Wet Plate in Winter

[Two23]

I took Wednesday off and intended to drive west to the Badlands and try some wet plate photos. However, a winter storm was making I-90 an icy mess for several hundred miles. So, I went north instead, up to the North Dakota border and Zion Lutheran Church. The sky was heavily overcast and it was 28 degrees F, but the wind was calm. I took a few 8x10 test plates to dial in exposure, keeping both my developer and silver tank warm (~74 degrees.) To save the battery on my car I turned the heater off on the silver tank. I poured a final plate and put into the silver tank for abou 7 minutes. Took the photo and developed it. I could see the developer beading up on the plate as I poured it on instead of flowing evenly. Below is the result. I'm thinking it does make a difference if the silver solution is warm or cold. It looks like the developer has trouble flowing on a cold one. This would have been a nice photo if I had kept the tank warm.😕


Kent in SD

[Ari]

Nice photo, indeed, and good to find out what others are dong in cold weather. It'll be upon us soon.
Winter came early in the prairies this year.

[goamules]

The silver bath works best at room temperature. There can be numerous and variable faults if it gets too cold, or too hot. It never gets that cold here, but I suppose I'd arrange some insulation on the tank, and keep it as warm as I could. I've only shot down into the 40s.