some new plates 8" x 8" BGAs

Some 8"x8" black glass ambrotypes from this weekend. Still working out exposure/development issues, but its getting slowly slowly better. Still very new at this (maybe 20 plates made so far, with plenty of learning to go). Pretty happy with the results, but any advice or suggestions always appreciated.

Thanks!

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7086/7...ccc9913a_z.jpg
ambrotype #15 - alyssa by slantface, on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7072/7...1be67532_z.jpg
ambrotype #14 - Scott by slantface, on Flickr

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5344/7...e0522e69_z.jpg
ambrotype #16 by slantface, on Flickr

very very cool, nice work

Can we get some some details on the lighting and the exposure times? The look of the second is so classic and well done. The look of ambrotypes is so unique and the process is very challenging

Thanks very much. All images were shot at approximately 6-8 seconds with a red sheet in the background which produced a very dark grey/black.

In terms of the lighting, everything was outdoors, and shot between about 10:30am til about 4:00pm in Denver, CO. With that said, the lighting conditions were quite varied. The first image above was shot around 2:00, give or take, with a little bit of clouds. I had a friend hold a silver reflector just over the camera's lens, and bounced light into her face. This plate came out the cleanest in terms of contrast, and I really want to be able to replicate the look.

The second plate above was shot right around 11:00am with obviously heavy sunshine spilling in from his back. I tried a little bounced light using the same reflector disc, held above the lens, but it didn't quite fill his face as I'd have hoped.

The third plate was shot around 4:00pm here in Denver, CO, and after a little storm passed over, it began to clear up again. The sun was actually quite intense, so I moved locations to where the light would be coming from above and off to his right (left in the plate). I used that same reflector, but pulled off the cover so it was simply a diffuser (softbox style). The light was much more even and soft, which helped smooth out the gradations of light/dark. Anyway, each setup was very minimal. No bounce cards/flags, etc. but simply a reflector disc for 2 and a diffuser for the third. I actually put the diffuser on a fence and balanced it in some overhanging branches above me. It was very thrown together, but I was just trying some different things to see if I could get a look that suited me. It's been very hard working outside in Denver, because the light changes so much, from intense blinding sun, to very soft overcast light as storms pass through. Sorry I can't be more specific, but as I said, it was very much thrown together and I shot each image individually as the light changed.

Hope this helps, and thanks again for taking a look!

Jordan