live!

  As always, happy shooting and until next adventures,

Anton

Mission to Utah for 8x10 Tintype Landscapes

  Last month I went on a little mission to Utah. The aim was to spend a few nights camping around Moab with a good friend, and, over a period of four days, for both of us to make 8x10 tintypes of at least a few of the stunning landscapes. Having traveled through there on multiple previous occasions, I knew of the limitless compositional possibilities that await around every corner in that state, and this time we spent a concerted effort to explore just one such region in depth. 

  Shooting 8x10 wet plate in the field is always a bit of a challenge, but it becomes exponentially more arduous when combined with an unexpected heat wave and long, steep, rocky dirt roads, which seemingly wind forever through otherworldly canyon scenery of towering red monoliths and plateaus. While truly spectacular to marvel at through polarized lenses of one's sunglasses, the true majesty of these expansive landscapes, which consist of predominately deep coral and red tones, presents another fun opportunity for problem solving, as collodion is not very sensitive to those colors.  Some days were definitely better than others, but I think we both learned a lot from this experience, as well as carried away some plates we both can be happy with. Each day we spent shooting at one or two locations, while also scouting potential spots for next day. It's easy to fall into the camp where happy accidents are central to the theme of most images, but I'm glad my friend shares my passion for chasing perfection. After all, Nature's Glory deserves one's best effort.

  Below are the nine plates I deemed worthy of keeping from this memorable excursion. They were copied while being held in hand, and very slight adjustments in saturation and so forth were made to match the already varnished plates as closely as possible. These original, signed and dated plates are offered for purchase, and are priced at $750 each. All interested parties are welcome to reach out via email - thephotopalace@gmail.com

Professor Creek View 8x10 Tintype

Canyon Habitat 1 8x10in Tintype

Canyon Habitat 2 8x10in Tintype

Castleton Tower Closeup 8x10in Tintype

View With Caslteton Tower 8x10in Tintype

Colorado River Morning View 1 8x10in Tintype

Colorado River Morning View 2 8x10in Tintype

Colorado River Afternoon View 1 8x10in Tintype

Colorado River Afternoon View 2 8x10in Tintype

Thanks as always,

Anton

Daguerreotypes of April 8th 2024 Total Solar Eclipse

  As some of you may have read in my previous post, earlier this year I did capture the fleeting moments of solar eclipse totality with both daguerreotype and wet plate mediums at once.  This having been previously unattempted, and most previous separate attempts having been done with highly specialized custom equipment, I as resigned to a fairly low level of confidence in success of my daring venture, but results did exceed expectations.  Wet plate collodion negative came out lovely, and the prints made from it can be viewed in post here.  

  Daguerreotype light sensitivity being much lower than that of collodion emulsions, my images did turn out substantially darker than what would have been achievable with much more sophisticated equipment.  I am however glad to restate that all of the six plates I prepared while in Missouri forest did indeed show an image on them, with the two I decided to keep and show here being only slightly brighter than the rest.  I believe that this quality is about maximum possible when using conventional photographic lenses and not having a tracking mechanism attached to the camera. 

  While using my usual archival materials, I decided to seal these plates in a non-traditional manner, with round openings in the mat, with an intent of concentrating viewer's focus on the small but miraculous ghost of a most magical natural sight I am yet to behold.  The images you see below are of two 4x5in daguerreotype plates, and in real life those plates do look much better.  That's ok, as nothing will ever look as good as a live daguerreotype anyway. 

Anton

Gelatin Silver Prints From Wet Plate Collodion Negative Captured During April 8 2024 Total Solar Eclipse

One of the lithographic gelatin silver prints

  While traveling to Missouri for the total solar eclipse on April 8th 2024, the main goals were to see this marvelous sight and to attempt to capture totality in both daguerreotype and wet plate collodion techniques.  Actually, initially I was just thinking of doing only daguerreotypes, but that technique can be very fickle, especially so if performed out in a completely uncontrolled natural setting.  Thus I decided to bring a wet collodion setup for backup, in case no daguerreotypes worked out, as with collodion I was pretty certain that the results would be worth the hassle. Here are a few images from that memorable day, spent amid the trees doing what I truly love. 

