Nice, Ethan. I think the composition and resulting image are very good.
I've found that the minor plate/developer flaws will iron out over time as you get more efficient at this.
It really forces you to pay attention to every step of the process.
I went out Saturday looking for some country churches I missed, but they were all facing east and it was already afternoon. I settled on an abandoned grain elevator but kept overexposing. By the time I figured that out the clouds were rolling in and it was getting dark. I went out again today. Big change! Yesterday it was 95 and I kept my chemicals on ice, today it was 58 and I was worried about them getting too cold. It was raining in most of the state so I went south to an area it wasn't. The wind was blowing pretty hard (~25mph) and that caused problems. I took a few shots with the 2D 8x10 and my Darlot wide angle Hemispherique. The first two shots were overexposed and this time I wised up and shot with shorter exposure. I started with 30s and ended up shooting 8s.
Progress with 8x10 is slow. I do OK with pouring the plate but pouring on the developer is harder. I am getting better and not leaving islands now. Still, I'm not where I want to be yet. My usual workflow is to pour the plate inside my car over the folded down back seat (over big square of cardboard,) then walk to the back of the car where my hatchback is open and my dark box is with the sliver tank. Usually this works fine but today the strong wind had kicked up a lot of dust and it landed on my freshly poured plate. I'll have to remember to only work inside the dark box when it's windy. I keep getting close but still only sometimes make an image I'm really happy with.
Kent in SD
In contento ed allegria
Notte e di vogliam passar!
I use the B&S iron developer but dilute it a bit in hot weather.
Kent in SD
In contento ed allegria
Notte e di vogliam passar!
Wet plate takes a while to master, more so than film because there's more of a hand-made aspect to it. Some problems can be corrected with specific advice, but a lot of it is improving both technique and consistency. I thing the silver baths take a while to break in properly too. People improve over time without ever figuring out exactly what they did to improve.
Plates that are twice as big are twice as hard. At first.
Working in the field is also twice as hard. At first.
"I love my Verito lens, but I always have to sharpen everything in Photoshop..."
I'm using a mixture of ferrous sulfate, acetic acid, and grain alcohol, in distilled water. I think its 100ml water, to 4g ferrous sulfate, 4ml grain alcohol, and 6ml acetic acid.
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