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I just recently received some of the plates for my 4x5 camera. Maybe this has been brought up before but, could you contact print one plate to another and get a positive? Could a contact print from a normal negative be made on a plate end up in a positive? Just wondering...
Yes
Quote:
Originally Posted by dabsond
A still existing problem, common to many photographers since the beginning of image making is intentional misdirection
Anecdotally, I have been researching photographers and their studios logos from the time when this was the state of the art. Many of them are quite similar to the practicing magicians of the day. So it would make sense to me that each guy would keep his recipe and techniques secret. I would imagine that going to sit in front of a guy with a big box who could then hand you something that was not a painting but a realistic representation of reality. That probably was magic to a lot of people. I still see the same magic I saw as a little kid watching images develop before my very eyes in a tray. Good stuff.
Wall laments in his book on emulsion-making the commercialization of dry plates and the end of the era of amateur dry plate makers freely exchanging information. R&D moved behind closed doors with the commercialization of dry plate making.
Interesting. So it was more of a “Trade secret” type of thing? As an aside, I was at Freestyle today. They have a whole display case on the wall dedicated to J. Lane Plates, holders, and accessories for dry plate photography. They are in the process of moving down the street, so the store is kind of pared down a bit. They have been in the same location on Sunset Boulevard for over 50 years.
That’s awesome. I haven’t been out there on travel close enough to stop in, but that’s cool.
Yes, basically... with commercialization and competition, developments and improvements accelerated (imagine having a fully equipped lab and team of dedicated scientists solving your photography problems vs just you in a basement), but it understandably had to happen behind closed doors. My day job company doesn’t share my cutting-edge optical designs with its competitors, nor are they publicly available for similar obvious reasons.
But..if you know how to look, you can glean bits and pieces, and when a bit of technology was no longer relevant to competition (gold sensitization, for example), then the research would be published.
So really what Wall lamented was years- and decades-delay in openly sharing advances in dry plate and film making.
It’s great that you share your knowledge freely. Thank you. It inspires me to keep learning.
I realize this is a bit late, but I don't see it mentioned elsewhere. There is a fellow in Europe who also makes plates. He recently did a video on contact printing two plates to get a positive as you ask. Search for Zebra Dry Plates and you'll find him.... if you haven't already found the video.Quote:
Originally Posted by dabsond
For those interested, dry plate ambrotypes (emulsion coated black glass) are available as a regular product in 4x5, 5x7, 8x10, and 11x14 (other sizes enquire). The developer formula is posted on the product listing, and following the process gives very nicely toned highlights. I’m not set up to make the developer kits, but the chems are available from places such as Bostick & Sullivan or Photographers Formulary.
https://www.pictoriographica.com/sto...ambrotype.html
We’ve been shooting them at Photo Retro studio (analog photography shop I opened in Amherst NH)
Attachment 224574
i have a video made one year ago on shooting Jason Lane Dry plates on black glass. i still have a few plates left so maybe I will shoot them again.
https://youtu.be/cMua7u-HRnU