The time from 1831 to 1901 is known as the Victorian Era. Named for the reign of Queen Victoria is also is the period where photography was born. All of the art works I produce were developed in this period and so I call my work Victorian (even though it has nothing whatever to do with the historical figure of Queen Victoria).

Wet plate collodion is the first truly successful chemical process for making photographic images. It gets its names from the fact that the photographic plates must be processed while they are still wet. Usually the photographer will have about 15 minutes to take the photograph and develop it after the plate is prepared. This means that the photographer must have a darkroom available to do photography. I have a portable darkroom trailer for this purpose.

A tintype is simply a wet plate collodion photograph made on a tin or metal plate. Traditionally tin or sheet iron was used but most modern photographers use aluminum plates.

A wet plate collodion photograph made on a sheet of glass. Ambrotypes can be used for a negative so that multiple “prints” can be made just like in more modern film photography. The Ambrotype can also be displayed directly by placing a black plate or cloth behind the glass. THe eye is fooled into seeing a positive image. While I love tintypes I must say that the extra work of an Ambrotype often results in a more beautiful image that is almost 3D in presentation.

My large format camera is only a few years old. I use an Intrepid camera, made in Brighton, UK. Some wet plate photographers use antique cameras, but I decided that I would purchase a newly made camera. Part of the reason is old cameras are becoming fragile and wet plate work can be hard on the old wood. The other reason is I wanted to support people making new cameras to keep the art alive.

My lenses though are all a century old or older. Lenses are make of robust glass and metal and so I wasn’t worried about wear like on a wooden camera. But the main reason for using old lenses is to have my images display that historic character that only vintage lenses can deliver. My current lenses are a 365mm Zeiss Tessar, a 210mm Fuji (landscapes), a 400mm Fuji (portraits), and a “no name” 360mm Petzval portrait lens.

This process is the only one that doesn’t use silver. Cyanotype relies on Iron to form the image. Cyanotypes are known for their cobalt blue color and were once used to make blueprints. I use cyanotype as a print making process in which a full sized negative is used in a print frame with the cyanotype sensitized paper. Sunlight is used to print the image over 10 to 60 minutes of exposure. While blue is the best known color, cyanotypes can be toned to a wide variety or colors and even multicolored images are possible.

The grandfather of modern film photography is salt printing. The process uses paper coated with silver nitrate and salt (ordinary table salt) to make a light sensitive “film”. The paper can then be used in a camera or contact printed with a negative to make an image. Most of my silver salt prints are toned with gold to give a more pleasing color and to make the image impervious to tarnishing.

Of course! My first love is portrait photography and I offer both tintype and Ambrotype portraits. Go to my portrait site to learn more and book a session: Sunandsilver.photo