Cyanotype II

Music | Piano Sonata No. 14 In C Minor by Ludwig Van Beethoven

I made more Cyanotypes, but this time with 4x5 negs. I also bleached and toned with black tea for the 1st time. I've all ready made plenty of mistakes, worst of all making a print while the paper was a bit damp, which transferred spots on my neg that I don't think will come up. Ruined... I have since purchased a hair dryer to ensure my coated paper is totally dry when making more prints.

I know I need to take a class and get my technique sorted out, but I am learning a good amount on my own. I will need to figure out things like neg density in order to get the best print. As it stands, I am not sure how to make a good print great. I know in time I will get there. I am happy with my lack luster efforts and my better ones. It is all about the process of learning...


Amanda, 4x5 Cyanotype bleached and toned with black tea...

24x36

Music | Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow by Ornette Coleman

5+ weeks and counting for Haute Couture Botanique. I'm actually getting an early start on this as I framed 2 24x36 inch images earlier this evening. Seems I am not going to wait til the last minute to get things done as I have in the past. Still lots to do from framing plates, selecting images shot digitally and printing them up and more framing. Post cards should be here in 2 days as well. It is coming together and the more I get done early, the less I will stress...


Me with framed Amanda 24x36

_AmmaLynn_

Music | The Man with the Movie Camera by The Cinematic Orchestra

On the heels of yesterdays shoot with Françoise Weeks, I got Amanda to come back to the studio to shoot a few Ambrotypes. As I know, be prepared before the shoot, or the process that is Wet Plate Collodion will bite you in the ass. I was thinking I was running a bit low on developer just before Amanda got here. Instead of making more, I decided I had enough, if used sparingly... Well, the first plate was a wash because I didn't pour enough. It happened again when I decided to stop the shooting until I made more. Why didn't I listen to myself and just spend the time to make more before the shoot even started...

In any case, working with Amanda always yields great images. We completed 3 plates even with the distractions...


My Favorite of the afternoon...

Françoise Weeks

Music | Know Your Chicken by Cibo Matto

On the coat tails again with Françoise Weeks. Our latest shoot of her latest Master Piece was documented by OPB, Art Beat. Françoise is being featured on one of the upcoming shows to aire sometime in May.

Surprisingly, the distractions of having a film crew on set wasn't at all bad. We were told to be ourselves as if they weren't there... It actually got pretty simple to do as time went on. I'm sure I made an ass of myself on several occasions, but you only live once, right?

But I'm writing here to talk about the greatness that is Françoise. She put together an entire ensemble, which included a head piece, scarf, bracelets, rings, a necklace and a pair of shoes, all floral appointed.


Entire Ensemble


Profile


Scarf


Purse


Rings and Bracelet


Shoes

Françoise Weeks

Music | Don't Leave Home by Dido

Almost 2.5 years have gone by since the last time Françoise and I worked together. It was the biggest project collaboration I had for Wet Plates at the time, but I knew that some great things would come of it. Indeed it has as many of those photos have been published in Europe and seen around the world.

A little more than a month ago, Françoise and I had coffee to talk of another project. We knew we wanted to create more botanical couture images, and the themes we came up with was Italian Renaissance and Gothic. Maybe 5 or 6 emails passed thru our mailboxes since then and June 20th rolled around where we created more fantastic images...


Sarah Pardini


Amanda Hathaway
These images were taken with the newly acquired Valantin Petzval lens on the Century 8x10 camera. It was a hallmark occasion for me as it was only the second 8x10 plate I have ever shot and the first plate I shot with my lens / camera combination.

Floral bouquets would be nothing without colour. We also shot with the digital camera and captured just as stunning images...



More of the colour images can be seen here...

I'm pretty sure we won't wait another 2+ years before we collaborate again...