j alan, Author at Sun and Silver.photo

Cloud Nine Tintypes

Blog / Tintype

One of the joys of being a roving Alchemist is all the interesting people you meet! I started working with Cloud Nine Fire Show this year and are working on a set of wet plate images of all the artists in the group. Could Nine performs all around Wisconsin and is based in the Fox Valley area. These 5x7 inch tintypes were made at a practice session to test out how fire captures on tintypes. Madeline and Tia use fire hoops in this first image. "Wait" you say, "where is the fire?" Well, the hoops had a lot of fire…

Vintage Tia

Blog / Portrait / Vintage Lens

We spent a beautiful Sunday afternoon creating test tintypes with artists of Cloud Nine Fire Show After the light faded we switched to digital photos and had some fun! Tia (also know as TLKonfire) posed for some amazing captures with two of my vintage lenses. The picture above was taken with my SMC Takumar 135mm f/2.5 lens. The Takumar is around 60 years old and still takes wonderful portraits. Next is another Takumar portrait taken stopped at f/3.5 to highlight Tia's beautiful eyes and her body art. The colors and contrast are why I love vintage lenses. We next switched…

Watching Me

Blog / Tintype

Some tintype fun with double exposures. It was not long after photography was a thing that people realized you could have some fun by manipulating images. Ghosts, twins, ectoplasm, spirits - all became common in the tintype era. My friend Danielle and I spent a dreary afternoon in the "studio" making some fun tintypes using double exposures. We hope you like them! Back to my Blog

Sweet Petzval Swirl

Blog / Portrait / Tintype / Vintage Lens

Sweet Petzval Swirl... What could be better than creating tintype portraits on a Saturday afternoon in May? We met in Doty Park, Neenah Wisconsin, and did a nice set of plates - this is my favorite. This 8x10 inch portrait was done with my Wollensak Petzval portrait lens. It is over 100 years old and I purchased it just this year. I am still learning how to optimize this lens but I can say that is the most amazing lens I own. Big, heavy, beautiful patina and the glass is in great condition. The Petzval lens was designed by Jozef…

Wet Plate Portraits of Madeline

Ambrotype / Blog / Portrait

It was a dark and stormy day. Not enough light coming through the windows so we had to resort to Speedotron strobes. It was also cold - near freezing in my darkroom and that caused a lot of "noise" in the final image. But yet, somehow, we managed to make some very nice wet plate portraits of Madeline. The wet plate above is a 10x12 inch tintype - a photograph on a metal plate. This plate has a lot of what I call "character"; others call it "flaws". The white specs are from cold developing chemistry and I have no…

Danica Victorian Orotone

Blog / Orotone / Portrait

The beautiful Wisconsin model Danica captured in an historic Orotone portrait. The images is an 8x10 print on glass and created using real silver and gold. It is very difficult to take a picture of an Orotone and capture their true beauty. The tones shimmer in real life and Danica appears to float in the glass as you move the plate. An Orotone is a photographic print. It is created from a photo negative created in a camera. Here is a 30 second video showing the basic process of printing an Orotone. I will have a few Orotones available for…

Wedding Orotone

Blog / Orotone / Victorian Print

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 8x10 glass plate was created with a wet plate negative taken on a cloudy and rainy day in Oshkosh. My "wedding" couple models managed…

Romantic Couple Portraits – Victorian Tintype Photography

Ambrotype / Blog / Wedding / Wet Plate Collodion

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 the loss of light as a storm cloud passed. Yet,…

Tintypes for Wedding Couples

Blog / Tintype / Wedding

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 beautiful! This is another 8x10in tintype of just the bride.…

Art – A Product of The Human Soul

Blog / Orotone

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. It is the spirit of creation moving in mankind. Fractals,…

Morgan House Popup – Tintypes

Blog / Popup / Portrait / Tintype

We 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

Blog / Popup / Tintype

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 5x7 inch and 8x10 inch tintypes. The cost is $75 for a 5x7 and $125 for an 8x10 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 Learn more about tintypes and Victorian Photography on my homepage…