Wet Collodion Workshop January 2014

It's been several months since I've taught a wet collodion (positive) workshop. Over the past weekend (Jan 18-19), I had a great group of people come to Denver (or were in Denver) to learn the process. 

We had Sophie (New York via Paris), Chris (San Fransisco), Tony (San Fransisco), Thom (Denver), and Steve (Denver). We had Matt Alberts assisting/teaching and Summer (my daughter) assisting/teaching. Jeanne (my wife) provided the food and drinks. We had a great time. 

Not only did we learn about the wet plate collodion process, on Saturday, we had a very special guest visit. The owner and president of Chamonix Cameras, Hass came to Denver to visit us. What a treat. He brought me a wonderful gift, a very nice 10"x10" (25x25cm) custom wet plate holder. Hass showed everyone some of his work from Tibet. 24" x 32" (61x81cm) plates. They were absolutely beautiful! The people and landscape images were stunning - the elevation really added to the quality of light.

Here are a few iPhone photos that Jeanne shot during the workshop (thank you!)

Quinn starts the workshop by going over parts of his book, Chemical Pictures. Whole plate Alumitype by Chris and SophieHalf plate Alumitype by Thom HarropTalking about chemistry and how to handle and use the chemistry.Whole plate Ambrotype by SophieThom Harrop gets ready to make a plate. Admiring Chris' portrait in the fix.More chemistry information. There's a lot to consume in a short amount of time. Chamonix camera in the house! Hugo, Hass, and Quinn (left to right). Hass is the president and owner of the company. I made his portrait - Half Plate Ambrotype.Anther beautiful portrait in the warm Denver sun - 72F (22C) by Sophie.

CC Harrison Lens & Austria

We'll be leaving this week for Austria. I'm teaching a workshop in Kefermarkt. It usually takes me a few days to get ready for a workshop. I have to gather up a lot of equipment, do an inventory on chemistry, glass and aluminum, as well as get prepared personally. I'm hoping we can spend a day in Mauthausen-Gusen Concentration Camp. We'll be about 30 minutes north of it. I want to stop in and make some photographs. I'm excited about the workshop, but I'm more excited about making some work for my project.

I bought a CC Harrison 300mm f/4 lens (1861, New York City, New York) a couple of weeks ago. It's American made and I wanted to own a piece of American Wet Plate Collodion history. I also wanted to test it out before the trip to Austria. Summer said she would sit for me and play her guitar while I made plates. So that's what we did.

1861 CC Harrison Lens - New York City, New York 
5"x7" Black Glass Ambrotype - 2 seconds, wide open. 
5"x7" Alumitype - 3 seconds, wide open. 
I really like the lens. I like both of these images, too. The second image, the tighter shot, is very cool because her hair is blowing around during the three second exposure. I call it, "Painted Hair". It's wild to see time pass in an image.