Learning Wet Plate Photography - Our First Public Event

My son and I have been on an adventure to learn wet plate photography for an event at his school.  After several experiments in the backyard, we tried photography in the field at the Fort Tejon Dragoon Days event.  We then practiced some more in the backyard making photos for the neighbors throughout the day.  We felt pretty confident that we could consistently make an image.

Since I help out at Fort Tejon, we decided to try setting up a photo booth at the event as a fund raiser for the fort.  It would be a great way to get more practice in the field and would also be a chance to raise some money for the fort.  Since the plan was to basically break even and give profits to the fort, we priced the photos at $20.  We figure our 4x5 Tintypes cost us between $3 and $5 each to make in materials, so we'd make enough to cover gas and food and raise some money for the FTHA.  I know a lot of folks charge more for tintypes, but we are just getting started.

Our Booth

We set up our shelter that we use for other events and I borrowed my wife's craft fair booth from RandomSacks.  We set up our darkroom on the table and worked in the open so folks could watch the process.  Here is Brandon mixing some developer.

Here he's  heading off to take a photo.

We set up an assembly line to process the photos then put them out on green felt to dry.

Things went pretty well for the morning.  We made several photos that came out pretty decent.  We had a few happy customers and made a few extra portraits of interesting people and the family.

Though,  in the afternoon, we had problems... lots of problems.  We started getting images that were covered with fog.

After several failed photos, I tried to isolate the problem.  Was it light leaks?  Was it a chemistry problem?  I tried pouring a plate, sensitizing it in the silver bath,  and then putting is straight into the developer.  I was horrified with what I saw.  The plate was muddied with gray, it should have been totally black!

Since we couldn't make clear images, we decided to stop for the day. We were just wasting plates and chemicals.  We'd go home, figure things out, then return for a future event.

So What Happend?

We were stumped for a while till I found out some advice from Will Dunniway -  he says to "Treat Your Silver Bath like it is light sensitive".   You see, as you make tintypes, it carries ether and other chemicals into your sliver bath.  Your silver bath becomes light sensitive.  If the bath exposed to light, you carry exposed silver halides on to your plate.  When you develop the plate,  you end up with a developed haze over your image!!!

Although we didn't know it at the time,  this silver haze actually cleans off!!

You actually can clean the plate this while it is still wet.  You can't easily touch the plate, but you can use a cotton ball to rub it clean!  So, now I know.  Keep your silver bath clean, and treat like it is light sensitive!  Also, ventilate in your darkroom it at lunch time or overnight to help the solvents evaporate!

Continue With Wet Plate?

We really enjoyed the event at Fort Tejon, but it was clear we still have a lot to learn.  We'll probably continue to practice at future Fort Tejon events to get better. Hopefully, we can get good enough to attend other events as period photographers.