Photo Bomb

Music | Slip Into Your Skin by Patrick Wilson

Not sure this is the correct term, but whatever it was, it sure was a lot of fun! After being ill over the weekend, I had planned on just doing nothing for the rest of my Monday. Late into the afternoon, plans started to develop and suddenly, I had a photo shoot for early evening. Photography, not for the show, not for a client, but simply for the fun of it.

Cadence was the instigator for the evening, but I had the plans. We would go out to an industrial part of town, shoot some "daring" photos out in the public world where location, timing, a little pre planning and luck would determine our fate. Photo Bombing is new to me and with my little experience, but some forethought, turned out to be an adventure for both of us.


A simple start inside the car. Cadence heated up quickly after this series...


Confidence quickly grew as we shot, moved, shot, moved...


... and attitude too!


Though all of the locations were desolate, there were folks moving about thru the area...


Upon finishing up our last shot, Cadence had always wanted to do this on train tracks. Who am I to quell a girls long time dream...


The digital plates worked out immensely well. I love this simple portrait.


The narrow wall cuts out many from view.


One of our boldest shots of the evening.
This is just what the doctor ordered. I needed to have some fun as the stress of getting the exhibition photos are heavy upon me. It is also a project I would love to work on. Being out on location is just so different from being in the studio. I love the change of pace and it makes me massage my brain to make each photo work in different situations. Look for more Photo Bomb photos soon!

In One Session...

Music | Avalon by Roxy Music

A new Muse... I hope so.

Juliana and I have recently collaborated in informal settings before, but this session was our first formal sitting. We came up with a general game plan in advance. My goal was to have an 8x10 ambrotype for the upcoming exhibition, which is counting down way too quickly. Interspersed between the plates, I used a digital slr and my ipad with the tintype app to "grab" what I could. I thought it was cute, even before we started that Juliana felt nervous. However, I knew I would get what I needed. The filler photos that I don't count on to get meaningful images worked out amazingly well...


Tin Type App

Tin Type App

Tin Type App

Tin Type App

Digital

Digital

Digital

Digital

Digital

8x10 Ambrotype

8x10 Ambrotype

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...

Know it All... Not

Music | Distractions by Zero Seven

I work hard at what I want to learn and master. As much as I'd like to be prepared for a shoot, sometimes shit happens and nothing goes right. I was very excited to get back to my North Light Studio, my outdoor daylight studio which renders beautiful light. This is the 2nd year I have shot there and I am slowly learning to utilize it under various conditions and circumstances. I did 95% of my wet plates there last year and had planned to go after another one today. I had a wonderful muse lined up and ready to go...

Frankly, I'm very ignorant to the ways and means of a Wet Plate Collodion image. I know the steps involved and the movements I need to make to create an image, but I don't know the process... Today, during my session, the first 2 plates I attempted were way off... Not just exposure, but contrast and dmax... Flat, no black blacks, or white whites. I had my possible ideas of solutions, but unfortunately, I didn't have the resources to try and fix them. It hasn't been more than 3 days earlier where I made 2 wonderful plates that I was very happy with. Today, I got nothing...

Frustrated, but still having the willingness to go on, I went and got my digital camera and decided to move forward. I kept the pace slow and very mechanical for the most part. I didn't want to go and blast off 300 exposures, just because I could... My mindset was still in Wet Plate mode.

I have to say, the thing nice about both Wet Plates and digital is the immediate feedback you get just right after taking the photo. We see what we have done and move forward. I like the idea that the WP Process has affected the way I shoot. I never was finger to the shutter, full blast ahead type of photographer anyway. But I think my photos that I take, digital or other forms of film has made me even more contemplative.

So, from a miserable start and a blow to the psyche, I did manage to shoot some exposures with the digital camera and came up with this...