Tintype Archives

2025 Pinecrest Village Makers Market

Blog / Popup / Portrait / Tintype

We did a super fun tintype popup at the 2025 Makers Market - Pinecrest Village, Manitowoc. The Makers Market features dozens of historical artists and creators and is sponsored by the Manitowoc County Historical Society. Makers practice handmade craft from the 18th and 19th centuries and include pottery, blacksmithing, wooden shoes, sewing, cloth making & weaving, wood working and (of course) tintype photography invented in 1851. We had so much fun over the weekend. Met a lot of old friends and made some new ones. I only wish I had had more time to get portraits of all the wonderful…

Tintype Portrait of an Artist

Blog / Popup / Portrait / Tintype

We spent a wonderful weekend doing a Tintype Popup at Pinecrest Historical Village in Manitowoc. The event was the Manitowoc Historical Society's annual Makers Market. While there we did portraits of both visitors and as many of the Makers as we had time for. Here is an 8x10 tintype portrait of Emma, an historical pottery artist and creator. What is a "Maker" and why do they need a Market? A Maker is someone who creates handcrafted items using historical methods and processes. Maker's specialize in products that are heritage-inspired, well designed, long lasting and sustainably produced. Examples of Maker artists…

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…

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…

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.…

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…

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…

Tuesday in The Park

Blog / Portrait / Tintype / Wet Plate Collodion

It was Tintype Tuesday in the Park. The weather, and the light, was variable. Cloudy to sunny to partly sunny and back to clouds! Rain all morning but we managed to get a window of dryness. They say "the show must go on" so we worked through the continuously variable light. Smith Park, Menasha, was the location and Victorian era costumes were the order of the day - a perfect fit with Victorian era photography! After the more formal portraits we switched it up. You know the party is starting when the bag of stuffed Paddington Bears is opened up!…

Riverside with Nataly

Riverside Tintypes with Nataly

Blog / Portrait / Tintype

Wonderful session Riverside tintypes with Nataly. The 1st of February and almost 50 degrees temperature is an excellent opportunity for making some tintypes. We met at Riverside Park in Neenah and had fun around the fountain and by the river. The fountain is “Playing in The Rain” by Dallas J. Anderson. And is fun and whimsical. Someone dresses the children in knit hats for the Winter! Nataly came in a stunning red dress and had a lot of fun with the children in the fountain – almost as if Summer is just around the corner. Our first pose in the…

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…