Modern Portraits created with Victorian Era Methods
We practice authentic photography using Victorian methods from 175 years ago. Silver and glass, metal and sunlight all work together to produce amazing real art images that will last hundreds of years.
New in 2025 – Wedding Tintype Portraits! Create an heirloom handmade photograph on your special day – see more at Weddings
Popup News! The tintypes from the Morgan House Popup are finished and can be picked up at the Morgan house. A digital picture of each plate is available HERE. Thank you to every one who braved the snow to have a Victorian portrait taken – you are helping to keep hand crafted photography alive!
The first step is to Contact me to get more information and start working together on your portrait session!
I am based in Neenah, Wisconsin, and have a mobile darkroom for work all around Wisconsin and Upper Michigan.
Check out my Portfolio to see some of my favorite images
Learn more about the Wet Plate Collodion Process, Salt Printing, and the Cyanotype Process
I also produce a limited number of fine art photographs and handcrafted prints and offer them for sale at Sunandsilver.art
“The gift from those I loved so tenderly added more and more impulse to my deeply seated love of the beautiful and from the first moment I handled my lens with a tender ardour, and it has become to be as a living thing, with voice and memory and creative vigor.”
Julia Margaret Cameron
An image from our most recent portrait session. This portrait was inspired by the work of Julia Margaret Cameron. Julia is one of my inspirational artists. She came to photography late in life and created art for less than 10 years. She ignored contemporary photographic “rules” and made images in her vision and using her own style.
This 8×10 tintype portrait of Nataly was created in natural light using a Victorian Era lens. I made a negative from the tintype and then created a full sized silver salt print. I hope Julia would approve!
I plan on more images in this style so contact me if you are interested in posing!
Here are some recent portraits – click on picture to view full size
Tintype Adventures – Recent Blog Posts
- Wedding Orotone
An Orotone is a collodion photograph print created using a dry collodion process. A full sized photographic negative is created and then used to contact print on a glass plate. The plate is coated with light sensitive silver suspended in a collodion matrix. The plate is printed with sunlight for around 60 minutes, developed, and toned with gold chloride. After rinsing and drying the plate is coated with gold paint to bring out the image. This 8×10 glass plate was created with a wet plate negative taken on a cloudy… Read more: Wedding Orotone - Romantic Couple Portraits – Victorian Tintype Photography
It was a dark and rainy day when we met for portraits. We still managed to create some romantic portraits using Victorian photography methods. The plate above was taken on glass. The glass is treated with collodion and silver and inserted into my camera to produce the image. Moody, dreamy, romantic are all good descriptions of the style. A photo on the internet does not come close to showing the depth and almost three dimensional quality of the image. Our second glass plate is much more dreamy and moody from… Read more: Romantic Couple Portraits – Victorian Tintype Photography - Tintypes for Wedding Couples
We met after their wedding to explore making wet plate collodion tintypes. The setting was a warehouse built in 1865. It was a beautiful venue with bricks and wood and huge windows. The original windows had been replace with glass block which blocks a lot of the light. The low light forced us to make very long exposures so there is a bit of motion blue. This 8x10in tintype captures both the joy of a new couple and their love for each other. The light while not plentiful was certainly… Read more: Tintypes for Wedding Couples - Art – A Product of The Human Soul
As I watch the March snow coming down I think about all the wonderful Victorian photography projects I plan for this season. But there is a part of me that also wonders why bother? I am at the age where I could do about anything with my time (working for money is not necessary anymore). So why go to all the work and expense to keep doing projects? But then I come across the following thought from Andrew Claven: There is no grander product of the human soul than art.… Read more: Art – A Product of The Human Soul - Morgan House Popup – TintypesWe had a snowy but wonderful day at the Morgan House in Oshkosh. Their Vintage Valentine was a wonderful day of history, music and some yummy snacks! Here are photos of the final tintypes from the popup including download links. A big thank you to all the people who braved the snow to have a hand made portrait taken! Download File Download File Download File Download File Download File Download File Download File Download File Download File Download File Download File More Sun and Silver.photo blog posts
- Morgan House Tintypes – Vintage Valentine
Sun and Silver.photo will be doing Tintype portraits at the Morgan House, Oshkosh, on February 8th. The event will run from 11 am to 4 pm. We will be doing 5×7 inch and 8×10 inch tintypes. The cost is $75 for a 5×7 and $125 for an 8×10 with the proceeds donated to Morgan House. Here is a recent picture of the Ladies Parlor where we will be doing photos The Morgan House is located at 234 Church Ave, Oshkosh, Wisconsin. You can see more about the event on Facebook… Read more: Morgan House Tintypes – Vintage Valentine
