Hi everyone much more knowledgeable than myself! I have been very appreciative over the past few years coming here for advice.
There has been a particular "look" I've spent years trying to understand what technique went into making it. I've posted many times different examples and learned a great deal, however there was always a missing part of the equation which was probably mostly due to my using inappropriate samples of what I wanted to understand.
Recently in another forum I found the best example yet of the quality I am after. There are dozens of variables in LF photography and I hope this new example isolates the one I'm after. This quality I've described in the past is in the richness and lifelike quality of the "fine details", not too contrasty, and I believe it may be from Albumen prints. The examples come from a book called 'City of Shadows', a collection of police photographs out of Sydney, and can be seen here: http://imgur.com/a/wj60p
I know lighting, amongst dozens of other variables, can be responsible for the success of these images. Others have told me they look this way clearly from the wet plate process. But they do not look like other wet plate photographs I've seen and want to know what about these make them so real and lifelike. If it is wet plate developing how come they're so clean and are these prints? specifically Albumen prints?
Why do these look particularly lifelike, sharp, and not too contrasty?
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