July 2015 portraits

[gsinico]

Let the light coming...


Ebony, sironar 180, Adox100, pirocat HD 2+2+100.

[ndg]

"Wendy"

Century 8A, 18" Verito at f4, 11x14 Green Xray film, one Octacool set of lights
Developed in Rodinal 1:100 at 68 deg F
Scanned on Epson 10000XL

[stradibarrius]

Sergei, You have shared so many wonderful portraits of your wife! I have admired and wished I could make such beautiful images! I am wishing and praying for the very best!

[DKirk]

Shot on Agfa G+ Xray film, so also posted in the X-Ray thread.

Second attempt @ISO 50 (100 was just too thin I found) rodinal 1:100 7.30 mins in a JOBO 2840 tank (the 2830 tank really scuffed the previous negs - though slightly less so using 160mm Vs 240mm from the first attempt)

So first usable portrait on 10x8 - Symmar 360mm f/11 1/10s

[Tim Meisburger]

Ha ha. Not much of a portrait. The pose is my wife leaning against a sliding glass door so her head won't move for four seconds. But it is the very first portrait I have done all by myself with wet plate in Bangkok, so a happy milestone for me. This is quarter plate (nominally 4x5) on black plastic, and the scan is not manipulated at all (it looks better with a little additional contrast, but I wanted to show what the plate looks like). It is grainless, and I'm looking forward to shooting some negatives and printing.

[goamules]

We're happy for you Tim! It's a good plate, considering you have to import your chemistry, and pound silver ore in the mountains of Thailand to make your silver nitrate! The exposure and development are very good. The white scum around the edges can be wiped off while the plate is still rinsing, with a wet cotton ball. Go gently at first, to check how fragile your particular collodion is. Most of the time, fresh collodion is very tough, I even use a wet finger to wipe the excess silver off the edges.

[goamules]

Ebony 4x5, 220mm f4 Jamin & Darlot Cone type Petzval, Fomapan 100, HC-110

Beautiful shot with that ancient petzval!

[Tim Meisburger]

Thanks Garret. I didn't realise that was possible. I've still got a lot to learn, but looking forward now to shooting a lot more plates.

[Mark Sawyer]

Excellent first solo plate, Tim, and a very nice portrait to boot!

We're happy for you Tim! The white scum around the edges can be wiped off while the plate is still rinsing, with a wet cotton ball. Go gently at first, to check how fragile your particular collodion is. Most of the time, fresh collodion is very tough, I even use a wet finger to wipe the excess silver off the edges.

Garrett's quite right, but I've found you can usually (but not always) remove those little white marks after the plate is dry with your finger or a micro-fiber cloth of the sort used to clean eyeglasses. Of course, some people like those little imperfections as an inherent part of the wet plate process, so removing them is a personal decision...

[Ootsk]

First shoot with my new setup. Speed Graphic, Tri-X 320 in Rodinal. Buhl 11inch (279mm) f3.1 projector lens on a newly-built tripod.