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…

Vintage Nataly – Part II

Blog / Portrait

Part II of my session with Nataly using vintage lenses - See Part I Here. While most of my work here focuses on Victorian photo methods, I also do film and digital photography. One of my favorite things to do is adapt old "vintage" lenses to my digital cameras. Old lenses are technically inferior to modern lenses, they "flare" in bright light and have aberrations and distortions that show up in the image. Sharpness and resolution are issues. So why use them? Because they lenses produce beautiful and interesting images! The images have character and the "flaws" add ambiance... Nataly…

Vintage Nataly

Blog / Portrait

While most of my work here focuses on Victorian photo methods, I also do film and digital photography. One of my favorite things to do is adapt old "vintage" lenses to my digital cameras. Old lenses are technically inferior to modern lenses, they "flare" in bright light and have aberrations and distortions that show up in the image. Sharpness and resolution are issues. So why use them? Because they lenses produce beautiful and interesting images! The images have character and the "flaws" add ambiance... Nataly and I went out on a not-so-cold December afternoon to make some portraits with vintage…

Pop Up – Heritage Makers Market

Blog / Tintype / Wet Plate Collodion

As the weather finally turns colder my time opens up and I can catch up on posting. There were hundreds of traveling tintype photographers back in the Victorian era. They would travel around the country and would "pop up" at events like Fairs and Festivals. That tradition is still alive, although now there are maybe only a dozen or two tintype photographers actively traveling and doing tintype pop ups or events. I love doing tintype pop ups because I get the chance to meet and create images with so many people in a short time. Tons of work and hectic…