Wet Plate Collodion Workshop with Allan Barnes
The Wet Plate crew at The Weston Collective
We had a blast making Wet Plate Collodion photographs at The Weston Collective with Allan Barnes! This workshop was a follow up to the demonstration Allan did earlier in the year. The process of making Wet Plate Collodion photographs is not as daunting as you might think. Allan brought all the supplies and materials we needed to create successful images.
We used period piece cameras that were specifically set up to be able to hold the wet plates for proper exposure. During the workshop we focused on still lives and some portraiture. The idea was to keep the subject matter simple so most of the focus could be put toward understanding the process. Once the participants were shown the steps and completed their first wet plates, the workshop really took off!
Coating the Wet Plate
Coating the plate proved to be one of the more challenging parts of the whole process. Allan showed us the technique to pour in the middle of the plate and then to hit all the corners before pouring the excess chemistry back into the bottle. It definitely took a few tries to get the hang of it. If you don’t coat the plate evenly, you can get “ridges” and imperfections during exposure.
After you have coated the plate, it is taken into the darkroom and sensitized before placing it in the camera holder.
Allan Barnes demoing the Wet Plate Collodion process in the darkroom
The chemistry used in Wet Plate Collodion is light sensitive so a majority of the sensitizing, developing and fixing was done in the darkroom. Luckily we were able to use darkroom safe lights so we weren’t in the total darkness!
A variety of objects were brought in to create still life set ups!
The participants had a blast setting up still life scenes to be captured on the wet plates. Everyone brought in a variety of different objects to use for their set ups. Dave even brought a tequila bottle! We all shared our items which then allowed for a variety of different arrangements. Certain objects show up very differently when using the Wet Plate Collodion method. For example, lemons turn completely black! It was a ton of fun experimenting and observing how the process picked up light.
We were blessed with high fog which acted as a giant soft box. The even light made exposures a bit more consistent and easier to pinpoint. Exposing the plate is a skill all in its own and is something that you learn from years of practice.
