j alan, Author at Sun and Silver.photo

Classic Tintype Portrait on a Winter Day

Blog / Portrait / Tintype

Some times it is fun to capture some classic tintype portraits on a Winter day. Cameron and I met by the Fox River in Neenah for some cold weather tintypes. It was a day that started with heavy fog, giving way to sunshine and finally dark clouds. But, we also saw temperatures in the 40’s which is really nice for February in Wisconsin. Wet plate collodion can be a difficult process because of the way it reacts to changing light. Light meters work really well for film and digital photography but not for collodion. So the alchemist has to guess…

Victorian Photo Safari

Blog / Tintype / Wet Plate Collodion

Out on safari in Fond du Lac yesterday. Making 8x10 tintypes and having the time of my life. The mobile darkroom is working well and close to being set up the way I want. It is so nice to have a good work space that I can take around wherever my travels take me. Check out more on my Mobile Darkroom So, you might ask, why do I use the terms "Victorian" and "safari"? Well Victorian is pretty easy. It refers to the Victorian Era the years 1837 to 1901 during Queen Victoria's reign. These years correspond well with the…

Is it live or is it…

Blog / Wet Plate Collodion

There was a series of commercials from back when my age was a single digital. They were for Memorex cassette tape and my favorite featured Ella Fitzgerald breaking a wine glass with her voice. They showed Ella doing the glass break live and then they broke another glass with a tape recording of her voice. So the message was you don't need Ella Fitzgerald, all you need is a tape recording of Ella Fitzgerald. Fast forward to today and we see computers making pictures using algorithms deceptively called "AI". The implication is you don't need real photographs because you can…

BTS Tintype Session with Nataly

Blog / Portrait / Tintype

Time to go BTS on a tintype session with Nataly Divine. The warm February 1st gave us an opportunity for some outdoor Tintype portrait. We also grabbed a few digital pictures during our tintype session for a bit of BTS (Behind The Scenes). Nataly wore a beautiful red dress in a 1920's style. Here are a few close ups of her in both monotone / black and white and color. The color picture captures the overcast skies at the end of our time together. Of course, where would a BTS post be without showing the camera? Here is two beautiful…

How Changing Light Impacts Wet Plate Collodion

Blog / Portrait / Tintype

One of the most difficult aspects of 19th century photography is how changing light impacts wet plate collodion. The light sensitive silver in a wet plate "sees" light much differently than our eyes. Yellow and blue become white and shades of orange become black. Tattoos can completely disappear and eye glasses can look like sun glasses in the portrait. More modern cameras come equipped with sophisticated light meters. The light in the scene is measured when you take the photograph and the camera will adjust the exposure to get it right every time. But there is no exposure meter that…

Behind The Scenes of Wet Plate Collodion Photography

Ambrotype / Blog / Tintype / Wet Plate Collodion

Why does a wet plate cost so much? A question I sometimes get, although not too often. Part of the cost is the part my clients see - the actual image capture. But the session is actually the smallest part of making historic tintypes and Ambrotypes. So let's go behind the scenes of wet plate collodion photography and see some of the work that goes into making your historic image. Chemical Preparation The foundation of the process is chemistry. Before anything else happens there are a bunch of chemicals that have to be purchased and mixed. Collodion has to be…

Now – Tintype

Blog / Tintype

Now! It seems like everything screams now! Now is a 5x7in tintype. Sometimes the most random and unplanned work turns out to be the most interesting. Here is a tintype I did to test lighting and exposure. It is actually some artwork my Niece did. It is a painting on a board that says "Snow". With the limited space in my studio I was not able to get the whole sign in frame so it ended up being "now" instead. I was going to just clean off the image to reuse the plate (plates are expensive). But decided to varnish…

Hand Saw Tintype

Blog / Tintype

Two old hand saws in a tintype photo. One of my Winter projects is to capture some of my old tools in wet plate collodion. This 5x7 tintype is an image of my two old handsaws. I have no idea when I purchased either one of them. But do know that I have had them each for decades. I wonder how many projects these saws have been part of? I have been an active handyman for my whole life - home remodeling projects, furniture building, cutting down trees, building all sorts of wood objects... and these saws have been there…

Do You Believe?

Ambrotype / Blog

Believe To think that something is true, correct or real Do you believe? Or maybe a better question is what do you believe? Whether you believe me or not I think everyone has a belief system. Your belief system is a set of things you assume to be true. Proof or evidence is not really at issue here because none of us are completely rational. We all like to think we are rational (I do!) but it is extremely difficult to really be dispassionate and totally objective. The problem is we filter what we see and experience through our minds…

Random Wet Plates

Ambrotype / Blog / Tintype

Before January is over I need to catch up on random wet plates from 2023. I left my full time job last April to focus on alternative photography full time. Within a few weeks I started to wonder how I ever had 40+ hours a week to work a full time job. The days go by and the weeks go by and soon the year is gone and another year has started. So here is a collection of random wet plates I did during 2023. Somehow I never got around to posting them in my blog even though I did…

Halloween Tintypes

Blog / Portrait / Tintype

I am either really early for Halloween or really late! You decide, but I hope you enjoy these Halloween Tintypes even if they are out of season. This set of Halloween Tintypes, or Halloween cosplay tintypes, was made in October 2023 and I've freely confess that I have been too unproductive to post and share the story until now! We had planned a tintype photo session on the beach the week before Halloween. But life sometimes gets in the way and the client had a last minute happening and had to cancel. So we decided to enjoy the woods and…

Tintype of Morning of Life Bronze Statue

Blog / Tintype

A tintype of Morning of Life bronze statue. It was taken in December during our modest early Winter weather. This statue was created by Clarence Shaler in tribute to his twin sister Clara. She died at the tender age of 18 - in the morning of her life. The statue is outside Waupun, Wisconsin, and is one of a number of wonderful art works around the city. This tintype of Morning of Dawn was quite a challenge. I had underestimated the travel time and the sunset time so I arrived much later than I planned. The sun was already setting…