How to imitate the contrast of wet plate

[david@bigeleisenlaw.com]

I would like to get a contrast in prints similar to that which we see in wet plate. Does anyone have any suggestions? Am I dreaming?

David

[Two23]

Wet plate has about five stops of dynamic range. Another thing is it's only sensitive to blue light.

Kent in SD

[paulbarden]

Wet Plate images don't have a unique contrast range, and in fact, we have to fight harder to get enough contrast in our images. Many films are more contrasty than wet plate collodion. Perhaps its the "red blind" sensitivity you're wanting?

[Mark Sawyer]

I would like to get a contrast in prints similar to that which we see in wet plate. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I have a suggestion. Do wet plates.

[david@bigeleisenlaw.com]

Yes, I think that the red blind effect is what I am looking for. Do I want a blue filter or a green one?
Thanks.

David

[koraks]

Try a blue filter. If that doesn't work, resort to UV photography. Most of the sensitivity of wet plate is in the UV band close to the visible spectrum.

[jnantz]

are you making darkroom prints or are you working on a computer?

scan your file ( paper negative or film negative doesn't matter ) you open the contrast sliders and dial things down, then you go into levels and make adjustments and then you burn and dodge, and repeat until it looks the way you want. Scanning in color and splitting the channels will help too. (you toss the ones you don't like). You can make a print as a Digital C-Print or pigment print or invert it and print that as a digital negative and contact print it in the darkroom. (I use printers that cost less than 100$ a brother laser and epson 640 and some of my negatives and Xerox shop outputs when I was in school rivaled those printed on a very expensive epson ( for salt, albumin &c prints, and home made LSGE, sometimes you don't really need ultra high end) ...

if you are hoping to make modern materials look that way ...
you might start with paper negatives+flat light and develop them in a developer like caffenol c. Don't use HC110 or Xtol or dektol / d72 / ansco 13o or whatever like you would use to make a darkroom print. Paper negatives can have issues that way. Anyways, that's how I do it, and I split develop it ansco130 or d72 until the image barely appears then into caffenol ( I use teaspoon recipe but don't measure ) spiked with about 20cc /L of 130 or 72 and back and forth until it is to completion. if you can get ahold of old paper not like 60 years old old but something that is expired you might have lying around on a darkroom shelf (that you know hasn't been roasted, humidified and ruined) that helps too. it will give you a head start in the the computer work...

you can also look into silver gelatin ferrotype developers (like people use with JLane Dry Plates &c ). you will have to figure out a way to blacken your paper, or buy JLane's black plates, or coat your own with bottled developer or self made ...it will give you a image that is similar to the look you want, but not quite ( and traditional wet plate tin typists might be able to tell and call you a fraud LOL! ). Creamy mid tones blacks and sometimes whites ( you'll have to google modern ferrotype or silver gelatin ferro (or ambero ) type that's what some folks are calling them. I've been trying to print them on photo paper that I coat and expose to light and make black (first) and then re-coat them (with limited success), and I've used black watercolor paper also (with limited success). There are also modern SVG reversal recipes in the Darkroom Cookbook and I think Christopher James' book. Around IDK 1900-1920 there used to be suppliers of ferrotype paper and proprietary developers (like the Chicago Ferrotype Company) and that's what these are the current version. If you ever come across a Mandelette PostCard Camera it had developing tanks that attached to the bottom of the camera so street photographers could make portraits &c on the spot ( think Afghan Camera but not ) and did what you want to do. The developer were all secret formulas ( like the Rockland Developer is today). Might just be easier to learn how to do WP ..

good luck ( and be careful )

[LabRat]

Blue sensitive X-ray film is pretty contrasty...

Steve K

[Greg]

Last year I was shooting with a Petzval projection lens on my 120 camera and forgot to change the film box end that was attached to the back of my camera. Shot the roll of Ilford FP4+ in the camera thinking that I was shooting Ilford Delta 3200. Severely underexposed so I developed the roll in Rodinal 1:25 for a long time (probably around 25 minutes). Printed up a few of the negatives and they did slightly have the wet plate look, but I honestly attribute that mostly to the lens that I was using. If you're not going to shoot wet plates, this might be a good (loosely using that term) starting point.

In the 1970s and 1980s I did a lot of Lith printing with Kodak's single weight Kodalith paper. The paper was discontinued and after I ran out my stock discontinued Lith printing. After acquiring a dozen or so boxes of outdated Portriga Rapid FB paper last year, I decided to try to duplicate the look of my previous years Lith prints. After two or three sessions in the darkroom, it was obvious to me that "duplicating" that original Lith look was not possible, so I decided to pursue getting a similar "Lith" look to my prints but decidedly different. If you're not going to actually do the wet plate process, I'd suggest that you go for a similar or parallel look to your images but definitely not an imitation of the wet plate look.

good luck

[paulbarden]

Yes, I think that the red blind effect is what I am looking for. Do I want a blue filter or a green one?
Thanks.

David

David, using a color filter is only going to get you partway to your goal. I recommend using a red blind film instead. The Arista Ortho is inexpensive, totally red blind (meaning you can develop it in trays under a safelight: an asset, since you can visually inspect the film for correct development) and with some extra effort, you can get usable "pictorial" contrast with it. Its a very slow film (3 ASA) and will only give the best results if pre-flashed with white light. (You have to do this with an enlarger, and determine the right amount of exposure by testing)
If that sounds like a lot of work, well - it is, unless you are an experienced darkroom technician. Of course, you can always learn wet plate collodion and hit the bullseye.