I spent the weekend vending at a Civil War reenactment and got run ragged, trashing both my gear and my legs... but had a great time. Here are some of my shots from the weekend. The tone change is because some are plates that I photographed on site digitally before I handed them off to the customer and some I shot for myself and scanned when I got home. The first plate and the last are plates that I scanned here at home.


4X6 ~ Shot in the shade. 4 Second exposure. My test collodion recipe, Ilford fixer.


1/4 Plate ~ Shot under overcast, 3 second exposure, Ol' reliable, Ilford fixer.


1/4 Plate ~ Shot under overcast, 3 second exposure, Ol' reliable, Ilford fixer.


4x6 ~ Shot under overcast, 3 second exposure, Ol' reliable, Ilford fixer.


4x6 ~ Shot in shade, 6 second exposure, Ol' workhorse (older mix), Ilford fixer.


1/4 Plate ~ Shot in the shade, 6 second exposure, Ol' reliable (older mix), Ilford fixer.


Full Plate ~ Shot in partly sunny conditions late in the day. 7 second exposure. I used my test collodion recipe, fixed with Ilford fixer.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/27/2011 12:45PM by Yaquina.

VERY NICE WORK!!!!!

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing

What do you mean "trashing your gear"? I understand the legs part...I found that I had that problem too, until I started drinking water every time I could. A big help.

Your images are really good. Theyre kind of like I used to do, more close in work, and trying to replicate the old poses instead of reinventing the wheel.

Do you have reflectors? They are a great fill and can get light under that hat, even in shade.

You nailed the exposure/development on the first and last of the ones posted, but I do think you are not flushing off your developer as quick as you should. There is a hint of overexposure and overdevelopment in the others. Nothing critical, but once youve done thousands of these things you notice that.

Ill suggest one thing, a bit of cheek tint is very very period and easy to do. Only certain images are suitable, its pose and lighting dependent. Id only use it on number 3 and 4. Get some stonemasons line marking chalk, permanant red. grind this up even finer than it is, and after you dry the plate, but before varnish, use a very small brush that is trimmed to a point. apply the tint just under the cheekbone, and swirl it around. If you put TOO much on, you can remove a little by touching the brush to your nose, a bit of skin oil picked up will take off a little of the tint. Its really a nice period touch.

BTW, how are you 'handing these out'? Have you developed a mat system yet?

The first and last images were scanned here at my studio since I own the plates, the rest were photographed on site.

I think my developer timing is just fine, thanks.