Wet Plate Party

[My apologies to those who would be forgiven for thinking this blog is becoming "The Wet-Plate Weekly". - other processes are available and will be written up soon- I promise!- P ]

Quite a few people have shown an interest in the wet collodion sessions I've run at UCA and a staff day is (still) promised. I thought it would be fun to have a bit of a party for some of the people on this blog group and others, mainly to socialise but also to provide me with some subjects. I also want to do a series of portraits of photographers and this seemed a good place to start.
As it turned out the weather wasn't special so the planned barbecue was off and we worked inside, using the (highly variable!) light from the French windows. We used my Watson whole plate camera and an interesting lens: an Aldis Epidiascope (projector) lens of 35cm and f/4. It covers whole plates easily with no obvious distortion (I've done quite a lot of swirly bokeh stuff recently and wanted a change) and it's a nice portrait lens: softish and low in contrast. It worked well with the available light, though some aperture control would be an improvement. I'll cut a slot in the barrel and make some Waterhouse stops for it when I have time.

Here's a test shot of Annie (Sorry Annie, we should have gone back and done another proper one of you). Marred by some dodgy glass-cleaning on my part. - At least that's what I think the problem was: A big section peeled off while the plate was drying. I had a new micro-fibre cloth I was using to clean the plates with and I'm wondering if that left some kind of residue. It may just have been carelessness on my part.

This one is my favourite: Martin Pover looking very distinguished - and possibly just a tiny bit like David Bowie? - a very 19th-century feel to the light and the lens quality. Just daylight and a small reflector to fill in the shadows. The exposure time was around 20 seconds at f/4 with bright but cloudy weather outside. (this equates to around ISO 0.2)




Next we had the undoubted star of the day.  Ruby is Annie Mitchell's daughter and the assembled photographers all agreed she looked just right for a Julia Margaret Cameron cherub!  One wild flower headband later she was ready to pose, sitting wonderfully still for 30 seconds. - Her eyes have moved a bit but to be fair we didn't tell her to stare at a single spot. Thank you, Ruby for being such a great model.

Below:  Annie and Ruby together. This was harder to keep still, despite Debra's 'watch the birdie' skills: She played cartoons on her 'phone to keep Ruby's attention in the same spot. I think I over-developed the plate a little I'm afraid.

Above:  Silke Dettmers. I shouldn't keep apologising for the technical defects I know, but I wish I'd have done a better exposure and poured the developer more evenly. I think I'm going to sit and practice with a dummy plate until I can do a perfect (or at least adequate) pour. The ideal is just enough liquid to cover the surface, spread evenly and swiftly and then kept on the plate, not dripping off the edges for the 15 seconds or so it takes to develop.

Lastly, Debra-Lorraine was good enough to bring her camera with her as requested. The idea of photographing fellow photographers with their cameras got a bit lost during all the excitement but the day was primarily for fun which I think we all had. I was impressed by Debra's keenness to pour plates. - most people are a bit reticent because it looks difficult. Several of the plates here were prepared by her.

Thanks to everyone who came. Special thanks to my lovely Catherine for feeding and watering us all and apologies to Algernon for his having to spend the day shut out from proceedings.
I'm delighted that everyone seems to have enjoyed themselves as much as I did. We must do this again!

                                                                                                                                             Peter.