Originally Posted by
paulbarden
For wet plate portraiture in-studio, photographers typically use an electronic flash like a Speedotron 4803, which - as you've probably guessed - delivers 4800 watt-seconds of light. This is pretty much the minimum of light you need if you are going to use any kind of light modifier (to produce flattering light) like a softbox or a beauty dish. That is a LOT of light. The light produced by a Magnesium (or perchlorate) flash is likely far less than what a Speedotron 4803 puts out. And lets bear in mind that the materials are extremely dangerous to handle and use, and I believe you have to have a license to own and use "mixed binary explosives". What's the point in pursuing an extremely dangerous technique, solely for the sake of being "authentic"? Your plates will be authentic, regardless of which lighting technique you use. Nobody but you and the subject of the photo is going to know how you lit the scene.
I once tried lighting a studio still life with a Vivitar 283 set on maximum output. I used a Petzval lens with an aperture of f3.1 and I popped the flash at the subject 30 times from no more than 24" away. How did it turn out? Zero exposure. Thirty pops from 2 feet away didn't even begin to register an exposure. Just FYI.
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