Camera Talk

Been busy with the dry plates lately. Took a follow-on workshop at GEM to learn about speed- and color-sensitization, always something new to learn and try. A couple recent ones, the first showing the typical halation behavior of these plates when not coated on the back with something to stop it, and the second showing what the stuff can do when there's not a lot of stray light bouncing around:


TP-026, Doane's Falls, September 2017 by Robert Brazile, on Flickr


TP-024, Pool beneath Doane's Falls, September 2017 by Robert Brazile, on Flickr

And then a couple from the workshop, one with the sensitized emulsion (gets the plate up to ISO 12 or more, and sensitive to green light in addition to the basic blue)...


TP-021, Clouds! by Robert Brazile, on Flickr

...and one with the new, slightly different formula they use now for the basic emulsion. It's still slow (ISO 1 or so) but faster than the default case with the old emulsion, and quite nice:


TP-017, Comparison 2: basic emulsion by Robert Brazile, on Flickr

Not a lot of time for shooting this fall, I fear, with a lot of business travel coming up. But it was great to get out and about as the summer waned.

Robert

very nice. so much scope for gettinig an image on a Plate. it's almost mind boggling

Good results. I'm consistently in awe of your commitment to this process.

Thanks, Kalle -- it certainly gives you complete control over everything.

Scott, if I didn't find the process interesting and fun, I'm not sure I'd have the stick-with-it. But I do, so it's really a pleasure to keep going. Plus, the regular progress is sufficiently rewarding to keep me going anyway.

Robert

Very impressive. You are already in the speed range of old-time slides. With a bit more sensitizing you get into normal speeds.

The second image is great.

Keeping the practice of old methods going is really a testament to your skill, Robert. Not many folks can say they poured the plates they used in a camera they built.

PF

Thanks, Julio. This formula can get you to ISO 40 or so if you're careful (encroaching non-image fog is the risk if you push it too far), which is pretty darn close to what I think is the real ISO of the new Ferrania P30, of which I just shot my first roll.

PF, yes, that's a lot of the fun for me. Plus I simply enjoy being able to do things from scratch, and frequently do whether in photography, woodworking, or cooking. Not an absolute requirement -- I'm not a glutton for extra work. But knowing basic techniques seems to help everything -- what I've learned from these historic practices, whether dry plates, carbon printing, salt printing, or what-not, has helped my photography regardless of technology. Forced me to learn more about light...

Robert

They're really nice, you must have been quite pleased at how they came out. I really like the tonality in the last shot.

Bravo.

Thanks! Yes, I was quite pleased, and am really looking forward to making a batch of the new stuff at home this fall, once my business travel slows down enough to allow it.

Robert

Thanks -- I often get them, too. It's all about the quality of the light, and how it plays off your subject. I have a lot to learn.

Robert