Quote Originally Posted by Bill Rolph View Post
Does the plate drying make it no longer light sensitive? I don't see why that would be the case. My understanding is that it only inhibits development.
In all the manuals I have and also if you google online, everything points to the fact that the sensitivity drops dramatically after the wet plate dries. From that perspective if it’s dry after say 15 min, for example, you won’t get much if anything at all in terms of exposure for the other 25 min. I can’t say I can explain the physics of why that may be the case, and I haven’t tested it myself, but that’s what I read.

Couple of places online that mention it (but don’t explain it):

https://www.photrio.com/forum/thread...-baths.135921/

https://annemariehopecross.com/photo...ate-collodion/

I’m sure there’s others out there that can chime in with the physical process going on and it’s impact to its sensitivity.