Wet Plate

A new chapter has been started.

I have been interested in photography for less than a decade.  Compare that with people that started 50 years ago, and I am but a child (with grey hair).

I couldn't afford to be interested as a child.  Film was too expensive, developing worse, and a really good camera was completely out of the question.  There was no eBay in the 1970s.

So I am making up for lost time.  I started with digital, then found that I really liked the look of film.  So I added a 4x5 view camera.  Then another, and a couple of more.  I like film for the look, but even more for the process.  It sticks a thumb in the eye of digital photographers, who so want to imitate it.  You will never see someone shooting film saying "Gee, I sure hope this looks like I shot it with a Sony A7."

But to me the holy grail for photography is learning to shoot wet plate.  Making photos that take skill, patience, practice, and a tiny bit of luck.  Oh, and use deadly chemicals, flammable liquids, and a kerosene lamp (true).  The results are completely unique, and so far I haven't seen widespread filters to mimic the look.  But then again, I don't Instagram, so maybe they are there.  But they're fake.

I finally lucked into finding someone to teach me how it's done, and I am adding those first five shots to a new gallery just for wet plate.  They are REALLY bad as photos go, but they are a huge leap for me.  I hope in two years I look back at them and say "Wow, I was really awful back then."

Thanks for looking.

M