Originally Posted by
MattyShotgun
All my chemistry came from UV photographics. I use the iron copper developer. My trophy aluminum also came from UV photographics.
I used to live in my car half of the time when I first started wpc so I always had my gear with me and did not allow me to store in proper temperatures. My chemistry has been stored in temperatures pretty low. The lowest probably being just above freezing temps; maybe freezing temps but I never noticed them being frozen. I'm not sure how this effects the chemistry.
I'm on the East Coast and it was a fairly warm day the last time I took some tintypes. I only shoot in natural light but this time around my dark box was indoors so it didn't get too warm. So I've only really shot in the cold, not so much warm or hot weather.
I often question whether or not my plate is ready to be submerged in the silver bath after pouring the collodion. I have yet to test it with my thumb so see how dry the collodion is. Perhaps that has something to do with it but I am fairly confident some time between 30 seconds to a minute after pouring is a reasonable time to submerge the plate. I always do 3-4 min in silver bath...
I should mention- and I'm not the most eloquent so this is difficult for me to describe in an effective way- when I submerge my plate to sensitize, if it is not a smooth motion, I sometimes notice a pale streak or pattern towards the end of the plate that touched the silver bath first. Not always, but sometimes what the developer washes away follows that pattern. Even if it washes away, I usually wash the developer off after 15 to 20 seconds. Fix and rinse.
I can't think of anything else notable but I don't know exactly what is considered normal and what is not in this process. I've never met or worked with anyone who does wet plate. A workshop would be helpful, but nah... After typing this though, I now have an eyebrow raised at the developer and am considering trying something different.
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