Pop Up – Heritage Makers Market

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…

Continue Reading

Vintage or Modern Lens for Wet Plate?

One of the advantages of doing historic Victorian photography is there are so many great lenses around to choose from. I can choose a vintage or modern lens for wet plate photographs. By "vintage" I mean something 100 years old or older - a lens that could have been used for wet plate photography when it was new. "Modern" means something from the early to mid 1900's (so only 50 to around 100 years old). The choice of a vintage or modern lens for wet plate is for me more of an artistic choice than a technical one. Although there…

Continue Reading

Tuesday in The Park

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!…

Continue Reading

Victorian Photo Safari

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…

Continue Reading

Is it live or is it…

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…

Continue Reading

Behind The Scenes of Wet Plate Collodion Photography

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…

Continue Reading

Tintype Principles for a New Year

Tintype principles for a new year. I had so much fun in 2023 making 19th century photography - tintypes, Ambrotypes, salt prints and cyanotypes. I think 2024 is going to be an amazing year. Often people choose New Years Day for resolutions but I would rather talk about core beliefs or principles.    Resolutions are usually a set of "do" or "don't do" activities. Lose weight, exercise more, make more portraits are just a few examples. So instead of a list of things to do, or things to change, in the coming year I would rather reinforce the "whys" of what I am…

Continue Reading

2023 Year in Review

What a year we've had at Sun and Silver.photo! The mobile darkroom was finished by Spring and operational all Summer. We did a lot of location shoots over the Summer. Last year I shut down for the Winter as the cold weather makes the chemistry not work as well. But this year I added a small heater to the darkroom and will be trying to keep making tintypes all through the Winter (at least when it is not too horribly cold). I also did a lot of cyanotype and salt prints this year and sold a lot of them at…

Continue Reading

Tintype Wall

One of the problems with being a wet plate collodion tintype photographer is all the plates start to stack up! You end up with a big pile of plates waiting for mounting or display. I started on my backlog this week and did some experimentation on mounting systems. For these plates I decided to drill a couple of tiny holes at the top and hang them with a chain. The best part is the chain slips off so the plate can be mounted in a frame. The holes won't show or will not be noticeable. The removable chain also lets…

Continue Reading

Location Wet Plate Photography

Wet Plate collodion session using my mobile darkroom. The darkroom allows me to do portrait sessions throughout Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. This session was on a state trail near Neenah. Just capturing some 8x10 inch landscape tintypes for sale on my Etsy site Here is a nice picture of my Intrepid 8x10 inch large format camera. Intrepid is a UK based company that manufactures large format cameras and accessories. I use vintage lenses - over 100 years old. But I opted to have a new camera built for my business. Nothing wrong with an old camera but I wanted to…

Continue Reading

Asylum Point Magic

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…

Continue Reading

Mobile Darkroom Build

My mobile darkroom build is going very well. The return of Winter weather had slowed things down but sometimes you just have to put your head down and keep on moving forward. So why a trailer? Well, a lot of wet plate photographers use a dark box or small tent. These have the advantage of being portable but they suffer from not being very comfortable to work in. I like space when I am working! While the dark box can be visually pleasing tents are definitely ugly! I also wanted something that gives a sense of occasion to my outings.…

Continue Reading
Close Menu
Close Menu