She came from the west, bringing hot weather, humidity and maybe a bit of magic. We met at Asylum Point – once the site of the Northern Asylum for the Insane. A little north is the modern Winnebago Mental Health Institute. The asylum point lighthouse was built in 1937 and still provides a beacon for boaters on Lake Winnebago.

The old and strange art of wet plate collodion (Tintype) photography is also shrouded in mystery. One day the spirits align and perfect images appear as if by magic. On other days, things conspires against you and every exposure becomes a dangerous adventure.

This was a perfect opportunity to test out the impact of temperatures in the 90’s on wet plate collodion. Hot weather is not a friend of tintypes! Exposures were troublesome and developing progressed much too fast to control properly.

Of course, we seemed to be haunted by a continuous passage of amazing and wonderful “travelers” through the air above our heads… or maybe it was the sad vibrations coming from the multitude of former mental patients buried in mostly unmarked graves a few hundred yards away. Certainly, I would guess that among the descesed were a goodly number of wet plate photographers driven to insanity by their dark art (or maybe the ether fumes).

But somehow we managed to fight through the heat and salty eyes and produced some magical and wonderful images.

Thanks to Andy for protection from the dark arts!

About the Model: Denise is an artist and photographer. She specializes in fantasy photography, fairy tales, folk legends and mythology. Many thanks for helping me learn and grow as an alchemist! You can follow her work on Instagram @denisehouk

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Interested in doing a themed wet plate shoot? Send me a message and we can discuss your project. I do photos all around the Fox Valley Area of Wisconsin. Email me at jeff@sunandsilver.photo