Howdy folks! I'm new to the whole wet plate process but not to photography by any means. I've attempted the wet plate collodion process about 8 times with zero success. Can y'all help identify the issue?
First off, I bought the wet plate collodion kit from Bostick & Sullivan. Mixed up the chems and got everything setup for tintypes. I'm using a Hasselblad 500 c/m with a modified Polaroid back to hold little aluminum plates. I pour my salted collodion on the black side of the plate and within 30 seconds I get it in my dark closet with red safelight and submerse it in the silver nitrate for 3-4 minutes. It looks like the plate turns hazy. After that, I load it in dark and go out to take my shot. I've tried multiple exposure times, all over 1 second in bright sunlight and/or artificial lighting. I head back to the closet and pour the developer over the plate. No matter how long I wait....nothing appears on the plate. Rinse it then try a fixer, just in case. Nothing. Black image with golden swirls or blobs. That's all.
I tried testing the pH of my silver nitrate with the included strips and the color on the strips does not change at all. I'm suspecting the silver nitrate may be the issue but, since I'm new, maybe something in my process is bad?