Zone VI 8x10 awaiting totality

Camera and dark boxes, almost time

Glass waiting for collodion

 The glass plate was coated with collodion right as totality set in, and I’ll admit it was far from my best pour, as I’ve never felt the same peculiar way before. After plunging the plate into the silver bath for sensitization, I exposed the prepped daguerreotype plates, ran back to the dark box and, without even closing its front, extracted the plate and placed it in the holder, assuming that there really isn’t going to be a lot of UV light to affect the image. Perhaps this actually acted as pre-flashing and helped my exposure. Somehow, with me pausing on my way back to the camera to stare upward with joyful awe for a few seconds, the timing worked out rather miraculously, and in the end of my predetermined 4 second exposure, the sun made its reappearance with the diamond ring moment, at which point I promptly replaced the lens cap. After developing the collodion negative, it was given one round of iodine redevelopment treatment, at which point I determined that it was of sufficient density for what I envisioned doing with it. 

Collodion negative in rinse

 The idea that I should make lith prints came to me spontaneously and almost immediately after the moment that I covered the lens, and realized that I may have a shot at having been the first person ever to capture the diamond ring moment in wet collodion. As I was rushing back to the dark box to develop the negative, I realized that all the variables beyond my control were falling in places on their own accord, with my work basically acting as a guide for the final result. It was at this point that the unpredictable nature of lithographic developer when combined with gelatin silver papers popped into my head. Every print made that way is entirely unique, because try all you want, but you’ll never match two of them, simply due to the nature of those types of developers.  There are many books written about lith developer, and so I won’t bore you with details of how it works and why it’s so fun. 

  I’m very glad that, over the past 25 years or so, every time I came across no longer manufactured photo papers, I stashed them away for something meaningful down the road. Last time I printed with lithographic developer was about 15 years ago, but I always had some laying around in case I wanted to use some of my stash of Kodalith film, which is a whole different story in its own right.  One of the funnest parts of this type of developer, is that it allows for printing on papers that with conventional developers would be entirely unusable, as paper fogs with age, and its white base starts to slowly gain tonality, going all the way to black.  Lith developers don’t hit that base fog, leaving white areas as they should be, while producing some unexpected colors with certain papers and leaving others perfectly neutral grey.  Another exciting element to printing with age-old papers is how they deteriorate, and how lith developer acts upon and exaggerates oxidation and other impurities, producing unexpected textures and patterns that vary widely depending on paper type and how each paper was affected by age. Darkroom time is sacred, and I’ve been sequestering myself in those magical spaces since the age of twelve, so here are a few images of this latest printing session. 

During enlargement onto 11x14in 

Lith developer doing its thing. 

11x14 during selective bleaching and toning

  From my vintage photo paper repository, I selected choice 8x10in, 11x14in, and 16x20in packs from companies such as Luminos, Gevaert, DuPont, Defender, Cachet, and of course Kodak. Expiration and manufacturing dates spanned almost all through the 20th century, with the oldest having been made in around 1938 (expiration date on box was 1941), and the most recent one from around 1999 (early 2002 expiration printed). Most of the paper was from 1960s and 70s, so it’s been waiting for an image for over half a century. Some of the open packs and boxes I’be been so carefully caring for apparently only had a few sheets left in them, and in one I only found two small cutoffs, but each one yielded something beautiful. Tremendous variability and lack of full control prompted me to let go off my usual yearning for high precision, and I just let each sheet finally express itself.

  Now that all of them have been meticulously spotted using our best darkroom friend SpotOne, I will do one more round of culling those prints I deem to be less than perfect, but overall I’ll end up with about 20 8x10s, maybe around 25 11x14s and 17 or so 16x20s. The first edition is now closed and below are a few samples of the prints, which were hastily copied with my phone just after the final wash.

11x14in

11x14in

16x20in

11x14in

8x10in

8x10in

16x20in

  These works are priced at $250, $500, and $750 for the three sizes in which this image has been printed. For now they may only be purchased by directly contacting me via email, and I’m glad to say that a few prints have already been acquired by people who know my art personally.  

  After doing all the varied lith prints, I did want to see what a straight print from this negative would look like, and so made an 8x10in on new Ilford paper with regular developer. Then, to see the entire negative in all its collodion glory, I pulled out some 4.5x5.5in deckle edge double weight AZO paper from 1954.  Finally, not to let my Moersch developer go to waste, I reached for the 3.5x5.5in AZO Post Card paper from 1970, and made a limited run of real mailable post cards, which will go out to places yet to be determined. On both of the AZO runs, I again used selective toning with selenium, because otherwise it would be less fun to have all prints look the same.  Here are the straight prints, showing exactly what it is that my adventure yielded. The whole thing was really a shot in the dark, but by golly I’m over the moon about it. 

8x10in straight gelatin silver enlargement 

Contact Print on 1954 AZO Deckle Edge

Contact Print on 1970 AZO Post Card paper

 To request a selection of prints available for purchase at the moment, send a message to thephotopalace@gmail.com 

 Anton